Congratulations!
You've just overthrown the Empire or won the Battle of the Trident or consolidated the
24 warring houses.
However you've done it, you’ve united a large part of Westeros or Middle-Earth, our
Earth, the Galaxy or whatever under a single banner.
But now you must decide what goes on that banner and that's where things get tricky.
Back in 2017 when the world was young and yet to know the bitter sting of winter, the
Templin Institute launched its first investigation into the world of vexillology, or you know,
the study of flags.
Now, just about five years later and seemingly out of ideas, we return to discuss some more
of the best and worst flags and emblems from across alternate worlds.
But first, I’m excited to announce that the Templin Institute has partnered with our
friends over at Kaiser Cat Cinema to host an ongoing flag design competition.
Starting right now, you can submit your own flag design to us via Twitter, along with
as much of a description as you can fit in 240 characters.
The winner will have their design produced and then sent their way so it can be prominently
displayed in your home, or carried into battle.
They’ll be a new winner each month, so if you haven’t already, be sure to follow us
on Twitter, and if you’d like to see the full details of the contest, you’ll find
all the necessary information in the description below this video.
Okay, so let’s quickly review what makes a good flag.
According to the North American Vexillological Association or NAVA, this comes down to five
basic principles.
The first is to keep it simple.
Most of the time flags are going to be waving majestically when there’s a steady breeze,
or hanging limply when there isn’t one, either way, the more complex a design the
harder it will be to identify.
If a child can draw it from memory, you’re in a good place.
The second is to use meaningful symbolism.
Flags are meant to represent something, so it's important that every element, the colors,
shapes, layout or pattern, are not arbitrary.
They should be deliberate manifestations of history, heritage, emotions or whatever else
is important to those raising this flag.
Next up, you should aim to limit the number of colors to between two and three.
Any more, and they might be harder to distinguish from one another.
You should also be careful that the colors used have effective contrast, and work equally
well when reduced to a black and white design.
If your flag has 3 slightly different shades of blue, their subtleties are going to be
lost pretty much immediately.
The fourth principle is to avoid lettering or seals.
This should hopefully be obvious, not only will these complex shapes quickly be lost
on a moving or hanging flag, but if you need to write the name of your country or whatever
on your flag, doesn’t that defeat the entire point to begin with?
And lastly we have “be distinctive”.
This flag is likely going to be flying alongside many others and it's important that the design
stands out.
That said, it is okay for flags to draw inspiration from others, provided there is some sort of
connection between what they’re representing.
Ideally though, you want local elements to be emphasized.
There are of course many other considerations, the width-to-length ratio of the flag, or
even its overall shape if you want to abandon the standard rectangle.
But we must also consider the immortal words of Captain Hector Barbossa.
While these basic principles are a good starting point, it’s entirely possible to craft a
great design that breaks these rules.
It’s just important to understand the purpose behind those principles before you break them.
Or as NAVA would say “depart from these five principles only with caution and purpose”.
It should also be mentioned that these rules pertain mainly to federal, provincial or municipal
flags, those related to the military and regimental flags especially will have their own different
set of rules and traditions.
Lastly, it needs to be said that poorly designed flags aren’t necessarily unrealistic.
Bad flags are pretty common across our world, I mean take it from someone who’s lived
in Kelowna, Vancouver, Lethbridge and Arby’s, I mean Calgary.
While an established interstellar state is probably going to have a well-funded graphics
department, a colony out in the borderlands might just have to make do with somebody who
took an art course in college.
Okay, so which flags from alternate worlds adhere to these principles and end up with
a great design.
These are in no particular order, so let's start with the Kingdom of Gondor.
This is a perfect example of how to blend aesthetics with symbolism.
The most prominent element is of course the White Tree of Gondor, an important symbol
to the race of men stretching back to the Kingdom of Numenor and the friendship that
existed with the elves.
The seven stars represent the seven ships that first carried the Palantiri or Seeing
Stones after Numenor fell, while the crown represents the royal line of Gondor’s kings.
Aesthetically this all works very well, the tree is detailed enough to be iconic, yet
not so intricate that its character would be lost when the flag is waving or when viewed
from a distance.
The seven stars and crown meanwhile, help accentuate the shape of the tree.
I also love the black field on which these symbols are placed.
It is equal parts graceful and imposing.
Above all though, this flag is unique, even across alternate worlds it is immediately
recognizable and unlikely to be confused with any other.
Next we have the emblem of the Romulan Star Empire.
This features a predatory bird clutching the twin worlds of Romulus and Remus.
The symbolism here is pretty straightforward, but it's the distinctiveness of this design
I’d really like to discuss.
If and when the Templin Institute annexes the North American Vexillological Association
I’m going to add another principle of flag design.
#6 is going to be “stop with all the predatory birds”.
Across alternate worlds, I think these are the most overused design element, and more
often than not, the end results are generic or forgettable.
Not the Romulans though, by featuring either an alien bird native to Romulus or some mythological
creature from their history this design stands out.
And incorporating the twin planets into it adds another layer of symbolism.
The emblem of the Romulan Star Empire is the ultimate exception to my no-birds rule.
If you simply must incorporate a predatory bird into your flag, then you would do well
to take some inspiration from the next emblem on our list, that of the Global Defense Initiative.
Your mileage might vary, but this emblem works for me because of its simplified and stylized
take on the bird motif.
This is not an attempt to represent one naturally and as a result, it stands out.
Using a side profile also adds a feeling of agency or momentum which elevates the entire
design.
Contrast that with the emblem of United Nations Space Command, which while equally stylized,
resembles far too other designs across alternate worlds to really be unique and memorable.
The emblem of the Carja Sundom is another design that really succeeds, even while breaking
a few rules.
It’s a little too complex, I feel like a lot of these small details are going to be
lost in the wind, but these small details are what makes it brilliant.
The Carja are a post-apocalyptic society that has emerged within the ruins of a far more
advanced world that they can’t possibly understand.
Just as many civilizations adopted elements from the natural world to use on their banners,
the Carja have drawn inspiration from the advanced technology all around them.
They’ve taken a simple shape, but constructed it using the visual language of circuit boards,
which to them, undoubtedly have some special meaning or significance.
Even if we don’t know the exact symbolism behind this design, it tells you so much about
the state of the world the Carja find themselves within.
Last on our best designs list, we have the state banner of the Helghast Nation.
Now this design should immediately tell you something, even if you are entirely unfamiliar
with Helghast history or society.
The red, black and white evokes the colors of various fascist or revolutionary movements,
while the three arrows are reminiscent of the both the Nazi swastika, the yoke and arrows
of falangist Spain and the Arrow Cross of Hungary.
Overall it comes across as aggressive, intimidating, ambitious and powerful.
The emblem gets some extra bonus points though as it has some interesting symbolism and history.
Known as the Helghast Triad, this symbol was originally based on an earlier symbol used
during the colonization of Helghan; three interlocking arms representing peace, justice,
and freedom.
When the new government came to power, it simplified the design and changed its meaning,
with the three arrows representing Duty, Obedience and Loyalty.
This is a great example of how the meaning of national symbols can change depending on
the ruling regime.
This design though, is perhaps just a bit too successful.
If a flag like this were adopted in the modern world, it would certainly provoke some controversy.
The facist ideology has been so soundly destroyed across public opinion, that even authoritarian
governments with facist elements have to distance themselves from this kind of aesthetic.
So let's move on to the flags and emblems that in my opinion, really don’t work.
And we’ll start with the modern incarnation of a flag, whose previous version actually
made it into the best of list in our previous video; the United Federation of Planets, circa
3189 or so.
I hate this design.
One of the things that made the original Federation Flag so good, was that the stars present in
its central emblem didn’t have any assigned meaning, they were not supposed to represent
specific stars or planets.
This implied that no Federation member was more prominent than any other, the stars simultaneously
represented every planet, and none of them.
But the 32nd Century version of this flag ruins that meaningful symbolism.
Stars have been removed, one would assume because the Federation in this era has lost
many of its former members.
As a result, the flag looks rather empty and lifeless with a bunch of empty space.
Now you might say, ah, but that’s the point, this is actually a great representation of
how far the Federation has fallen.
And you’d be right, but that’s exactly why this flag should never have been adopted.
What Federation President is going to their graphic designer with the direction “we
want the new flag to evoke feelings of decline, loss and depression” which is exactly what
this design does.
Our next design is kind of tricky, because on the surface, it’s actually quite good:
House Atreides.
Again, a few versions of their emblem exist, but I’d like to focus on this one in particular.
Now based on everything I’ve been talking about, this design doesn’t belong on this
list, it conforms to every rule, except my no predator birds one, but we’ll let that
slight for now.
What instead bothers me is, this design is too sleek and modern for the universe it exists
within.
Atreides is an ancient house within an even more ancient Imperium.
The galaxy revolves around this archaic feudal system in which thinking machines are outlawed,
and yet this design looks like its fresh from Adobe Illustrator.
It might make sense as a roundel on Ornithopters or other equipment, but for giant banners
rolled out to mark the entrance of the Duke, I would have hoped to see a more complex,
baroque design.
Something like this for instance.
Okay, just one more predatory bird, I promise.
The insignia of Spartan Operations within United Nations Space Command is pretty bland.
Aesthetically the design is very competent, but like many UNSC emblems, the inspiration
from American designs is just way too obvious.
Why is a Special Operations military branch using a bland copy of the Seal of the United
States?
But what I really hate about this emblem is how it seems to have avoided any kind of meaningful
symbolism in favor of yet another bird emblem.
You have an organization called Spartan Operations that is full of soldiers called Spartans,
who you might say have been inspired by ancient Sparta, so what symbol do you choose?
Of course, a bird.
Like the Helghast Nation, the Principality of Zeon seems to have taken some inspiration
from Nazi Germany, but they’ve gone a bit too far.
They have essentially copied the naval ensign of the Kriegsmarine and then replaced the
Germanic eagle with their own symbol.
I’ll give Zeon the benefit of the doubt here, maybe there is a perfectly reasonable
explanation for why they’ve copied a 20th century facist flag, but regardless, I still
don’t think the design works.
Their unique symbol just doesn't fit very well into a nordic cross like that.
There’s a bunch of empty space towards the bottom, and very little at the top.
It makes the whole design feel a little unbalanced.
I think these guys need to come up with something more accommodating to their insignia and stop
ripping off others.
We end our list of bad flags with that of the Chiss Ascendency.
Now, right off the top, we do need to give them a bit of credit, their current design
is a notable improvement over their previous one.
It still just doesn’t quite work though.
We can assume there’s some symbolism going on here, each circle representing a planet
of the Chiss home system maybe, but its hard to say.
There doesn’t seem to be a strong relationship between any of the elements and the placement
just comes across as arbitrary.
It’s certainly not visually appealing, this is another design that feels unbalanced.
I think Grand Admiral Thrawn should spend a little less time judging the art of his
adversaries and get his own house in order first.
So those are my picks for some more of the best and worst flags and emblems from across
alternate worlds.
But even though I have raised a perfectly designed banner atop a fortress on unassailable
truth, I’d still like to hear thoughts.
Do you disagree with my selections?
Should every flag feature a predatory bird?
And do you have any favorites I haven’t mentioned yet?
Let me know in the comments below, and until next time, this has been incoming.