Los Lagos (Chile)

Last days I'm searching something about flags of all South American nations. Some of those that most bothered me was the Chilean ones. Three or four of them are good, but they use to hold a seal over a plain white or blue background - not a creative design choice. I'm still thinking about create flag series about these regions all over the continent that haven't a good one, but however I'm present today my proposal to Los Lagos region, in Chile. Firstly, look at their current flag:

The seal is not this bad, because it shows the two main landmarks that's supposed to be found in there: the mountains (Chile is an Andean country) and a lake ("Los Lagos" means, verbatim, "The Lakes"). But the writing ruins the idea: a flag is intended to be a graphic representation, not a written one! Being, in some point, conservative, I created this design:

I put the lake in a color different of mountain, increasing the contrast. It looks good for me.

What's your opinion my proposed flag? Please let me know through comments.

I want to know one more thing, please: Do you like the idea of more South American flag on blogs? They are a little unknown, but I'd like to share the best and worst about them.

Draft: My coat of arms

Coats of arms are a way created to represent somebody's identity, created during Middle Ages (but based in more ancient principles). They're extremely related to flags, because banner of arms, one of first types of flags, are nothing more than a rectangular representation of a coat of arms.

Currently, I'm creating my coat of arms. It's only a draft, so it might change if I like. I'm trying to make it based on heraldic rules. It looks like this, for now:

Now I'll describe my coat of arms. There's a specific language to this purpose, but I'll try to be clearer. I'll explain the elements of my coat of arms detail by detail, to be more didactic. To a fast explanation about the elements of a coat of arms, click here.

Shield: It's divided by horizontal stripes (per fess), being the first in amaranth, and the second in blue (azure).

• In the amaranth division, there's a lion in white (argent) profiled, with four legs in the floor (statant), and blue tongue and nails. I chose the lion for represent my name, Leonardo, being this canting arms.
• In blue (azure) division, a golden (or) moline cross. I chose moline cross because I use this in some web forum and other occasions, and representing my religion.

Mantling: In blue (azure) and gold (or).

Crest: A white (argent) rising owl, with blue beak and legs. I chose the owl because it represents Philosophy, one of my greatest interests.

Motto: "Homines sumus, non Dei". Translated from Latin, "We're men (humans), [we're] not God". I always thought humility is an important virtue, and I liked to set it on my personal motto. Also, my brother helped me to chose it, so it's someway special.

A potential problem I find in it is that amaranth is a rarely used tincture (color), so I might have to change it to red or purple. Basically, I said all I had to say.

Your comment is very important to me. Remember that my coat of arms is under construction, so your opinion can have influence in final result.
A little break to coat of arms... probably, next week I return with flags.

Northern Isles (United Kingdom)

Sometime ago, me and guys at Flags Forum were discussing about a flag for Northern Isles (the traditional name of Orkney and Shetland counties union). In 2014, there'll be a referendum for Scotland independence, but for Shetland and Orkney islanders, it's indifferent be ruled from London or Edinburgh. So, depending if they will leave Union together with Scotland or stay in it, they could need a flag.

Firstly, let's see Orkney and Shetland flags:

Orkney (Since 2007)	Orkney (Previous flag)	Shetland

My first design was a mix of both counties' flags, this way:

After that, Sammy came with a different way of mix them, therefore I replied with this, with a frontier between Shetland and Orkney flags:

It's OK for me, but some forum members said it had too many colors, so discussion came to other destination: try to emulate Scottish flag, but distinguishing it for show islands unique Nordic identity. Sammy came with three designs, being this two my favorite of them:

with Pictish cross	with shield knot

The two flag above are Sammy's designs.

Meinsauer, another forum member, came with a interesting model using a sun cross:
The flag above is Meinsauer's design.

It's OK, but it's still to similar to Scottish flag. So I used a strategy used before by Nova Scotia: invert blue and white. So I came with them (red is a color well-associated with Nordic countries, for me):

I desisted of using sun cross, because it's, unfortunately, associated with Nazi groups. Therefore, I made a vast search to symbols that represent Nordic heritage in Shetland and Orkney, so I found this Viking ship image in a commemorative badge (400 years of Shetland devolution to Scotland). It resulted in this:

I think this is very appropriated, because it harmonizes Scottish and Nordic heritages, and does anyone dislike cool ships? I'd like, also, to show a flag that Meinsauer did inspired in aforementioned flag.

Meinsauer, another forum member, came with a interesting model using a sun cross:
The flag above is Meinsauer's design.

This is it! Sorry if this post is a bit long.

I'd like to know your opinion about this post, any of the flags in this, or my blog in general. Please, comment.
NOTE: All these flag, except where mentioned differently, are mine. To read a interesting post about this same question, visit Sammy's blog. To see complete discusson, visit Flags Forum.

Rhodes (Greece)

In my post about Corinth, I've said how much I like Ancient Greece. And I think that, being some of them touristic cities, they should adopt a flag marking city area. Now, I choose Rhodes. A common flag used on web to represent Rhodes is below, although most probably it's fake:

The idea is simple: Greek national flag charged with island map. It's very poor, and, if flown beside Greek flag, they will looked duplicated. I think Rhodes has some interesting themes that could be interesting in a flag:

• The now-destroyed Colossus of Rhodes, one of Seven Wonders of Antique World.
• A rich medieval heritage, being for about two centuries main headquarter of Knights Hospitaller.
• The statues placed in Mandraki Harbor (see pictures), where today the Colossus ruins are located.

I chose the most important of three below, on which the city constructed most of its fame: the Colossus of Rhodes. See him image below:

He was constructed after an important military victory, honoring Helios, Greek sun god and city's patron god. The statue is itself a Helios representation. After some tries, I obtained this result:

The main charge on this flag is, obviously, the Colossus. He was originally made of bronze, but I preferred to put it white, contrasting with colored background. The blue is for the sea, symbolizing the harbor. Gold is for Helios (or Colossus) shine over the city.

I see a problem with this flag: white isn't contrasting good with yellow. But I can't see it as a giant trouble.

You're free to comment. Your opinion or suggestion is greatly welcome.
If somebody know the credits to this wonderful Colossus of Rhodes image, contact me. I'll attribute the correct credits with pleasure.