Weekly Flag Challenge: New Challenges & Previous Winners

[Xanthoc]

Congratulations @Rubberduck3y6

Inspired by the snow outside, I decided to put together a quick entry for this round.

Flag of the Winterburg Resort
Inspired by his love of skiing and the spectacle of the Winter Olympics, Russian businessman Ivan Moroz set about creating his own winter sports resort in the beautiful Ural Mountains. Named Zimagrad in Russian, and marketed internationally as the Winterburg Resort, the exclusive winter vacation destination boasts numerous ski slops, a snowboarding course and three ice rinks (two indoor and one outside) together with a spa and of course plentiful après ski opportunities!

Designed by Ivan Moroz himself, a flag was was created to fly throughout the resort to foster a sense of place and attachment to Winterburg amongst its visitors. The flag prominently features the Winterburg Resort logo of a stylised snowflake set at the top of a mountain slope in the colours of the Russian Federation.

 

[Rubberduck3y6]

Flag Challenge #184: Mixed Up

Make a flag which is a deliberate hybrid of two pre-existing flags, such as the how the flag of Hawaii combines the flags of Britain and the United States, or the flag of Shetland combines the Scottish saltire and a Nordic cross.

The two flags being fused together can either be OTL flags, ones you've created for the challenge, or a mixture of both. If you do use a new design for one/both of the "pre-existing" flags this/these should also be included in your entry.

Good luck!

Submissions Period: 11 March 2018 - 17 March 2018
Voting Period: 18 March 2018 - 24 March 2018

 

[Rubberduck3y6]

(Belated) congratulations to @The Professor for winning the last contest!

Banner of the Slovak Federation

The Banner of the Slovak Federation (Federacja Slowacka, Federace Slowanska) [1] derives from the royal banners of the original kingdoms of Bohemia, Poland, and Tatrania [2]. It consists of a red and white cottised triband bearing the federal arms. The Arms are an amalgamation of those borne during the Triple Kingdom period when Cornelius II Sawoisky of Poland-Tatrania inherited Bohemia:

• Bohemia - Gules; an eagle displayed chequy Sable & Or, charged with a Silesian Crescent Argent, beaked, taloned, & crowned Or.
• Poland - Gules; an eagle displayed Argent, armed, beaked, taloned, & crowned Or.
• Tatrania - Argent; an eagle displayed Gules, armed, beaked, taloned, and crowned Or.
• Savoy-Chamberie - Gules, a cross Argent, a bordure compony Sable & Or.

Cornelius I/II/II used the cottised triband most often, though did use a cottised white cross. His Palatine [3] Peter Korvinsky recorded that the cottised triband was an invention of the King, reflecting the common banners of Bohemia (red field or red & white triband) and Poland-Tatrania (red & white pentaband) alike. Cornelius as King of Poland-Tatrania previously used a pentaband bearing the simple dimidiated Arms of Poland & Tatrania.

Brief History
1304 Treaty of Durazzo. Laurence Tarantino and Uros Andrij Nemanjic agree to recognise each other as King of Croatia and Bosnia-Syrmia respectively and allowing the Hungarian Magnates to elect a (High) King of Hungary.
1305 Death of Wenceslas II Premysl King of Bohemia & Poland, claimant King of Hungary. Due to the Polish civil war Wenceslas III cedes his Hungarian territory and claim to his brother Henry. Henry adds to the Durazzo Treaty becoming King of Tatrania.
1307 Henry Premysl elected High King Andrew IV of Hungary.
Bohemian Succession War in death of Ottokar III. Henry IV Piast Duke of All Silesia, Ottokar's maternal halfbrother, succeeds as king.
1351 Stephan Premysl Duke of Styria succeeds his halfbrother Andrew V as King of Tatrania. Prince Ladislaus of Transylvania elected High King of Hungary.
1378 Casimir III Piast of Poland succeeded by grandson Casimir Savoy King of Tatrania Count of Chamberie (son in law of Stephan).
Schismatic War. Tatrania detached from Hungarian vassalship. Rise of Tarantine Roman Empire.
Baltic War. Cornelius I accepts loss of Prussia to U.K. of the North.
Cornelius II of Poland-Tatrania inherits Bohemia.

[1] Slovak being TTL term for West Slavic.
[2] The historical territory of northern Hungary i.e. OTL Slovakia. Named for the Tatras Mountains of the Western Carpathians.
[3] Prime Minister.

 

[The Professor]

Flag Challenge 185: The Royal March

The Royal March has a interesting history, from its creation, to incorporation in the royal domain, to the present day.

Create a flag for the Royal March at a notable point in its history that includes its Arms. This can be as simple as a Banner of Arms or as complex as a flag with the full achievement of crest, supporters, etc.

Flags can be for the de facto administration, de jure claimants, false claimants, or even independence movements.

[NOTE: The Royal March is whatever you decide but can't be ASB or fiction based]

Submissions Period: now - 1 April 2018
Voting Period: 2 April 2018 - 8 April 2018

Edit: submissions extended to 4th April.

 

[Krall]

Flag Challenge 185: The Royal March

The Royal March has a interesting history, from its creation, to incorporation in the royal domain, to the present day.

Create a flag for the Royal March at a notable point in its history that includes its Arms. This can be as simple as a Banner of Arms or as complex as a flag with the full achievement of crest, supporters, etc.

Flags can be for the de facto administration, de jure claimants, false claimants, or even independence movements.

[NOTE: The Royal March is whatever you decide but can't be ASB or fiction based]

Submissions Period: now - 1 April 2018
Voting Period: 2 April 2018 - 8 April 2018

If I'm understanding this correctly, the challenge is "Make a flag derived from a coat of arms that is in someway related to a march which is not ASB or based on fiction"?

 

[The Professor]

If I'm understanding this correctly, the challenge is "Make a flag derived from a coat of arms that is in someway related to a march which is not ASB or based on fiction"?

Derived from or includes the arms as per the 2 examples of France earlier. The March can't be ASB or fictional but can be territory that wasn't labelled as a march OTL.

 

[The Professor]

UPDATED

Flag Challenge 185: The Royal March

The Royal March has a interesting history, from its creation, to incorporation in the royal domain, to the present day.

Create a flag for a border province of a kingdom that includes the province's arms. This can be as simple as a Banner of Arms or as complex as a flag with the full achievement of crest, supporters, etc.

The border province must be within the kingdom, cannot be a kingdom itself (including OTL post 1300), nor ASB or otherwise fictional, and is held by a member of the Royal Family.

Flags can be for the de facto administration, de jure claimants, false claimants, or even independence movements.


Submissions Period: now - 8 April 2018
Voting Period: 9 April 2018 - 15 April 2018

 

[The Professor]

And the winner is:

How about this?
The Earldom of Northumbria is granted (as OTL) to Henry of Scotland by Stephen of England. Henry does not die before he accedes to the Scottish throne and thus the earldom is retained by the crown, but it is granted to a son of the king, not held by the king himself. Following the accession of Henry II to the English throne after the civil war, the Treaty of Horndean confirmed the earldom as an English fief held by the Scottish throne. The First Barons' War in England changed this. Alexander II withheld homage from Louis and on the death of John provided troops in support of Henry III. This support was recognised in the Treaty of Kingston which stated that the King of Scots owed no fealty to the King of England for the Earldom.
The status of Northumbria as English or Scottish remained unclear until the 1237 Treaty of York, which confirmed the boundary between the two countries to be the Solway Firth in the west and the mouth of the River Tees in the east (the southern boundary of Bernicia, one of the 6th/7th century predecessors to the kingdom of Northumbria). The Earldom of Northumbria became the East March of Scotland, more southerly than OTL.

As the March is held by a son of the king, the banner of arms is the king's arms with a bordure (following the Stodart cadency system); if the king has no son, the post is held vacant but still held by the Scots throne.
This particular banner of arms shows a later version of the lion rampant, surrounded by a bordure of the Northumbria colours (paly Or and gules). I don't have time to do the full achievement of arms, but it would have the same in the shield, with a royal helm and a crest with a prince's crown and a lion holding a cross (symbolising the importance of Christianity in Northumbria) and a sword, with supporters of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and a unicorn (for Scotland), and a motto 'fides et vigilantia' meaning 'faith and watchfulness'.

Spoiler: Blazon for full Achievement

Escutcheon Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counter-flory gules (for the Kingdom of Scotland), within a bordure paly Or and gules embattled counter-embattled (for Northumbria); For a Crest, upon a Royal helm a princely crown proper, a lion sejant affrontée Gules, princely crowned Or, holding in the dexter paw a cross and in the sinister paw a sword both erect and proper; Motto 'fides et vigilantia' (faith and watchfulness); Mantling Or and gules; for Supporters, dexter St Cuthbert holding a pastoral staff, sinister a unicorn Argent armed, crined and unguled Proper, gorged with a princely coronet Or a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or.

After all that, here's the banner of arms of Robert, 11th Warder of the East March of Scotland, being the Earldom of Northumbria, held in perpetuity by the Scots throne and invested in the son of the King of Scots:
View attachment 379650

ps it might look like the rule of tincture is violated here, but that doesn't apply with bordures; it is unusual for the bordure to share one of the tinctures of the field, but not completely unheard of.

Edited to comply with size limits - flag now 800x600
Edited to clarify that the March/Earldom is a part of the Kingdom of Scotland.

We look forward to your challenge.

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Flag Challenge 186: All at sea

OTL there are some nations which have different flags (that is, not their national flags) as naval ensigns or civil ensigns. For example, the UK has the White Ensign as the naval ensign for the Royal Navy and the Red Ensign as the civil ensign. Other nations use their national flags as naval and/or civil ensigns.

Create a naval or civil ensign for a nation which IOTL uses/used its national flag for this purpose.
The nation can be from any period of history but must be OTL. If a nation currently uses its national flag in a different form (swallowtail, triangular, etc) but with no other difference, then this nation is eligible. Any other difference from the national flag (canton, additional symbols, etc) disqualifies a nation.
The entry should be one ensign only, but you may (if you wish) post a link to the national flag for comparison as well.

Submissions Period: now - 27th April 2018
Voting Period: 28th April - 1st May 2018

Edit (20th April): as there is only one submission so far, and because AH.com was down for most of today, I'm extending the submissions period for seven days, as allowed by Rule 4 of the Challenge Rules. As per my note below, as I'll be on holiday, @The Professor has agreed to manage the poll for me. If, as unfortunately looks likely , there are not enough submissions at the end of this extended period, this challenge will be null and void and @Mirror may choose a new one.

As I will be on holiday from 22nd April, @The Professor has agreed to manage the poll for me. He remains eligible to enter, as the theme is mine. In the event of there not being enough entries at the end of the submissions period (extended if necessary), I nominate @Mirror (who came a very close second - congratulations) to choose a challenge instead.

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Submissions Period for Challenge 186 extended - see edited post above.

 

[FriendlyGhost]

The winner, with over two-thirds of the votes, is ...(drum roll)...

View attachment 383501

San Marino merchant marine ensign (pennant form) from TL-514

----

Excerpts from an MSSE dossier [1], based on information collected by the MIEC [2] of the IDA [3]:

"TL-514 is fairly similar to TL-75 [4], TL-132 and TL-772. It is speculated it might be an offshoot of either of these three timelines.

At some point in the late 19th or 20th century, the government of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino decided to enter the shipping business. Landlocked, and with barely an army, it was clear to everyone a Sanmarinese navy would remain an impossibility. However, enterprising politicians and businessmen saw economic potential in a tiny merchant marine. It was argued a few freighters could earn extra cash for the national budget by ferrying various goods on both chartered and regular lines. To this end, funds were raised, the Maritime Shipping Company of San Marino was established, and eventually a few freighters were bought. To this day, the Republic of San Marino in TL-514 still operates its own merchant marine of no more than 5 international freighters. The ships are registered at Italian or Maltese ports.

Over the decades, the San Marino merchant marine ensign has undergone several variations. The latest iteration was created and approved in the 1970s. It uses a pennant shape and contains heraldic charges depicted in the national coat of arms, but in a highly stylised form, with simplified modern contours."

Notes:
[1] - Multiverse Sociopolitical Survey Expedition
[2] - Multiverse Institute Exploration Corps
[3] - InterDimensional Alliance (a sort of multiversal UN/NATO)
[4] - OTL

Congratulations, Petike.

 

[Petike]

FLAG CHALLENGE #187: Go East, Younguns !

Colonies or overseas territories of Slavic nations other than Russia in Asia

Fairly straightforward. Make flags for OTL or ATL long-term colonies, overseas territories and other dependencies in Asia, created by any of the Slavic nations of Europe, excepting Russia. Furthermore, you cannot use the OTL pan-Slavic tricolor, it is out. These two restrictions are in place to make the challenge a bit more tricky and... well, challenging. Which part of Asia the colony is founded in doesn't really matter, that's up to you. Just to counterbalance the two major restrictions. Get creative !

Submissions Open: Now (3 May 2018, Thursday)
Submissions Close: 9 May 2018 (Wednesday) 8:00:00 AM GMT
Voting Period: 9 May 2018 (Wednesday) - 14 May 2018 (Monday) 12:58:00 PM GMT

 

[Petike]

The winner, with a total of 23 votes out of 38 (60.5 % of votes), is @BelfastBrawler and his flag of the Bulgarian Protectorate of Syria.

Protectorate of Syria (1917-?)
Bulgaria Joins the Entente instead of the Central powers in WW1 resulting in a quicker victory.Upon victory, Bulgaria annexes parts of Syria and instates a controlled goverment, effectively Syria becoming a colony of Bulgaria.

Congratulations.

 

[BelfastBrawler]

FLAG CHALLENGE #188: The Ghost of WFC Past.
This is a simple challenge, you must make a flag by combinig two flags of the previous winners of the WFC.
However you must not use two flags from the same participant. Also, you can't use your own winning submissions. Also link or add the flags to your post so people have a way to campare it to your submission, and remember to credit the original creator too.

Use this link to see the previous winners.

Submissions period: 14th of May - 21st of May
Voting period: 21st of May - 28th of May

 

[BelfastBrawler]

Congrats Citizen Keynes & FriendlyGhost, you tied with 12 votes each.

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Thank you to all who voted, regardless of whom you voted for. I believe the convention when there's a tie is for the winners to agree who should choose the next theme. I will have little or no internet access during the next 4-5 days, so I am happy to hand it straight over to @Citizen Keynes - congratulations!

Edit: sorry, wrong thread - I'll repost this in the Discussion thread...

 

[Citizen Keynes]

Sorry for the late challenge everyone, but here it is!

Flag Challenge #189: Flag Without a Country
Make a flag for an ethnicity or culture (See this page for examples). The flag can represent a broad ethnic group or one specific to a country (e.g. Italian-Americans). Alternate/non-existent countries and cultures are allowed, as are fantasy places and beings. The only rule is that your flag cannot be used by an OTL or ATL country, it must be solely used to represent the ethnicity.

Submissions Period: now - June 5 2018
Voting Period: June 6 2018 - June 13 2018

 

[BelfastBrawler]

Congratulations to @BelfastBrawler for his winning flag!

You also have to post the winner here.

Flag Challenge #190: Hexes
This is a simple challenge. You must submit a flag that uses at least one hexagon in it's design. It doesn't have to have all sides the same It can be a simple shape, a pattern, part of and emblem or coat of arms even the shape of the flag. Just make sure it is noticeable(e.g. a tiny hexagon within a coat of arms). Also six pointed stars do not qualify as hexagons.

Submissions Period: June 14th - June 21st 2018
Voting Period: June 21st 2018 - June 28th 2018

 

[Green Painting]

Seems that I won, so, before I go to sleep:

Flag Challenge 191: Too Provincial


Design or re-design TWO(2) flags for TWO(2) OTL or ATL PROVINCES of an OTL or ATL sovereign state.


Provinces, or states, pradeshes, oblasts, prefectures, governorates, cantons, circuits, departments, or any other top level administrative subdivisions of a sovereign state.

You can choose to provide a text description for the country and/or the two provinces, but only

1) Name of the country,

2) Name of two provinces,

3) Two flags

are mandatory.


Submissions Period: June 28th - July 5th 2018

Voting Period: July 6th 2018 - July 13th 2018

 

[BelfastBrawler]

^You should've waited for me to mention you