Symbols of Concultures

Discussions about constructed worlds, cultures and any topics related to constructed societies.
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Shemtov
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Shemtov »

Here's a flag that the modern versions of my conculture, the Anerites, have adopted as an expression of ethnic identity:
Image
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
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Yiuel
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Yiuel »

The Flag of the State of Melville
Spoiler:
Image
The State of Melville is actually a huge confederations of cities, which are sedentary communities, and bands, which are nomadic communities.
Notice the ratio of the flag, 2:1. This is the British standard, but Melville is not British at all. The reason is simply that Melville is represented by the left square, a huge doublearrow for Melville, and the bands on the right (which fly freely from each other) represent Melville's diversity. (There are 31 bands for the 31 days of the Festival Month of Melville) Because Melville considers its diversity as important as its unity, they wanted to give both the same area on the flag.
The Flag of the City of Sevy, the Multisocial City of Melville.
Spoiler:
Image
This colorful but simple flag is simply to represent the crossroads of the city, being, at first, the union of four cities, Hundred-Houses, Delta, Fjordville and Bayville. Each color is based on each of these cities, and the white bands represent the peace and links between all of the cities to form Sevy.
All the local neighborhoods have their own flags (and cultures) and these flags have precedence over the Sevean flag, except in front of Sevean services. And the Sevean flag has precedence over the Melvillian flag. That doesn't mean Seveans won't fly the Melvillian flag; indeed, Seveans, like most Melvillians, love it. But sovereignty is bottom-top in Melville, so local services are given precedence. The rule is to have the most proeminent flag on the near side of an entrance or, if there is no entrance, it should be nearest to the pathway.

The city also happens to be the de facto capital of Melville.
- It is the largest city of Melville, so services in Sevy are more diverse than anywhere in Melville, so the physical building of the Assembly of Melville is located there. It is also very easy to to commute there. (Though most big cities are pretty much as easily reachable.)
- It's multisociality means that Sevy, unlike all other cities of Melville, is not limited to one culture. All cities in Melville are monocultural (some may be shared, but it's a rare event), but Sevy is the exception to the rule. This affects life in the city itself: most neighborhoods are essentially independent and when you cross a neighborhood border, it's like going into a foreign country. (Canada is probably the closest to that, today) Don't even expect everyone to speak the Common Language of Melville: while a lot of people do speak it, most people don't, and Melvillians and Seveans do not expect it anyway. However, members of the Assembly of Sevy are expected to be able to debate in CLM (local assemblies have no such rules; indeed, the local language overrides any other version when it relates to locals, even CLM : the opposite of France with French).
- Because of the presence of many cultures, including some that have other independent cities (Hundred-Houses gave birth to a culture of its own, and eventually to an independent city outside of Sevy), many cities found it convenient to have an embassy (basically a liaison office) in Sevy. Cities in Melville share embassies like States today do. Many embassies in Sevy actually also become a small neighborhood of the city within Sevy, expect many language schools there.
(Basically, in Melville, local overides mutlilocal and multilocal overides Melville. However, because of how laws are made in Melville, Melvillian laws dominate any local law, but anything not defined by Melvillian law can be defined by local laws.)
Ie Ien Iras Ĉiu
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Te tosrastai karsuraka me toskarmai!
- Yau 300-yai

:qbc: [tick], :eng: [:D], :fra: [:D], :epo: [:D], :jpn: [:D], :swe: [:|]
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Creyeditor
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Creyeditor »

I haven't told you about the flags in my conworld yet. They are not that exciting, except that they are inspired by the Nepal flag. I thought if we have one flag that looks like this and a lot of flags that don't (due to european domination, I guess) what if Nepal conquered the world?
See here.
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atman
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by atman »

Well, flags are generally rectangular because of practical reasons. Rectangular flags just last longer when exposed to the weather and are cheaper to make than "swallow-tail" ones (like Nepal's flag) or other complex shapes.

As for me, here are two Atlantean flags:

Image

The one above is the national flag on land; the one below is the national flag at sea.
Oh, and the inscription simply means "Symbols of the Republic".

I haven't designed (yet) individual flags/coats of arms for the various islands, cities and so on. Now that would be a lot of work...
Երկնէր երկին, երկնէր երկիր, երկնէր և ծովն ծիրանի.
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Creyeditor »

atman wrote:Well, flags are generally rectangular because of practical reasons. Rectangular flags just last longer when exposed to the weather and are cheaper to make than "swallow-tail" ones (like Nepal's flag) or other complex shapes.
Well, in the olden days, they were like our flags, more precisely two flags on one pole.
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Ambrisio
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Ambrisio »

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Last edited by Ambrisio on 06 Dec 2014 05:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Man in Space
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Man in Space »

I made a flag for the Kmdön n Tim Ar (Tim Ar Imperium):

Image

Black and red alternating stripes symbolize the ground and the blood shed over it; there are fourteen, one for each province. The blue stripe in the center signifies the unification maintained by the Imperator.
Twin Aster megathread

AVDIO · VIDEO · DISCO

CC = Common Caber
CK = Classical Khaya
CT = Classical Ĝare n Tim Ar
Kg = Kgáweq'
PB = Proto-Beheic
PO = Proto-O
PTa = Proto-Taltic
STK = Sisỏk Tlar Kyanà
Tm = Təmattwəspwaypksma
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Foolster41
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Foolster41 »

Repubic of Saltha's Flag:
Image

National Motto: "kosergtonle|asanai litatonle|asanai" (All om earth are equal, all on earth are free)

National Animal: The Kes (a large reptilian creature simular to a komodo dragon)
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Maraxxus
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Maraxxus »

Image
:nld: :eng: :hun: :fra: :deu:
:con: Maxédri
:con: Faljüdax
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by eldin raigmore »

atman wrote:...
So the Atlantean national motto is "File Not Found picturepush.com"?
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Ahzoh
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Ahzoh »

The flag for Vrkhazhian I have as a small flag icon:
Image

You can see the national symbol in the middle in red.
It's called an "iqrashil". The symbol represents an eye being nailed. Supposedly to represent the emotion of suffering, the aspect that a certain ancient god represented.
Most befitting a morbid culture.
The origin of the symbol is speculated to belonging to the man that is believed to have found the nation of Vrkhazh.
Image Śād Warḫallun (Vrkhazhian) [ WIKI | CWS ]
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Man in Space
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Man in Space »

reddit user /u/MOAR_cake did a redesign of the flag I posted earlier. He said the middle stripe of the original flag wasn't distinct enough at a distance. He then reworked it into the design below. I agree with him and I think it looks a bit cooler:
Spoiler:
Image
Twin Aster megathread

AVDIO · VIDEO · DISCO

CC = Common Caber
CK = Classical Khaya
CT = Classical Ĝare n Tim Ar
Kg = Kgáweq'
PB = Proto-Beheic
PO = Proto-O
PTa = Proto-Taltic
STK = Sisỏk Tlar Kyanà
Tm = Təmattwəspwaypksma
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by eldin raigmore »

Linguifex wrote:reddit user /u/MOAR_cake did a redesign of the flag I posted earlier. He said the middle stripe of the original flag wasn't distinct enough at a distance. He then reworked it into the design below. I agree with him and I think it looks a bit cooler:
I like the thinner white pales that set off the thicker central pale; but I don't like that the new blue of the central pale is no longer easier to distinguish from the black of half of the middle-width pales.
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Egerius
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Egerius »

Well, I don't have a proper name for the (later) country Buonavalle would be the capital of. But that didn't stop me from creating a flag and a motto.

Click here!

I've exchanged the hammer with a quill (which stands for intellect and literacy).
The figure under sickle and quill is the symbol of my con people's religion.

The motto is Romanz and can be translated as "With God and equality and knowledge, we are splendor/greatness".
Edit: I came up with two additional mottos (both in Latin):
Splendor in unitatem
Splendor hic & illic

Greatness in unity
Greatness here and there
Last edited by Egerius on 12 Jun 2014 13:15, edited 1 time in total.
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atman
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by atman »

eldin raigmore wrote: So the Atlantean national motto is "File Not Found picturepush.com"?
Speaking of Atlanteans, do you like "File Swallowed Into The Abysses Of The Internet" better? [;)]

No, seriously I don't feel like redrawing my flags (I don't even remember how I managed to do it the first time!), so I'll just describe them. This "Formerly Hellenic Republic of Macaronesia" of mine has two flags: one is to be used on land and the other is for use at sea.

The land flag is a horizontal tricolor, green, white and blue more or less like Sierra Leone. In recent years, this flag is always flown outside public buildings alongside the EU flag. The flag at sea is shaped like the United Arab Emirates flag: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... es.svg.png

The differences are that the lowermost horizontal band is blue instead of black, while the vertical band on the left is white instead of red. In this vertical band there is a plain black stylized trident, symbol of the god Poseidon and national symbol in general.

As for a real motto... I don't know... what about... something like kòra, yeznos, lhutèrya mèhon "Our land, our people, our freedom". Do you like it?
Egerius wrote: The motto is Romanz and can be translated as "With God and equality and knowledge, we are splendor/greatness".
Perhaps it should be a little shorter, I don't know...
Երկնէր երկին, երկնէր երկիր, երկնէր և ծովն ծիրանի.
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Dormouse559 »

I'm thinking about making the motto for Silvia (where Silvish is spoken) "Nox et dies non requiescent", the final words of God's covenant to no longer flood the earth. As things stand, the Silvish find themselves an independent state up in the Alps between the nationalistic "floods" of France and Italy. (With my luck though there's some rule in heraldry restricting scripture-derived mottos.)

EDIT: fixing a typo
Last edited by Dormouse559 on 12 Jun 2014 19:04, edited 1 time in total.
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atman
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by atman »

Dormouse559 wrote:I'm thinking about making the motto for Silvia (where Silvish is spoken) "Nox et dies non requiescent", the final words of God's covenant to no longer flood the earth.
NOX ET DIES NON REQVIESCENT... does it mean "night and day won't stop", right?

I like the idea of a Latin motto, I'm going to steal it right away, but as the Atlántiqa speakers are of Hellenic and not Roman descent, this alternate motto will be in Proto-Atlántiqa, that is Archaic :grc: :

χώρη, ἔθνος, καί ἐλευθερίη ἡμείων.

Kòra, yeznos, lhutèrya mèhon.
Երկնէր երկին, երկնէր երկիր, երկնէր և ծովն ծիրանի.
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Dormouse559
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Dormouse559 »

atman wrote:NOX ET DIES NON REQVIESCENT... does it mean "night and day won't stop", right?
Correct! The modern Silvish translation is "La noit e lo gzorne ne s'empescaràn".
atman wrote:I like the idea of a Latin motto, I'm going to steal it right away,
Oh noes! My totally original idea has been stolen! [xD]

I like the look of your two mottos. You can easily see they are related, but you can also see the effects of sound changes and stylistic changes.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by eldin raigmore »

Dormouse559 wrote:(With my luck though there's some rule in heraldry restricting scripture-derived mottos.)
In fact there are no rules at all in heraldry concerning mottos. You can have "Look out for number one" as your motto if you want to.

Is there really a rule in heraldry that descendants of regicides can't be granted coats of arms?
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Dormouse559
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Re: Symbols of Concultures

Post by Dormouse559 »

eldin raigmore wrote:In fact there are no rules at all in heraldry concerning mottos. You can have "Look out for number one" as your motto if you want to.
That's good to hear. It's funny because I was just looking at mottos and saw Puerto Rico's, which is also a Bible quote.
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