Historical Nations Hockey Concepts 2.0

[IceCap]

Interesting concept series. I'm liking the Commonwealth uniform a lot, and it's a shame Team GB doesn't look that good. Though with the way things seem to be heading you may end up doing a United Kingdom uniform soon enough.

Hopefully not. Union forever!

Kingdom of France looks good, though it might look better if you aligned the fleur de lis with the stripe properly. Or was there a particular reason you went with the effect that you did?

Basically my plan was to make it look like someone cut a strip across the flag of the Kingdom of France. My plan was to have the irregular fleur de lis pattern be intentional, as a stylistic choice. I envisioned around four lines of fleur de lis, however, not the two that I ended up getting, which kind of undercut the look I was going for. I'll straighten them out before I get to work on my Persian Empire concept.

I will be completely honest - I'm not even reading the historical background of the concepts. Maybe others can do the same.

No worries man I kind of thew them in there when I did this the first time as an afterthought, and people seemed to like them then. So I figured I would keep them around.

Ice Cap, great work as always. You've been one of my favorite designers on here for years and seeing you indulge yourself in a new project is a treat for all. Keep then coming!

Always great to hear (or read as it were) words of encouragement. To be honest I enjoy your work as well. Thanks for the support

Otherwise, this look is great. Keep em coming! I want to see Persia with Xerxes' face from "300" on it.

I have something nifty in mind for Persia

[IceCap]

It looks better with black, and I love the choice of the LA Kings' number font. Unfortunately the red seems a little out of place, maybe incorporate it into the uni a little more so it's not sticking out like that. Cool striping.

I think the jersey should have a red element to the sleeve and hem stripes. Having red only on the shoulder yoke is very distracting.

That said, that is the only thing I've found wrong so far. Keep up the good work!

I wasn't sure how this would turn out. I was very happy to see my doubts were for naught. Red has been added, and the gold on the shield and striping now match, thanks to Gfonk04's keen eye.

[tvko]

Much better. This series is awesome.

[IceCap]

Thank you, good sir. Much appreciated

[IceCap]

Anyway here's an updated Kingdom of France. The fleur de lis pattern has been properly aligned, and I've added gold to the striping.

[Brass]

I will be completely honest - I'm not even reading the historical background of the concepts. Maybe others can do the same.

No worries man I kind of thew them in there when I did this the first time as an afterthought, and people seemed to like them then. So I figured I would keep them around.

By all means, keep them. I was just pointing out, personally, what I do. Seems like a pretty quick and easy fix, too, for the people who grip about what you're putting on there. (For the record, I am not one of them.)

[IceCap]

Are you suggesting a logic solution to someone coming across something they don't read on the internet? Madness!

And yes, that was partially self-deprecating.

Besides, I don't think anyone outside the modern Republic of Macedonia has a problem with the articles either.

[CAB]

I'm with Brass97 on this. I don't have enough time to go through and read every nation's history, but you clearly are very knowledgable and you're good at applying that knowledge to your uniforms. These all seem like well thought-out concepts, not rushed or anything. Nice work.

[Lee.]

words

Let me, as a moderator, ask you to just shut the hell up.

It's a thread about hockey jerseys placed within historical context. For you to start blathering on about whatever it is you blather on about is asinine. Either comment on the jerseys constructively or GTFO.

In the big picture, nobody cares. Just enjoy the concepts. Or don't, I don't care. Just knock it off.

[SP00]

words

Let me, as a moderator, ask you to just shut the hell up.

It's a thread about hockey jerseys placed within historical context. For you to start blathering on about whatever it is you blather on about is asinine. Either comment on the jerseys constructively or GTFO.

In the big picture, nobody cares. Just enjoy the concepts. Or don't, I don't care. Just knock it off.

Wow, thats kind. I get it, but again. What have I done wrong? Yeah I wrote about history and went on about it, of course, but It was not just me ok, there are two sides. Ice cap has discussed as much about it as me. And Ive been polite all the time. I didnt even started the historical discussion.

Now we both stopped it, we enjoy the designs and thats it. It's over already since yesterday, so no need to bring these things up again. Everything is cool now

And no need to be rude or talking like this.

[IceCap]

Thanks Lee. I know I haven't helped matters, but I was at a crossroads. Do I let my thread get crapped on with a fight, or without one? Eh, all's well that ends well.

The Persian Empire, 559 BCE–330 BCE

Or to be more specific, the Achaemenid Empire. The term "Persian Empire" can refer to this Empire, or its successor states, the Parthian Empire, Sassanid Empire, or the Imperial State of Iran. This concept is dedicated the first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire.

The Persians, in their early history, were subjugated under the Medes, another ancient people from modern day Iran. Achaemenes, the originator of the dynasty that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, was a minor Persian king who payed tribute to the Medes. In 550 BCE Cyrus, a descendent of Achaemenes, rose up, crushed the Medes, and established the Persian Empire. He became Cyrus II of Persia, aka Cyrus the Great. He conquered Lydia in Asia Minor, and then the Babylonian Empire. After conquering the Babylonian Empire he freed the Jews from captivity and allowed them to return to Judea. This is an example of how Cyrus ruled his Empire. By allowing his subjects to handle their own affairs he fostered loyalty among the minority nations under his control. The Persian Empire was the first state to try and govern a large number of different peoples, and Cyrus' view was that as long as they stayed loyal and paid their taxes they could manage their own affairs and keep their own traditions. Though this was to the Empire's advantage, it started a trend of decentralized control that degraded the Empire to the point that Alexander the Great could just sweep in and conquer the who thing by the time of Darius III.

Cyrus' successes allowed his son Cambyses II to conquer Egypt. While in Egypt the throne was usurped by Gaumata, a priest. Cambyses II died on the way back to reclaim the throne. Gaumata was overthrown by Darius I after less then a year on the throne. To celebrate his people's unparalleled success Darius I built a grand Imperial capital, Persepolis. It wouldn't be completed for a century. Darius I continued on the traditions of Cyrus the Great by continuing to build administrative systems that would be used to govern the Empire. It was under Darius I that Persia first turned its attention to Greece.

The Greeks had incited Greek cities in Asia Minor under Darius I to rebel. In 490 BCE Athens and Plataea defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Marathon, forcing Darius I to call his forces back to Asia Minor. A revolt in Egypt forced Darius I to postpone his plans to invade Greece again. He died in 486 BCE before he could attempt another invasion. Darius I was succeeded by his son Xerxes as Xerxes I. Xerxes I is said to have been obsessed with conquering Greece and completing his father's invasion plans. Xerxes I amassed what was said to have been the largest army ever assembled at that point in history and crossed from Asia Minor into Greece. To do so a massive artificial bridge had to be completed. When a storm knocked the bridge down it's said that Xerxes I ordered his soldiers to whip the ocean for its insolence. Xerxes I's forces won a strategic victory over a unified Greek force at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. This battle was immortalized in Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 and the movie based off of it. Though there were only 300 Spartans at the battle, King Leonidas I of Sparta actually commanded between 4,000 and 7,000 Greeks that day. He was, however, still outmatched, as the estimates of the size of the Persian force were between 50,000 and 200,000. Though the Greeks lost, they did inflict heavy casualties on the Persian forces, and gave the rest of Greece time to muster its forces and prepare to face the Persians.

After his victory at Thermopylae Xerxes I sacked Athens, which had been evacuated by that point. His army lost the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, and he was forced to retreat back to Asia Minor. He left a smaller force in Greece under the command of his general Mardonius. Mardonius and what was left of the Persian presence in Greece were crushed by a unified Greek force at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE. This ended the Greek-Persian Wars and put a stop to the Persian Empire's plans to invade Europe. The Persian defeat in Greece opened to the door for Egypt to rebel and free itself of Persian control.

Artaxerxes I succeeded Xerxes I. He moved the capital to Babylon and made Zoroastrianism the Empire's official religion. Zoroastrianism would remain the dominant religion of the Persians until the Muslim conquest of the region in 644 CE.Darius II was succeeded by Artaxerxes II, who fought a bitter civil war against his younger brother Cyrus, who was backed by the Greeks, for the crown. Cyrus was killed in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE.

Artaxerxes III came to the throne by killing his eight brothers, but he cemented his reign by reconquering Egypt. As he was conquering Egypt Phillip II of Macedonia was drawing up plans to unite Greece and ultimately invade his Empire. Artaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV, but Artaxerxes IV was poisoned by Bagoas, a high ranking government official. Bagoas then got Artaxerxes IV's nephew, Darius, crowned as Darius III, believing he could control the new king. Upon hearing what had happened to his uncle he forced Bagoas to swallow poison.

Darius III went to Egypt to quash a rebellion, and couldn't have picked a worse time. Alexander III of Macedonia invaded his Empire through Asia minor, following through on his father Phillip II's plans.

After losing several key battles to Alexander the Great Darius III was killed by his most trusted adviser Bessus. Alexander was appalled to see an enemy he respected like Darius III killed in such a way, and gave the fallen King of Persia a Persian funeral. Bessus' forces were routed by Alexander III's army, which quickly went on to crush what remained of the Persian forces at the Battle of the Persian Gate in 330 BCE. The Persian Empire, the largest Empire ever seen up to that point, was crushed.

When Alexander III died returning from the fringes of India his empire was divided among his family and generals. What was once the Persian Empire was taken by Seleucus, on of Alexander's generals. His descendents would rule it as the Seleucid Empire, which existed as one of the last of the Hellenic kingdoms to hold out against the Roman Republic.

Hockey in the desert. How's that working out for everyone?

Anyway the Phoenix Coyotes' original set played up the southwestern motif. Perhaps to much, but the idea itself is popular enough, even if the execution was a little over the top. Regardless, the idea of a hockey team in the desert was so out there that an out there uniform design seemed fitting. I decided that I wanted a similar look here, for the desert hockey team of my project. The striping from the edge of the Imperial banner was used on the waist and right arm. The vertical chest stripe was taken from a San Jose Sharks concept I did a while ago. It's always been something I wanted to use more often. I felt this was the perfect chance to bring it back, as the triangle pattern striping left the torso and upper portions of the sweater a little plain. I wanted to go with a soccer crest look with the placement of the Imperial eagle crest.

I decided to replicate the pattern on the left arm, to balance out the design. I also stuck the Imperial eagle on the left shoulder, again to help balance out the asymmetrical look.

Tibet is up next.

[tvko]

Whoa, this one's cool. The left shoulder stripe is weird to me, though. I'd put the number under the captain's C, in line with the crest, but that's all. Or if not, you could make it a diagonal sash with the crest offset to one side, like the USMNT jerseys. Nice job again.

[SP00]

Whoa nice design. And the Cyrus standard is one amazing symbol

[IceCap]

Whoa nice design. And the Cyrus standard is one amazing symbol

Thanks. At first I was worried it would look to washed out as a concept, but I think it hold up.

[Jahgee]

For Tibet, you should use this logo without the script underneath

[IceCap]

Whoa, this one's cool. The left shoulder stripe is weird to me, though. I'd put the number under the captain's C, in line with the crest, but that's all. Or if not, you could make it a diagonal sash with the crest offset to one side, like the USMNT jerseys. Nice job again.

Great ideas.

I'm usually not on board with front numbers on hockey sweaters, but I think you have a point here, the nature of the design warrants it.

[Drakonius26]

Wow... that was a lot of "stuff" to sift through and look at these concepts, Ice. I love the Republic of Texas for obvious reasons, but most of them are fairly solid. Too bad I doubt you'll do an Atlantean-themed concept, at any point, but here's hoping.

[fumbler]

That " Persian" set is excellent Sky Blue is very unused in Major American sports teams, and i like the left hand side horizontal stripe some really interesting concepts Ice Cap.

[IceCap]

Tibet, 618-841/1921-1951

In 618 Songtsan Gampo of the Yarlung dynasty was crowned King of Tibet at the age of 12. His reign, which lasted to 649, saw the introduction of Buddhism to the country, and the expansion of Tibet's borders. Songtsan Gampo was the first ruler to unify the Tibetan people, establishing the Tibetan Empire. Songtsan Gampo's successors would cement Buddhism's status as the nation's official religion. King Trisong Detsan pushed Tibet's borders through central Asia, making Tibet a prominent power in the medieval Asian world.

Tibet lost their central Asian holdings in 747 when the Koran general Gao Xianzhi conquered them while in the employ of the Chinese. In 794 the Kingdom of Nanzhao, a client state of the Tibetan Empire, rebelled. Allied with the Chinese Empire, the Kingdom of Nanzhao was able to inflict serious damage on the Tibetans. King Tri Uidumtsaen's reign was marked with internal strife, and in 841 the government all but collapsed, opening the door for annexation by the Chinese Empire under the Mongolian Yuan dynasty.

The Chinese Empire left administrative duties to Tibetan officials, content to let Tibet remain autonomous within the Empire as long as they remained loyal. Pandita, a Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader), was chosen to head the administration in Tibet under the Chinese Empire. Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen seized power in Tibet in the mid 1300s, establishing the Phagmodrupa dynasty of rulers in Tibet under nominal Chinese authority. In 1578 Altan Khan gave Sonam Gyatso, a highly respected Tibetan Buddhist scholar, the title Dalai Lama, the first to receive the title (though it was retroactively assigned to two other spiritual leaders that came before him).

The first Europeans to arrive were Portuguese missionaries, who arrived in 1624. They were permitted to establish Christian missions, and many local rulers would convert to Christianity to try and weaken the power of the Buddhist spiritual schools (these schools, functionally, held roughly the power that the Catholic Church held in Europe). A century later the Christian missions were expelled.

In 1644 the Qing dynasty was established in the Chinese Empire, and they looked to exert more control over their holdings, Tibet included. In 1728 the Chinese sent an army in to consolidate control within Tibet, but almost all Chinese government personnel were killed by 1750 in a Tibetan rebellion. The rebellion was put down, but a compromise was reached. Tibet would remain part of the Chinese Empire, but it would remain autonomous with the Dalai Lama heading the local government.

The Qing dynasty would weaken, however. Corruption and complacent conservative attitudes would erode Chinese power. The Sino-Japanese War between 1894-95 significantly weakened the Chinese Empire and left it ripe for Japan and European powers to establish "spheres of influence" within China. Tibet, though nominally part of the Chinese Empire, gained even more autonomy as the Imperial government was trying to coup with a decaying governmental system and the incursions of the Japanese and Europeans.

In 1911 the Xinhai Revolution kicked off in China and toppled not only the Qing dynasty, but the Chinese Empire as a whole. A year later the Republic of China was proclaimed. In 1921 the Dalai Lama declared himself the head of an independent state of Tibet, mirroring the actions of Mongolia. The new Republic of China protested, but problems with local warlords and Chinese communist revolutionaries kept them from exerting their control over either. Between 1921 and 1951 Tibet was a de facto independent state.

In 1951 the Chinese People's Army, of the new People's Republic of China, annexed Tibet, all though they allowed the Dalai Lama to remain the head of the local government. In 1959 the Tibetans rebelled against the Chinese Communist Party's rule. The rebellion was crushed and the Dalai Lama fled to India, establishing a Tibetan government-in-exile. Since 1959 Tibet as existed as the Tibet Autonomous Region within the People's Republic of China while the Dalai Lama heads the Tibetan government-in-exile, hoping to restore Tibetan independence.

The crest combines two separate elements from the flag. A blue and orange ying-yang and a golden sun. The Tibetan flag is a rather complicated banner, and I wanted to distill it down to its most basic elements for the crest. A lot of stuff was left out, obviously, but I feel I picked the most prominent elements. I wanted a visual homage to the sunrays on the flag, but I didn't want them to consume the entire sweater. So I used the striping pattern Nike developed for the Romanian national team. In its original form it's supposed to represent the Romanian tri-colour, but used here, recoloured, I think it works as an excellent homage to the sunrays from the Tibetan flag. They're prominent, cutting past the gold border and into the white shoulder yoke, but they don't dominate the concept, which they very easily could have done.

The Saar Protectorate is up next.

[Buster]

A slight detour. I realize that this is neither defunct or a "state" in the traditional sense, but it seems fitting.

Al-Qaeda, 1988-Present

They're a**holes. That's pretty much it.

Bump to say I LOVE IT!