Historical nations hockey project

[IceCap]

First some background info.

The point of this project is to create a uniform for a national team for historical nations that have since ceased to exist. I will not be doing countries that actually had hockey teams (USSR, Czechoslovakia, etc...).

I started this project a while ago, and for various reasons I stopped after six concepts.

Now I'm ready to start it up again. For those who missed the first round, or for those who want to see them again, here are my "original 6" concepts for this project. I've included their respective national flags so you can see where I was coming from a design standpoint.

Holy Roman Empire flag

Commonwealth of Great Britain flag

Ottoman Empire flag

Roman Empire flag concept, courtesy of JQK

Kingdom of Prussia flag

Kingdom of France flag

To kick off the renaissance of this project, I bring you the Republic of Texas (1836 – 1845).

Historical info

The Republic of Texas was born out of the Texas War of Independence.

Tensions between Texans and Mexicans could be traced back to the settlement of the state then the Tejas portion of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. In order to settle the land of Tejas the Mexican government offered cheap land to American settlers heading west. The settlers would be have to take Mexican citizenship, but otherwise they would be left to their own devices.

The offer attracted many, but there was one problem: slavery. Most of the American settlers brought their slaves to Tejas, but the Mexican government had outlawed slavery. So from the beginning tensions existed between the American settlers and the Mexican government.

Tensions came to a head when the Mexican President Vicente Guerrero was assassinated in a coup. The coup ended when the Mexican general Santa Anna restored order, and was elected president in 1833.

In 1835 Santa Anna passed the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws) that abolished the 1824 Constitution, replacing Mexico's federal system with a centralized one. This stripped the Mexican states of most of their rights, resulting in the Mexican government getting more involved with the American settlers in Tejas.

The war began on October 1, 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales. Early Texan victories were matched with crushing defeats, culminating with the Battle of the Alamo, in which almost all of the Texan fighters were slaughtered by Santa Anna.

The Battle of San Jacinto followed, in which Santa Anna was captured. Texan leader Sam Houston allowed the Mexican leader to go free if he signed a treaty guaranteeing Texan independence.

Between 1836 and 1845 Texas existed as an independent republic. However they spent that time trying to pay off debts to France and the UK, who had supported them in their war for independence.

In 1845, after a year of debate, the US Congress accepted Texas' request for annexation.

As of now Texas is one of two US states to have formally been an independent nation (Hawaii being the other).

Flag

Concept

I wanted to incorporate the Texan flag into the striping in some way. I settled on incorporating it into the shoulder yoke. I also added a small Texan flag to the front of the jersey.

For the logo I used a traditional Texan "lone star."

The striping was a bit difficult, but I settled on a pattern loosely based on the Republic of Texas' naval ensign.

C&C welcome as always.

[Discrim]

I was wondering when this was gonna start up again...Texas is okay, I can't really say for sure what I'd do differently, and where's Zaire?

[IceCap]

I was wondering when this was gonna start up again...Texas is okay, I can't really say for sure what I'd do differently, and where's Zaire?

Ask and you shall receive.

Republic of Zaire

Historical info

The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 and declared itself the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "Democratic" was to distinguish it from a neighboring country, the Republic of the Congo).

Revolution and political unrest plagued the DRC until 1965. It was then that Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, commander of the national army, seized power, making himself president for five years. In 1970 he was elected president in an unopposed election.

Mobutu began to consolidate power, and quickly turned the DRC into a single-party state. Part of this consolidation was a rejection of the regime that had preceded Mobutu, called the "First Republic."

Mobutu's transition away from the First Republic included a full scale makeover of the country, from every aspect of society to the name of the country itself.

Rejecting the name "Democratic Republic of the Congo," both because it tied into the First Republic, and because it was a European-style name, Mobutu changed the name of the country to the Republic of Zaire. The nation's cities as well, all of which had European-style names, were given African-style names.

In order to maintain control, Mobutu's forces engaged in what is known as "Bula Matadi" (he who breaks rocks) mentality.

Mobutu's regime was backed by the CIA, mostly to counter the Communist regime that had seized power in the neighboring Republic of the Congo.

The First Congo War erupted in 1996 when Hutu militias from Rwanda spilled into Zaire. They allied themselves with the Zairian military and launched a genocidal campaign against the Tutsi of eastern Zaire. This prompted a Tutsi rebellion, and Tutsi militia gained the support of Rwanda and Uganda. The coalition, lead by Laurent-Desire Kabila, seized control of Zaire, forcing Mobutu to flee. Kabila restored the nation's previous name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending Mobutu's reign of terror.

Flag

Concept

How could I turn down the chance to do a lime green uniform? The colours were taken from the Zairian flag, and the crest is the emblem seen at the flag's centre. The colour scheme is pretty odd for a sports uniform, but I really like how it came together here.

[neo_prankster]

Aztec Empire?

[kewp80]

Texas-I really like! Very original, I love the shoulders!

Zaire-uhhh, its not your fault. I just hate the colors. Based on the flag it is very nice, but the colors...eh.

[IceCap]

Macedonian Empire

Historical info

By the 4th century BCE the dominance that the Greek city-state of Sparta had gained by defeating Athens in the Peloponnesian War a century earlier had all but disappeared. Dominance of the Greek mainland was in shifting almost yearly, mostly between Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Despite their shared general culture, ethnic group, and language the Greek city-states could never formally unify into one power, as each one was afraid to give up to much autonomy.

Up to the north of the Greek mainland lay the kingdom of Macedonia (or Macedon, either is fine). Unlike the Greek mainland, Macedon was what we would consider a state today. It's various cities had united centuries before, with the most powerful, Pella, serving as the capital. By the 4th century BCE however, the Macedonian state's unity was at risk, due to various factions of the royal family fighting for power. In 359 BCE Phillip II ascended to the thrown.

Almost immediately Phillip II acted to restore the full power of the Macedonian monarchy. After assassinating all potential rivals to the thrown Phillip II went about reforming the army, turning the Macedonian phalanx into the most efficient military formation ever seen at the time. He turned his new armies on the "hill people," a tribe of people who had been crossing into Macedon to raid and pillage. Phillip II defeated them in one battle. He was also able to secure the Macedonian boarders with the neighboring kingdom of Thrace.

It was then that Phillip II turned his attention to the chaotic situation in Greece.

First he launched an attack on the Athenian colony of Amphipolis in northern Greece. Macedonian advancement met little resistance until they reached Thermopylae, which the Athenians and Thebens had occupied. Rather then try and take the city Phillip II turned his attention to Byzantium, but was unable to conquer the city. With a vengeance Phillip II raced south and slaughtered the Athenians and Thebens at the Battle of Chaeronea. The battle was a remarkable victory for Phillip II, as Macedonian forces slaughtered the allied Greek armies, including the complete destruction of the Sacred Band of Thebes, the elite Theben fighting force. It was this battle the made Phillip II undisputed master of Greece, leaving only Sparta and its traditional sphere of influence independent of Macedonia.

Phillip II next turned his sights to the mighty Persian Empire, the most feared power at the time. First though, Phillip II had to attend the wedding of Alexander of Epirus to his daughter in 336 BCE. It was here that Pausanias, one of Phillip II's seven elite bodyguards, assassinated him.

Following Phillip II's death his son Alexander was crowned King Alexander III of Macedonia (aka Alexander the Great).

The Greek city-states rejoiced at the new of Phillip II's death, hoping that Alexander III would be to busy consolidating power in Macedonia to pay much attention to Greece. Their hopes were dashed, however, as Alexander crushed all Greek opposition in short order.

Quickly and recklessly he launched his father's planned invasion of the Persian Empire. After crossing the Hellespont into Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) Alexander won an early victory at the Battle of Granicus, and in the process capturing the provincial treasury at Sardis.

Marching down the Mediterranean coast, he defeated the Persian Emperor Darius III at the Battle of Issus. Darius fled, leaving behind his wife, daughters, and mother, along with much of the imperial treasury. Alexander, in an act of respect and kindness, treated them with the respect of an imperial family.

In 332 BCE Alexander was welcomed as a liberator in Egypt where he founded the city of Alexandria.

Alexander now turned his sites back to Darius III and the rest of the Persian army. He defeated Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela. It was this battle that left Alexander as the sole ruler of Asia, bringing the entire Persian Empire under Macedonian rule. Darius had fled again, and Alexander slowly followed capturing Babylon and the Persian capital of Persepolis. Either out of revenge for the Persian invasion of Greece in the 5th century BCE (see the movie 300), or in a drunken rage, Alexander ordered the Persian capital burned. He would latter use Babylon as his Persian capital.

Darius III on the other hand, was murdered by his generals. When Alexander found the body it's said he weeped, not believing that a death by betrayal was fit for an emperor. He buried Darius III with an imperial Persian funeral.

Alexander had conquered the Persian Empire, and many of his generals thought he should return to Macedonia. Alexander pressed east, however, entering India, and what was at the time considered the edge of the world.

It was during this march east that Alexander began adopting Persian dress and customs. This alienated most of his generals, who finally forced him to turn around at the Indus River.

Alexander returned to Babylon, where his closest friend, and possibly lover, Hephaestion, died of a fever. Alexander responded by having Hephaestion's doctor killed.

The depression brought on by his best friend's death sank Alexander into alcoholism. This brought on the same fever Hephaestion had died from, and on June 10, 323 BCE, Alexander the Great died at the age of 33, having conquered most of the known world. While on his deathbed he was asked who would inherit his vast empire, that stretched from Macedonia to India. It's said he answered "give it to the strongest."

In the end the Macedonian empire was carved into three parts;

Macedonia and Greece went to his general Antigonus.

The former Persian Empire went to Seleucus (this empire is also known as the Syrian Greek Empire).

Egypt went to his general Ptolemy.

The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt lasted the longest, finally falling to Octavian on September 2, 31 BCE at the Battle of Actium. Octavian annexed Egypt as a Roman province, ending the last Macedonian dynasty in the ancient world. Octavian would go on to become the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus.

Flag

It's unlikely that the Macedonian Empire had a flag in the modern sense. We do know that the Vergina Sun was them emblem of the Macedonian royal family, by both Phillip II and Alexander the Great, as well as Macedonian kings all the way until Macedonia itself was annexed by Rome. Seeing as the current flag of Macedonia (now a region in Greece) contains the Vergina Sun, I have decided to use it as the basis for my concept.

Concept

The Vergina Sun is used both as the primary and secondary crest. The striping is a meander, an ancient Greek and Macedonian pattern used by both Phillip II and Alexander the Great.

[IceCap]

Russian Empire

Historical info

After the Russians overthrew their Mongol overlords, Ivan IV (aka Ivan the Terrible) took the title of Grand Prince of Muscovy. Ivan was not content with simply returning the Russian state to it's pre-Mongol state of a small, backwards nation. He wanted to turn Russia into a great power. To start he replaced the title of discarded the title of "Grand Prince of Muscovy," and had himself crowed "Tsar of Russia."

The title of "Tsar" was an important one for two reasons. 1) "Tsar was Russian for "Caesar" or "Emperor." By crowning himself "Tsar" Ivan IV was putting himself on the same level as the Mongol and Holy Roman Emperors, and 2) by essentially adopting the title "Caesar" Ivan was claiming that the Russian state was the true successor to Rome and Constantinople. This is where Moscow got the nickname "the Third Rome." This claim to be Rome's true successor would be kept by the Russian monarchy until its fall in the 1917 February Revolution.

Ivan IV died with no heir, and a national assembly elected Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov the new Tsar on February 21, 1613. He would become the patriarch of a dynasty that would rule Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

In 1696 Peter I (aka Peter the Great) gained sole control of the Tsardom of Russia when his joint Tsar and half-brother Ivan V died. Before gaining complete control of Russia he went on a tour of western Europe, determined to westernize Russia. Upon assuming complete control, he began an aggressive program of westernization. It was here that he changed the name of the country from the Tsardom of Russia to the Russian Empire. He also officially discarded the title "Tsar" in favour of "Emperor" (kind of pointless, consider Tsar means Emperor). The Russian Emperor, however, would continue to be referred to as "Tsar" until the regime's fall.

In 1894 Nicholas II became the Emperor of Russia, unfortunately for the Romanov dynasty. He believed he ruled by divine will, a belief that cost him and his family the empire. His unwillingness to comprise in the early 1900's with those pushing for democratic reform came to a head in 1917.

Russia had entered the Great War in 1914 as a state that was unprepared for the challenges of modern total warfare. The empire's infrastructure collapsed, and the under-equipped Russian army was being mowed down by the German army at an alarming rate. By February 1917 the poor war effort, as well as the Tsar's inability to reform, erupted in revolution. The Nicholas II, realizing he had to abdicate to save the dynasty, did so in favour of his brother Mikhail. Mikhail, realizing which way the wind was blowing, refused the crown, and in just under five days the 300 year+ old Romanov dynasty came to an end.

The Russian Provisional Government ruled until October 1917 when Vladimir Lenin lead a Bolshevik (Communist) Revolution and seized power with very little initial bloodshed.

Lenin dissolved the Russian state, and reorganized it into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

After pulling Russia out of the war with Germany, the Communists fought a bloody civil war against the pro-Tsarist forces, known as the "Whites."

Lacking any real political leader or ideology, the Communists emerged victorious, and after a war with Poland, annexed several other eastern European states to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Flag

The Russian Empire had two flags. The first is the one shown here, adopted during the reign of Tsarina Catherine the Great. Peter the Great adopted a more "western" colour scheme, a white-blue-red horizontal tri-colour. Seeing as I wanted my concept to differ as much as possible from the current Russian uniforms, and seeing as Peter's flag is identical to the current Russian flag, I decided to go with Catherine's black-gold-white tri-colour.

Concept

I used the Russian Empire's lesser coat of arms as the main crest. I also incorporated the Imperial flag into the striping, inspired by the Russian national jerseys of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

[IceCap]

German Empire

Historical info

The idea of a unified German nation had been present at least as far back as Charlemagne. A single German state existed in some form in the Holy Roman Empire, a central European state that comprised of territory in modern day Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. The HRE however, devolved into a mere confederation of independent states after the Thirty Years War. It was this war that more or less freed most of the German states from the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, who was situated in Austria. Austria turned its sights eastward, and from the end of the Thirty Years War to its reorganization into the Austrian Empire on July 12, 1806, the HRE was centred less around German states and more around Austria's holdings in central Europe and the Balkans.

On the same day the HRE was abolished and reorganized into the Austrian Empire, the surviving German states were merged into a single political entity, the Confederation of the Rhine, a Napoleonic puppet-state.

This was more a of an alliance then a unification, as each state still held enormous amounts of autonomy, and there was no single national government.

Following Napoleon's defeat, the Confederation of the Rhine was pretty much kept in tact, under the new name of the German Confederation in 1815.

In 1867 the German Confederation dissolved, and the northern German states, dominated by Prussia, formed the North German Confederation. This union was more centralized then both the Confederation of the Rhine and the German Confederation; there was a centralized government with the Presidency being held by William I, King of Prussia. Otto von Bismarck served as Chancellor.

In 1870 the North German Confederation allied with the southern German states and declared war on the Second French Empire. The war was an unparallelled success for the NGC and it's allies, as the Germans raided French forces, even capturing the French Emperor Napoleon III.

Soon after Napoleon III's capture, the French Empire was overthrown and a republic was declared, known as the Third French Republic.

An other new state was also formed; on January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, King William I of Prussia was crowned Kaiser William I of the German Empire.

The new French republic negotiated a peace with the new German Empire, forced to by the German siege of Paris. The peace treaty gave Germany the provinces of Alsace and the Lorraine.

France would have its revenge though, as the Allied forces of the British Commonwealth, France, and the United States defeated the German Empire and her allies in World War I (1914-1918). The German Empire was dissolved, and the Wiemar Republic formed in its place.

Flag

Concept

If you look at my Kingdom of Prussia concept, you'll notice many similarities between that concept and this one. That's because essentially the Kingdom of Prussia came to dominate the other German states until it more or less became the German empire. I used the Iron Cross, possibly the single most identifiable emblem of Germany, as the alternate logo.

The sleeve and waist striping was based off of the German Empire's war ensign.

[maz]

How about:

Soviet Russia

Imperial Japan

Nazi Germany {if people arent somehow offended}

[IceCap]

How about:

Soviet Russia

Imperial Japan

Nazi Germany {if people arent somehow offended}

I don't have plans to do the USSR, as I want to stay away from countries that actually had hockey teams. I still might do them, but it would be a completely different design from we know a USSR hockey uniform to be.

Imperial Japan is an interesting idea, I'll think it over, see what I come up with design-wise.

As for Nazi Germany, if someone else wants to do it, they're more then welcome to post it in this thread, but you won't see one from me.

[maz]

Ok.

And after some research I found some other ideas...

Babylonia

Carthage

Aztec, Incan, or Mayan Empire

Facist Italy

Hawaii

Love the concepts. I always wanted to do something like this.

BTW: You can find more former countries here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_countries

[kewp80]

The Macedonian and German concepts are great!

[FlyersHockey1967]

These are pretty nice. It's a unique concept and the execution is great.

How about Vietnam? I guess you could use the star flag as the main logo and use the red and yellow stripes of the old flag as, well, striping.

[kewp80]

And didn't North Vietnam have blue on the bottom half of their flag?

[FlyersHockey1967]

And didn't North Vietnam have blue on the bottom half of their flag?

You mean the Viet Cong? Yes.

[VitaminD]

Glad to see it's back. This was one of my favorite concept threads.

Best one of the new batch is Macedonia. Far and away. The striping clinches it.

There's something about the Texas one I don't agree with. Maybe the blue should be a little darker. I don't know how to make red/white/blue look more "Texas" than "United States", but the (Lone) Star and the colors make it look more like an American concept than a Texas one.

Russian Empire is nice, but I always associate black and gold with Germany; the eagle crest makes the line between the two even blurrier. [NITPICK ALERT!!] And you sorta-kinda misspelled Россия; the accent over the "и" is not written, and only appears in dictionaries and encyclopedias to show which syllable is accented. It would not appear on a uniform.

German Empire is nice, but going with a plain font leaves it a little bland. There are so many "Germanic" or "Gothic" blackletter fonts to choose from that would really make this look more German. Also... DEUTSCHLAND.

And maz... Fascist Italy? Nazi Germany? Are you serious? You really think a sweater with a giant swastika across the front is something that needs to be put up here - especially in Icecap's thread? C'mon, think some of these thoughts through, my man.

[Adam]

These are great!

I'm loving the Kingdom of France and Zaire ones

I like the Prussian one as well but the white numbers seem off but I can't think of what other colour to make them without them bleeding into the horizontal stripe.

Keep up the good work!

[Neon_Matrix]

German Empire

Historical info

The idea of a unified German nation had been present at least as far back as Charlemagne. A single German state existed in some form in the Holy Roman Empire, a central European state that comprised of territory in modern day Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. The HRE however, devolved into a mere confederation of independent states after the Thirty Years War. It was this war that more or less freed most of the German states from the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, who was situated in Austria. Austria turned its sights eastward, and from the end of the Thirty Years War to its reorganization into the Austrian Empire on July 12, 1806, the HRE was centred less around German states and more around Austria's holdings in central Europe and the Balkans.

On the same day the HRE was abolished and reorganized into the Austrian Empire, the surviving German states were merged into a single political entity, the Confederation of the Rhine, a Napoleonic puppet-state.

This was more a of an alliance then a unification, as each state still held enormous amounts of autonomy, and there was no single national government.

Following Napoleon's defeat, the Confederation of the Rhine was pretty much kept in tact, under the new name of the German Confederation in 1815.

In 1867 the German Confederation dissolved, and the northern German states, dominated by Prussia, formed the North German Confederation. This union was more centralized then both the Confederation of the Rhine and the German Confederation; there was a centralized government with the Presidency being held by William I, King of Prussia. Otto von Bismarck served as Chancellor.

In 1870 the North German Confederation allied with the southern German states and declared war on the Second French Empire. The war was an unparallelled success for the NGC and it's allies, as the Germans raided French forces, even capturing the French Emperor Napoleon III.

Soon after Napoleon III's capture, the French Empire was overthrown and a republic was declared, known as the Third French Republic.

An other new state was also formed; on January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, King William I of Prussia was crowned Kaiser William I of the German Empire.

The new French republic negotiated a peace with the new German Empire, forced to by the German siege of Paris. The peace treaty gave Germany the provinces of Alsace and the Lorraine.

France would have its revenge though, as the Allied forces of the British Commonwealth, France, and the United States defeated the German Empire and her allies in World War I (1914-1918). The German Empire was dissolved, and the Wiemar Republic formed in its place.

Flag

Concept

If you look at my Kingdom of Prussia concept, you'll notice many similarities between that concept and this one. That's because essentially the Kingdom of Prussia came to dominate the other German states until it more or less became the German empire. I used the Iron Cross, possibly the single most identifiable emblem of Germany, as the alternate logo.

The sleeve and waist striping was based off of the German Empire's war ensign.

Haha, you did it! YOU ROCK!

[maz]

And maz... Fascist Italy? Nazi Germany? Are you serious? You really think a sweater with a giant swastika across the front is something that needs to be put up here - especially in Icecap's thread? C'mon, think some of these thoughts through, my man.

He wanted former countries I gave him ideas. I hate nazis as much as the next guy but a jersey with them doesnt mean that the one who made it agrees with them. And facist Italy was only a little idea I threw out there. Actually, id personally perfer to see a concept of before facist italy when they were a monarchy.

[steiny_ramone]

Well, you spelled Deutschland wrong, but other than that these are pretty much perfect. They're old-school, and they are te perfect balance between looking like the flag of the country, and looking like a damn good hockey jersey.

Great work. I can't wait to see what else you come up with.