Fun With Flags!!!!

[BlackBolt3]

Well, there are also American flags colored in different team colors WITH the logo in the star field, so apparently it's just whatever.

[AnPheitseog]

18 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

I'm not sure what American law has to say about it, but I know that in Canada it's illegal to produce the national flag in anything other than it's official colouration. Back in undergrad we tried to get a purple and white version done up for Student Government (the school's colours) but no one would agree to make it on the grounds that it was technically illegal to do so.

How do the leafs get away with it then? Because the leaf is technically different than the now old leafs logo?

[Viola73]

On 2016-09-14 at 4:27 PM, the admiral said:

Speaking of that, have we discussed what is apparently the "Blue Lives Matter" flag?

 

 

I saw this out and about and thought it was some kind of white supremacist deal, it looked so menacing. Does this violate the flag code somehow? If not, can we change the flag code so that it does? A dark, sinister version of the American flag just gives me the willies. It's too Raiders-y.

The Blue represents the officer and the courage they find deep inside when faced with insurmountable odds. The Black background was designed as a constant reminder of our fallen brother and sister officers. The Line is what police officers protect, the barrier between anarchy and a civilized society, between order and chaos, between respect for decency and lawlessness. Together they symbolize the camaraderie law enforcement officers all share, a brotherhood like none other.

 

There is a solid black flag with a single blue line in it that is flown during a funeral for a fallen officer. Both can be seen during an officers funeral and flown at the homes of officers and family members of officers.

There is also a similar design for Fire Fighters which replaces the blue line with a red one.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Ice_Cap
let's keep politics out of this

[Brass]

mod edit 

Edited September 16, 2016 by Ice_Cap
Keeping politics out of here

[The_Admiral]

4 hours ago, Viola73 said:

The Blue represents the officer and the courage they find deep inside when faced with insurmountable odds. The Black background was designed as a constant reminder of our fallen brother and sister officers. The Line is what police officers protect, the barrier between anarchy and a civilized society, between order and chaos, between respect for decency and lawlessness. Together they symbolize the camaraderie law enforcement officers all share, a brotherhood like none other.

 

Then do all that on a design that isn't the American flag so that I don't go jogging and think America just joined the nWo or something.

[The_Admiral]

And now, please rise for our national anthem.

 

*bwow-bwuh-bwuh bwow-wow, buh bwow-bwuh-bwuh bwow-wow FUH LIFE, WE ARE IN CONTROL, SWEEEEEEEEEEET*

 

What! No! NO! THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY, BARACK OBAMA YOU CAN GO TO HELL, STRAIGHT TO HELL

[BlackBolt3]

Just like Haley's Comet, Viola comes shrieking back into the board's nighttime sky.

[IceCap]

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

 

What! No! NO! THIS IS THE WORST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY, BARACK OBAMA YOU CAN GO TO HELL, STRAIGHT TO HELL

I'd be down with Tony Schiavone providing political commentary. 

 

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

And now, please rise for our national anthem.

 

*bwow-bwuh-bwuh bwow-wow, buh bwow-bwuh-bwuh bwow-wow FUH LIFE, WE ARE IN CONTROL, SWEEEEEEEEEEET*

 

 

The nWo's electoral victory was assured after the corruptions of the Flair administration came to light.

 

5 hours ago, DiePerske said:

How do the leafs get away with it then? Because the leaf is technically different than the now old leafs logo?

Yep. The (now former) 11-point Maple Leafs logo used a different design than the leaf on the flag. So it wasn't a recoloured Canadian flag. It was a flag with the same proportions and design, with the leaf substituted with a different symbol. That's totally fine. It's straight-up recolouring the national flag as-is that's illegal.

At UWO we finally just settled for a Canadian-style flag with purple bars and a purple W in place of the leaf.

[DTConcepts]

4 hours ago, Viola73 said:

mod edit

 

Save this for the politics thread, pal.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Ice_Cap
well said

[IceCap]

So trying to come up with a reasonable list of my favourite flags is proving difficult, so here's what I have

 

 

The "Union Jack" is going to foreshadow a theme in my list; that I tend to like flags that can merge two or more symbols into one cohesive design. The "Union Jack" pulls it off better than most, creating a flag that's aesthetically balanced as well as having a great deal of history behind each of the symbols that make it up.

 

 

The Union Mark of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. This union lasted from 1814-1905. The flag attempts the same basic concept as Britain's "Union Jack," but it doesn't quite pull it off with as much grace. It's still neat though.

 

 

The post-Apartheid flag of South Africa does a really good job merging the red, white, and blue of the white Afrikaner heritage with the black African National Congress' colours of green, black, and gold. This was actually a bit of a Hartford Whalers moment for me. I knew the significance of the Dutch colours to SA's white population, and I knew black, green, and gold were the ANC's colours. It wasn't until later though, when I realized you basically have a Dutch flag if you just remove the black, gold, and green portion. Well done South Africa.

 

 

One of the flags of Normandy. Normandy is a bit of a unique case. It's part of France, but was settled by Vikings after a Viking expedition led by a fellow named Rollo signed a treaty with the French crown. Normandy was actually an English possession from William I to John, after the Norman Duke William seized in the English crown in 1066. John lost it back to France, but he generally sucked at most things anyway.

These days Normandy's a region in France, and its flag is officially two Norman lions on a red field, the traditional emblem of the Duchy of Normandy. I like this unofficial banner more though. It combines the always stylish Nordic Cross with the traditional Norman heraldry. Both combining two good looks into one good look and giving a nod to Normandy's roots as a Viking settlement.

 

 

Speaking of Nordic Crosses...a proposal for a new Estonian flag. While the current Estonian flag has been covered I thought I would shed some light on this proposal. Basically Estonia has just as much cultural history with Scandinavia as it does with Russia, the Baltic, and the Slavic states. In fact it's name is derived from "Estland," Norse for "East Land," the country being considered the furthest east of the Nordic lands in the early middle ages. Some politicians in Estonia want to adopt a Nordic Cross flag to both emphasis cultural ties with Scandinavia as well as to distance itself from the stereotype of a post-Soviet eastern European state. The proposal doesn't seem to have much momentum, as the current flag is popular due to its status as a symbol of anti-Soviet resistance. Still, I like the proposed design. The colours work well.

 

 

Another proposed Nordic Cross flag, this time for Germany. The design was first conceived by the conspirators behind the 20 July Plot, German military officers planning to assassinate Hitler, seize control of Germany, shut down the death camps, and negotiate a peace with the Allies before Germany could be overrun. This flag likely would have become the flag of Germany had the conspiracy succeeded and taken over the country.

Ernst Wirmer, a brother of one of the 20 July conspirators, became a West German politician and suggested the new West German government adopt the flag. The flag was actually favoured by a majority within the West German government at the time, but lost to the current flag when the government ultimately decided to emphasis continuity with the old Weimer Republic.

 

 

The flag of Israel, like Quebec and New Mexico, combines meaningful symbolism with aesthetic balance. The two blue stripes on white represent the stripes on a Jewish prayer shawl, and the Star of David has long been a symbol of Judaism and the Jewish people.

 

 

The Cross of Burgundy's been used by the Duchy/Kingdom of Burgundy and the Spanish Empire, particularly popular with those of the Carlist political tradition. Today it's mostly used for historical purposes, flown from forts that now serve as tourist attractions throughout the old Spanish colonial empire. The saltire is said to be of Scottish influence. Scottish soldiers were recruited by Duke of Burgundy John the Fearless. The Duke took the Scottish saltire as his own, and modified its colours. No idea where the barbs come in though, but it helps it stand out amongst other saltire-based flags.

 

 

The flag of Ontario is nothing special. It's a British red ensign with the badge of Ontario. I like it though, as I find it's a perfect visual description of Ontario's history. Which is what a flag should be. It's a good lesson. A flag shouldn't rely on design alone. There needs to be meaning behind it all, and historical significance often does trump aesthetics.

 

 

That being said...the flag of Quebec blends history and aesthetics perfectly. All of the elements on display...fleur de lis on a blue background and a white cross on a blue background, were used by French settlers. What makes the flag perfect is that those elements were never arranged in this pattern. So what we have is a flag that perfectly represents the French history of Quebec without relying on historical banners.

 

 

The flag of Toronto is perfect. Blue and white represent the city and the red maple leaf represents the country. It's bold, it's simple in design. You're never going to confuse it with anything else.

 

 

The flag of Montreal. It has a bit more of a traditional feel to it than Toronto's flag, which you know is perfect if you've been to both cities. What I like here is how it complements the Quebec flag. Both have a cross and feature a symbol in each quarter. The Montreal flag is just a bit more Anglo though, which is fitting. The city's still got the largest Anglophone population in Quebec.

 

 

American stuff! So this one is weird, but I love it. It's called the "United States Civic flag." The story here starts with Nathaniel Hawthorne's book The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne presents the book as a found manuscript, and its opening pages see him finding said manuscript in a US customs house. He mentions the house flying the "civil" flag of the United States, and describes it as having vertical stripes, a white field, and blue stars. These days some conspiracy theorists claim this is the legal flag of the US "civilian controlled" government, with the version we all know being the flag of the military. The US, they claim, has been under martial law since the Civil War. Hence the disappearance of the civil flag, and the "promotion" of the military flag.

It's also entirely nonsense, for multiple reasons. As far as the flag goes? No "US Civil Flag" ever existed. Hawthorne was probably referring to some version of the US Customs flag (he was in a Customs House, remember) and simply misspoke when identifying it.

So it's a flag that never actually existed, and is primarily used by kooks. It still looks nice though

 

 

New Mexico wins US State flags, and it's not even close. Like Quebec it blends aesthetic balance with meaningful symbolism.

 

 

Maryland. I've gotta love the only US State flag to use actual European heraldry.

 

 

 

I dig these two flags for the same reason. Both reflect the fact that both states were once independent countries (California for a much shorter period, but ya know ). They're just cool because of that and help them stand out amongst American state flags. Which are generally pretty terrible. California's violates the "no text on a flag" rule, but every rule has exceptions.

[The_Admiral]

1 hour ago, Ice_Cap said:

These days some conspiracy theorists claim this is the legal flag of the US "civilian controlled" government, with the version we all know being the flag of the military. The US, they claim, has been under martial law since the Civil War. Hence the disappearance of the civil flag, and the "promotion" of the military flag.

 

Sounds a little like the conspiracy about how the gold fringe on the flag.means you're subject to maritime law or some such crap.

[IceCap]

15 minutes ago, the admiral said:

 

Sounds a little like the conspiracy about how the gold fringe on the flag.means you're subject to maritime law or some such crap.

It's all from the same ball of crazy.

[Morgan33]

As far as I'm concerned, all this crap in the political arena represents these people out here...  For eight years, brother, for eight years I held my head high.  I did everything for the charities, I did everything for the American people and the reception I got when I came out here - you people can stick it, brother!

 

[DTConcepts]

Remember Provo's awful flag?

 

Well, apparently they redid it and it looks a lot nicer. I know anything is an improvement over the last one, but this one is still a good 7/10 on my scale.

[Viola73]

Nice list.

The US Civic flag reminds me more of the US Coast Guard.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Mockba
Please don't quote a long post to add only a couple of lines of commentary

[AnPheitseog]

4 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

 

 

 

The post-Apartheid flag of South Africa does a really good job merging the red, white, and blue of the white Afrikaner heritage with the black African National Congress' colours of green, black, and gold. This was actually a bit of a Hartford Whalers moment for me. I knew the significance of the Dutch colours to SA's white population, and I knew black, green, and gold were the ANC's colours. It wasn't until later though, when I realized you basically have a Dutch flag if you just remove the black, gold, and green portion. Well done South Africa.

 

 

From my memory, the red was chosen not for the Afrikaaners, but for the British red. The Afrikaaners are proud of their orange, white, and blue flag and those colours.

[Sport]

16 hours ago, Zeus89725 said:

Remember Provo's awful flag?

 

Well, apparently they redid it and it looks a lot nicer. I know anything is an improvement over the last one, but this one is still a good 7/10 on my scale.

 

 

 

hahahaha this thing. Is Provo the home of Centrum Silver? 

[IceCap]

1 hour ago, DiePerske said:

From my memory, the red was chosen not for the Afrikaaners, but for the British red. The Afrikaaners are proud of their orange, white, and blue flag and those colours.

My theory is that the orange would have been too close to the Apartheid-era flag, which was slowly phased out near the end of its run. They opted for red because it could still be read as representing the Dutch flag, and thus Afrikaner heritage, without drawing on the Apartheid design.

 

The only reason I'm ready to dismiss the red standing for the British is because whites of British descent have always been a minority within the white South African community. Any design that was going to emphasise white and black South Africans coming together would probably start from drawing from Dutch, not British symbolism on the white side of things.

[Dynasty]

3 hours ago, Zeus89725 said:

Remember Provo's awful flag?

 

Well, apparently they redid it and it looks a lot nicer. I know anything is an improvement over the last one, but this one is still a good 7/10 on my scale.

 

Any flag can be better than their old one, but man, their new one is MILES better.

[Gothamite]

19 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

So trying to come up with a reasonable list of my favourite flags is proving difficult, so here's what I have

 

 

The "Union Jack" is going to foreshadow a theme in my list; that I tend to like flags that can merge two or more symbols into one cohesive design. The "Union Jack" pulls it off better than most, creating a flag that's aesthetically balanced as well as having a great deal of history behind each of the symbols that make it up.

 

 

The Union Mark of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. This union lasted from 1814-1905. The flag attempts the same basic concept as Britain's "Union Jack," but it doesn't quite pull it off with as much grace. It's still neat though.

 

This is a great example of what to do, and what not to do.  

 

The Union Jack takes the various pieces and blends them together into a cohesive whole that looks as though it was designed from scratch to be exactly what it is.  The Union Mark is just a mess, an obvious mash-up that doesn't work on any aesthetic level.