flag design check?

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pd Rydia
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flag design check?

Unread postby pd Rydia » Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:06 pm

We are missing a lot of flags for countries, so I decided to doodle a few up. Thought I'd get a few opinions before posting them up on the wiki, especially as 4/5 are for Argovian countries (Argovian war and whatnot), and one is for Kalshana, which FD may have other ideas for.


Image
http://mysidia.org/rpgww/Kalshana
Um. I don't entirely remember what I was doing with this. I looked at a couple old (but not extremely old) Roman flags, just 'cuz Kalshana's government is all Romanish. A couple of them had SPQR on them ('Senatus PopulusQue Romae', i.e. 'the Senate and People of Roma') which I thought was neat, so I made up squigglies and put them on there--what they mean can be decided upon later. The black field represents the nastiness of Kalshana's past, while the green field represents the goodstuffs. The white field represents both present and the potential of the future, and is larger than the other two because Kalshana is just so awesome it gets better with every passing day/living in the present is more important than living in the past. Depends upon whom you ask.

Image
http://mysidia.org/rpgww/Terumahilana
square flag, horizontally divided into equal parts; top half colored in representation of "earth" and bottom half colored in representation of "sea"; square shape, equal divisions represent balance--of land and sea, light and dark, human and Long, etc. The general idea at the flag's making was to represent two very separate factors, such as the disparate human and dragon cultures of Terumahilana, forming a coherent whole.

Image
Image
http://mysidia.org/rpgww/Beau
Why does Beau, a country without a government, have a flag? A commonly used design has developed because [1] the people of Beau have a strong sense of national identity and [2] the tradition of the flag is an old one and good one. Flags are decoration, attention-grabbers, and tell others about yourself. while not everyone in Beau uses the same flag, this design has spread like a meme and is well-known.

The basic design of the flag starts with a white field, which is related to the peace symbolism of the "white flag"--a reference to Beau's good faith "neutrality" status within Argovia. The bright colors added to the side were originally made to be "attention grabbers," detail added by merchants. Merchants are also the reason why the flag is usually flipped around, with the colors to the flagpole, and the white field cut in a fancy manner and trimmed with colored thread.

The five colors were supposed to symbolize the #N major islands of Beau, but it looks like (on the map) there are 6 of them. Oops. I forgot to check. I'll likely add another swatch in photoshop if peoples like this design (or decide one of the islands on the map isn't considered "major").

Image
Image
http://mysidia.org/rpgww/Alahana
color fields: sky (success), the alahi (gift of gaera), gaera (soil, earth)
Gaera (deity) being such an important concept to the Alahi, I figured it would get the largest field on the flag. The flag's horizontally divided because of the focus on Gaera, too, since--y'know--the horizon and all. Originally I was going to symbolize "Gaera's gifts" as a green bar, right above the red/brown, but the Alahi are a little self-centered for a race, so I figured they'd rather figure themselves (the Alahi race) the gifts than, say, plantlife and animals and such (the tools Gaera provides them). The sky is there as the stereotypical symbol of "what to strive for"--the Alahi, IIRC, believe in striving for and bringing success to the family, country, and Gaera, in order to be properly rewarded in the afterlife.

The second flag is an attempt at representing a religious symbol (an abstraction of a bird over the sun or moon, for portuna). Dunno what I think about it, but I wanted to try something different than just color-color-color.

Idran1701
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Unread postby Idran1701 » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:56 pm

These are some pretty neat designs, I'd say. They seem quite well thought out for their respective nations. As for personal opinions, I like the second choices for both Beau and Alahana. For Beau, just because I think having a non-rectangular flag helps to solidify them as different than most countries, sort of a reflection of their governmentless status. And for Alahana, just because I think the flag looks more creative with the additional symbol, it gives more background color. I know that realistically creativity isn't necessarily the prime concern for flag design, but in terms of what looks good for a fictional nation, I think it's a good characteristic here.

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Unread postby Nekogami » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:18 pm

Beautiful designs!

I love the second one for Beau and Alahana. There's something about the Lanese flag. From reason I see a circle somewhere in the design but I can't get beyond that. Otherwise, amazing job.

I'll try to get Inustan's flag up, as well as, any other country I guard.

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pd Rydia
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Unread postby pd Rydia » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:29 pm

Thanks Idran and thanks Amanda. I'm glad to get feedback, especially on the Alahana flag as I would have gone with the first.

Here's a couple very minor variations on the Terumahilana flag, but it touches on the circle bit--it also seems a bit reminiscent of the yin-yang. I think I prefer the verticle.

Image Image

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Unread postby Nekogami » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:44 pm

pd Rydia wrote:
Here's a couple very minor variations on the Terumahilana flag, but it touches on the circle bit--it also seems a bit reminiscent of the yin-yang. I think I prefer the verticle.

Image Image


I prefer the vertical as well! Excellently done, Diane!


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