Safiria (Carl's imaginary country)

[Halian]

This thread will be the non-sports graphical design repository for my concountry Safiria. It's a very very large ongoing project with no definite end, so stuff could pop up here at any time.

Flag

The flag is a 2:1 horizontal tricolor of green, white, and blue.

The three bands of the flag come from the three major countries on the Safirian subcontinent in the centuries preceding Unification:

• Green for the Union of the Royal City of Qalani, in the north and northwest
• White for the Queendom of Umaront, in the northeast and center
• Blue for the City of Aňira and its territories, in the south

Coat of arms

The coat of arms depicts the Imperial Seal topped with the Imperial Crown and surrounded by the seals of the nine mainland states, plus one that represents all of the Empire's overstars holdings.

Map

This map shows the Safirian mainland on the planet Daia, approximately 7,500 light-years from Earth.

The Empire as a whole has a population of approximately two billion; of these, 225 million live on the mainland, which comprises 8.9 million square kilometres. (Note: some outdated spellings are used; I have lost the vector files used to compile this map. )

License plates

Qalani

The city-state of Qalani is the newest of the nine mainland states, having been separated from the surrounding state of Evari in April 2000. Centuries before, it was the capital of the First and Second Safirian Empires. Despite its cosmopolitan nature, Qalani — and the majority of its 14.5 million people — is quite conservative, sometimes to a fault, and this is represented in its simple two-tone blue plate design. (The right-hand pair of plates show what they would look like e.g. to a speed camera.)

[1clkgtramg]

this is what we need! more imaginary countries! but damn, 2 Billion is a lot!!

[Halian]

Safiria is a star empire spread out over a few hundred systems.

[Halian]

Umaront

Umaront, home to 27.4 million people, is the richest of the mainland states by both GDP and median income, owing mainly to its silver mining and banking industries. (Silver is rarer than gold on Daia.) Other major industries include fishing, service, and tourism. It's known as the Pioneer State due to its history of famous adventurers, including most notably Vāssarim Kadija, a safir aeronaut who in AD 1484 became the first person to fly around the world; she accomplished the feat in just under three days. (The right-hand pair of plates show what they would look like e.g. to a speed camera.)

The emblem on the first plate is a stylized Airumali letter U.

[1clkgtramg]

I really like that diamond pattern. The colours compliment each other and I like that ICUNIYQ

[Halian]

Thanks

It comes from the state seal, viz.:—

[Halian]

Aňira

Aňira (or Anhira) is the center of the Empire, and home to its capital city of the same name. Almost seventeen million people call the sprawling metropolis home, and quite a few more commute to work there every day. The plates display the region's traditional colors of yellow and teal, and the motto Ecce quid haec fecit, or “Behold what she has done”, “she” being Safir Empress Amane I, the first of the Second Empire and the first to rule from Aňira instead of Qalani. (The right-hand pair of plates show what they would look like e.g. to a speed camera.)

[Halian]

My apologies for not having touched this thread in a week and half. orz I will have another plate or two uploaded by the end of the day.

[1clkgtramg]

I actually love those colours, mind if I use them together on a logo or something? (not a license plate lol)

I also appreciate the reflecting/speed camera images. I remember when I tried showing off mine, most people overlooked that aspect of license plates. They are like I.D.'s, they have a lot of detail to them so its nice to see someone else taking it into consideration.

[Halian]

Not at all.

[DaRadniz29]

This is interesting. I see at op says it's ongoing, but is this for a story or game/campaign?

[Halian]

More or less. It's mainly a micronation, that is a kind of forum roleplay wherein the participants simulate and undertake the operation of a fictional sovereign state.

Małena

Małena (or Mallena) is basically the New Jersey to Aňira's New York. It has a population of 12 million, and known as the Eternal Paradise due to the large swaths of rainforest that it used to have (and has preserved in about a dozen state parks), and the fact that it has burned to the ground twice (in the Vatemar War of 4209-4206 BCE and the Interregnum War of 802-826 CE) only to come back even stronger. Unlike Qalani, Aňira, and Umaront, Małena still puts its registration stickers on the plate itself, and it shows the county of registration (here Vatemar County, on the river of the same name that forms part of the border with Aňira) on the plate, unless the registrant ops out — as with plate # ICUNIYQ — in which case the state slogan is shown instead. (The right-hand pair of plates show what they would look like e.g. to a speed camera.)

[DaRadniz29]

More or less. It's mainly a micronation, that is a kind of forum roleplay wherein the participants simulate and undertake the operation of a fictional sovereign state.

I see. Cool. I ask because I'm developing a full world/realm for fantasy novel and I finally got all the regions and towns named, along with a most of the races/species. However, I've yet to add any elevation elements to my map - trying to decide where I want rivers, hills, valleys, and plains.

Been revisiting Cartographer's Guild to try and see if there's a certain style I like. I knew it was a lot of work, but the time consumption even after knowing is surprising. I really envision my story working great on it's own, but also as a video game series.

Okay Enough thread-jacking. (man, that's sounds wrong)

Anyway, did you design all the elements and logos? I really like that crown on Safiria's Coat of Arms.

[Halian]

Not everything; I found the Turkish crown somewhere (I think Wikipedia, but I'm not sure).

[Halian]

Varhaiet

Varhaiet, the northernmost state, is known as a winter sports paradise, both by its 10.7 million residents and throughout the Empire, and is known as the Great Frontier due to its superlative size and its position at the mainland's land border. The state capital of Iyva was once the capital of a predecessor Safir Empire some 300,000 years ago. This baseplate was only introduced a few years ago, controversially replacing the blue-on-peach baseplates that the state had used for many years. (The right-hand pair of plates show what they would look like e.g. to a speed camera.)

[Germanshepherd]

Those look sweet but how exactly is that pronounced. Vare-Height, Var-Hate?

[Halian]

Thanks

“Varhaiet” is pronounced /vɑɾˈhɑ͡i.ɛt/, or “vahr-high-yet” if you can't read IPA.

[1clkgtramg]

Sniff sniff I smell Alaska's cousin!

^ that's not a negative, I just love trying to find influences.

Another nice logo. It makes me want to really sit down and work on logos for regions. Flags and Plates are too easy/natural, I may need a bit of a challenge haha

A slight nitpick, the characters seem a little too high up (close to VARHEIT) but it's nothing major.

[Halian]

The influence was intentional, since Varhaiet is the northernmost state of the mainland.

But thank you.

[Halian]

Interlude: Highway signs

The license plate bug hasn't been biting of late, but the road-sign bug has been all over me. Therefore, road signs. :þ

Specifications for Safirian signage:

• Drive on the left.
• Primary language of signage to be English. Airumali signs may come whenever I can cobble a font together.
• Freeway signs are blue, regular signs are green.
• All words and numbers to be written in Clearview.
• Exit numbers increase south to north and east to west.
• Metric units to be used; time to be writ in 20 hour notation (since the planet Safiria's mainland is on only has a 20-hour day).
• The freeway shield is a green hexagon.
• Certain characters need to be replaced as follows: Ð > Dh; Þ > Th; Ň > Nh; Ǧ > Gh; Ž > Zh, Š > Sz, Ř > Rr, Ł > Ll.

Example of overhead signage

This sign would be found on the N5 just outside Selrat in the northernmost state of Varhaiet.



The yellow strap with black imagery denotes an exit-only, as in the United States.