Bryansk Oblast (Russia) [II]

In previous post, I suggested a new flag for Russian oblast of Bryansk. As I said then, I had other ideas, but hadn't my editor available... Now I have!

This is the current Bryansk flag:


And this was my first proposal:


The idea I was then brewing is the following:


As you can see, it has many elements in common with both current flag and previous proposal, but I think this one is much better thought.

The yellow pall divides the flag in three parts. Top blue, bottom blue and burgundy parts represent, respectively, Belarus, Ukraine and Bryansk, like a moderately accurate representation of their geographical locations. Blue color represents Slavic union. Bryansk territory is represented by the burgundy color, from the troops that liberated the oblast during WW2, and the golden spruce, representing local flora.

I guess this flag captures well Bryansk's location and landscape.

Comments and suggests are much welcome.
I am curious: which one do you prefer, first or second proposal?

Bryansk Oblast (Russia)

Bryansk is a Russian oblast bordering Ukraine and Belarus.

Its flag, with clear Soviet look, is the following:

The burgundy background represents the color of the banners Red Army and guerrilla fighters carried during Bryansk liberation during WW2.

The shield is divided in three parts, representing the triple border, while blue represents Slavic unity. The shield contains a smaller shield, of Bryansk city, capital of the oblast.

This flag is boring an busy. I decided remix it on a more appealing way:

The flag is more paisagistic. The three spruces represent Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

It's just a thought. There are many other ways of recombining the elements, and I'd show some if I had my editor available.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
More ideas for Bryansk oblast flag? Show me on comments, please.

NEWS: Denny and Dunipace (Scotland, UK)

It will be a different kind of post, because today I have some great news to share!

Weeks ago, I wrote about my proposals to the flag of Denny and Dunipace, and noticed that a proposal very similar to my design was among the finalists.

What I didn't know is that that finalist design was a merge between my own design and the one by a Spanish man named Fernando Álvarez Martín. And it won! Therefore I'm technically co-author of first town flag of Scotland!

That's the winner design:

For comparison, one of my proposals was like this:

(I currently don't know Fernando's exact proposal. If I obtain it, I'll submit it here.)

I'm very excited! Firstly, because I'm very proud about contributing someway to the final design. Secondly, because it's an important precedent to other Scottish towns adopting their own cool flags, specially due to support by the Flag Institute and the Court of Lord Lyon.

Comments are welcome!

Greetings to Denny and Dunipace, from Brazil.

Oslo (Norway)

I like very much Norwegian local flags. But, unfortunately, the capital has one of few questionable flags there.

The flag of Oslo looks more or less like this:


Between 1924 and 2002, Oslo used a more interesting flag, whose symbolism is unknown to me. This flag was substituted by the flag above, because the previous flag was supposedly too similar to Greek similar, what I disagree.


However, avoiding the same discussion, I'll propose a fix based on current flag, not the previous one. My proposal is, basically, adapt the current flag into Norwegian subnational flag style, that includes minimalism and respect for heraldic rules. Here it is:


This flag, like Oslo seal, with medieval origins, represents patron saint St. Hallvard, holding arrows and a millstone, the instruments of his martyrdom. I've added the throne with lions, that can be associated with the role of Oslo as capital of Norway. I've removed the stars, whose symbolism, if any, is unknown to me, and the naked woman, that seem to be a later addition.

In general, I like very much the result, and I modestly think it could be adapted into a coat of arms.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Sorry for the absence last week. I've made stuff, but I've had no time to post it.

Denny and Dunipace (Scotland, UK)

Denny and Dunipace is holding a contest to decide its new flag (more info here). I've submitted two entries, that didn't made the final list (even though similar entries did), but I'll show them here just for entertainment.

The burgh used to have a beautiful coat of arms, before it was incorporated into Falkirk, even though it's too busy for a flag:

My first entry adapted it into a more flag-friendly design:

The entry was followed by this rationale:

The flag resembles burgh seal and coat of arms. It contains a landscape, with river Carron and the bridge joining Denny and Dunipace. The white color remarks the important treaties signed in this place. The bar engrailed represents the connection with the Sinclair.

My second entry was less derivative but, I have to admit, more generic:


It was an improvement over a previous design, that took "twin towns" too literally:


I've submitted it with the following rationale:

The flag shows River Carron, with Dunipace in north bank and Denny in south. The white color remark the important treaties signed in this place. The black color represents coal and iron. Apart from Denny and Dunipace, the two fortified buildings can represent the forts on its banks dividing Roman and Picts — "Carron" may come from Latin "caer avon", i.e. "river of the forts".

None of them made the final, but designing them was nonetheless some fun.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
To know the finalists, click here.

Bristol (England, United Kingdom)

I've came accross a petition for a new flag of Bristol. Apparently, it's related to Facebook and Twitter accounts. So I became excited about making a design by myself.

Theorically, Bristol council is allowed to fly its banner of arms:

But this banner couldn't be used by Bristolians without authorization. I've become inspired by Bristol's original seal and current badge (diverse from coat of arms, it was used to show allegiance).















Ship and fortified bridge represents the famous Bristol port. The cross fleury is a reference to a compass rose. I think I've simplified enough the complex design to make a good flag, but still keep the elements understandable.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Sorry for small delay. I've had a commitment.
Access the campaign's Facebook and Twitter for more ideas.
The banner of arms was made by Paul Callan.

27th International Congress of Vexillology

When I designed a flag for London borough of Greenwich, I was looking for designing a flag for ICV 27, that will at University of Greenwich Old Royal Military College at August 2017.

One of my designs for Greenwich:

Then, I designed many doodles mixing this flag with vexillological themes, but none of them was satisfactory. My next idea was using the flag of Flag Institute, organizers of the congress, as a base. This is the charming flag of FI:















So I came up with this design:

The visual references for FI flag are obvious. I took advantage of the triangle that represents the letter V of "vexillology". The tiny red line represents the world-known prime meridian of Greenwich (traced using the Greenwich observatory as reference), where East and West are joined. The globe represents our planet, as the congress will be attended by people from all around the world, without division (the red line doesn't cross the circle).

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Design an imaginary flag for a ICV is very funny. I invite the fellow vexillologists to have a try.

Valencia (Valencian Community, Spain)

Valencia is the capital and biggest city of Valencian Community and former Kingdom of Valencia. It uses the same, historical flag of Valencian Communtiy, so I thought about a design only for the city.

This is the flag:

















It the senyera of former Crown of Aragon (nine yellow-red horizontal stripes) with a stylized crown, a privilege dating from the second half of 14th century.

My proposal takes the crest from current coat of arms — probably originary from belief that Crown of Aragon's crest contained a bat instead of a wyvern — and puts it on a cairó, a rotated square associated there with civic heraldry. This is the result:
















This crest, being golden and black, is very hard to contrast. In my second attempt, I used a more pan-Catalan color scheme:
















I'm more inclined towards second scheme, but I think Valencian people would be proud of both.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Which one of designs do you prefer?

Greenwich (London, UK)

From last August 31st to September 4th, the 26th International Congress of Vexillology happened in Sydney, Australia. The next ICV will happen in 2017, in London, more specifically in the University of Greenwich and the Old Royal Naval College, in the royal borough of Greenwich. So I think designing a flag for Greenwich would be welcome.

My inspiration for this design was the 1903-1965 coat of arms, before the annexation of Woolwich borough (for this specific purpose, I don't think that references to Woolwich are needed). The first attempt was a simplified version of the banner of arms (i.e. with less stars):

The central stripe is tinier in reference to Prime Meridian, also referred by the hourglass. The stars represent the Royal Observatory.

For my second attempt, I removed one more star, to make the flag look more balanced:

I like the result. But I'm not sure if it's better than with reversed colors:

I have a feeling that this version looks more "natural", but less unique.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Which of the three is your favorite proposal for Greenwich flag?

Budapest (Hungary)

Budapest is the capital of Budapest. The city was created in 1873, by the union of the cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda ("Old Buda").

Until 2011, Budapest used this flag, incorporating the red-yellow of Buda and the blue-yellow of Pest:


The rationale for the change included the similarity with the flag of neighbor country Romania (for a brief period, the blue was replaced by green mostly by same reason) and the absence of Hungarian colors more visibly, what would give the impression that Budapest was independent of Hungary (yes, I also think this is a horrible argument).

The current flag is therefore very similar with many Hungarian nationwide flags (compare with naval ensign):


In my opinion, this flag is less interesting and meaningful than previous one, but you improve it to a next level. My first idea is a stylized banner of arms:


I think the banner of arms works there because the coat of arms has the same dynamics from pre-2011 flag: the top, one-towered castle represents Pest, while the bottom, triple-towered castle represent Buda, and the white stripe represents the Danube river separating both. It's Budapest in a nutshell! A bonus point for not remembering neither Romania nor any other country.

But, if one want to incorporate more Hungarian symbolism, you could made the flag red-white-green like national flag:


Another thought is making the Pest part blue and yellow again:


I don't think the last looks particularly Romanian, do you?

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
By the way, which one is your favorite?

Belfast (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)

Today, I'll try to fix the flag of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland.

This is the current flag of Belfast:


That's not more than a banner of city's coat of arms:


The coat of arms is not the best heraldry, not it's not horrendous, either. The bell seems to be canting (i.e. punning) with city's name. The vair is taken from Chichester's family heraldry, being Arthur Chichester the founder of the town. The ship may refer to the importance of shipbuilding or the etymology of the city (from Gaelic, "mouth of the sandbar") and is decorated with St. Patrick's cross.

But, as a banner of arms, it's not effective, really too busy. My proposal is the following:


Let me explain it...The river refers to city etymology, and its importance as a portuary and shipbuilding city.Besides remarking Chichester's heraldry, the individual parts of a vair are known as "vair bells", thus keeping the pun. With some luck, they can barely remember a sail.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Sorry for being REALLY late... It seems like a (negative) record.

Parma FC? (Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy)

"Flags, etc." It's on the title of the blog. I knew that Parma FC, one of most victorious Italian football (soccer) clubs, was declared bankrupt and was relegated to the Serie D (semi-professional). If the club is acquired by another body, it wouldn't be uncommon if it was renamed and re-branded.

This is the current logo of Parma FC:

In my futurology exercise, Parma is renamed as Associazione Calcio Parma. On my first attempt, I just kept the traditional black cross and vertical stripes motifs and put it on an oval, common in Italian football logos. I tried other colors for border and the top section, but the best result was similar to current logo.

I like the aesthetic result per se, but maybe it's too similar to rival Bologna FC 1909.

My second attempt was much more radical. I kept the vertical stripes, but changed the color of the cross and its background: from black on white to blue on yellow, mimicking Parma city flag and coat of arms. Just in case, I kept the black and white colors, now framing all the yellow and blue. The logo shape is a typically Italian testa di cavallo.

I like the way it combines local heraldry and traditional club symbols.

Comments are welcome.

Next week, flags! I'll try, at least...

British Overseas Territories (United Kingdom)

Let's take a careful look at Gibraltar's flag:

Why is this different from any other British overseas' flag? Because it don't have an Union Jack on it. Now, look at the flag of the other fifteen British overseas territories:

Akrotiri and Dhekelia	Anguilla	Ascension
Bermuda	British Antarctic Territory	British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands	Cayman Islands	Falklands Islands
Montserrat	Pitcairn	Saint Helena
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands	Tristan da Cunha	Turks and Caicos

Quite boring, isn't it? So today I'll present my proposal for the fifteen! Some of the designs are mine, others aren't (when noted).

My design for Akroitiri and Dhekelia is inspired by the Dhekelia Garrison's flag. For difference, I've added the colors of British Ministry of Defence, to show it's a military base.


My proposal for Anguilla is actually a rip-off of Republic of Anguilla (1967-1969) flag i.e. a banner of current arms.


For Ascension, a banner of arms, too. I added a tiny white fimbriation in the green chevron, just to increase visibility:


For Bermuda, I picked the lion and red of current flag (both representing British influence) but put the lion's face on a triangle, a reference to famous Bermuda's triangle.


My British Antarctic Territory flag proposal is based on coat of arms, too. I put the blue stripes on center and made the white background shine.


For British Indian Ocean Territory, I picked the flag of Chagossians (natives) in exile and put the palm tree and crown from current design. Some minor details is that I put the crown crossing the tree and centered in black stripe, for better aesthetics. This is one of my favorite flags in the series.


Also original is my flag for the British Virgin Islands. The lamp refers to Saint Ursula and the 11,00 martyred handmaidens that give the islands its name. The four stars represent the four main islands: Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke.


My proposal for Cayman Islands is a simplification of current coat of arms; this design, actually, was reportedly once used by independentist movement.


My flag for Falkland Island is freely inspired in the coat of arms. I removed the ship and shifted the flag for the hoist for aesthetic reasons.


The flag of Montserrat represent, basically, the island of Ireland (due to physical similarities and the origin of many settlers) and the cross. So I made the following design:


Another of my favorite design on the series is that of Pitcairn. It's, basically, a rotated and simplified version of the coat of arms.


For Saint Helena, I kept the symbol bird of the territory, but added a cross in red and yellow in reference to Byzantine empress Saint Helena, that, according to tradition, found the True Cross.


I rotated and simplified the coat of arms of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Now, the two wavy stars represent both James Cook and the two island chains (South Georgia and South Sandwich) that gives the territory its name.


The flag of Tristan da Cunha is just the striking banner of arms:


Finally, my proposal for Turks and Caicos. I couldn't satisfactorily harmonize the three charges of its coat of arms, so I used yellow for sand, green for the flora, pink for the shell and the flamingoes and a lobster as lone charge.


Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Sorry for the delay; I hope the long post is enough sorry.