The Symbols of the State

[jtb1127]

As for the OP, I didn't really know how to vote. Its a bit more than "Meh" but not "Super useful and important." I think its more "Cool" or something more moderate like that. My loyalties are to God first, my family second, my church third, and my country fourth ("My state" is only not there because NYS is the worst state in this country, IMO) so yeah, I do have some loyalty to my country, but its limited. I'm not a megapatriot

And how does humanity fit in there?

 

[JollyRoger]

Almost killed off in a flood.

 

[GhostWriter16]

And how does humanity fit in there?

Define "Humanity."

 

[ZeletDude]

I don't think its advisable to use a Swastika on anything anymore, even if you think it looks cool. I mean, maybe in a few hundred years, but not anytime soon...

As for the OP, I didn't really know how to vote. Its a bit more than "Meh" but not "Super useful and important." I think its more "Cool" or something more moderate like that. My loyalties are to God first, my family second, my church third, and my country fourth ("My state" is only not there because NYS is the worst state in this country, IMO) so yeah, I do have some loyalty to my country, but its limited. I'm not a megapatriot

No one asked you to share your life story.

Anyway, national symbols are important. I personally like Prussia, and the German Empire's flag. But Imperial Japan's Rising sun is awesome looking as well

 

[Ailedhoo]

Behold: the symbol of the PRC!

It sets the imperial history of China with its present rulers.

 

[Quintillus]

I mean, useful, yeah... it provides a quick way to identify your country. So, for example, when you go somewhere that caters to multiple languages, they can indicate the Francophone guidebook/queue/whatever with a French flag, the Anglophone one with a Union Jack, and so forth, and no one was to stumble around trying to find someone that speaks a language they understand to know where to go. More recently, this can be handy in places such as websites that are multilingual.

It's also useful if you're trying to find an embassy. Just spot the big flag from a distance, and you know you're going the right direction.

As for the types of flags etc. I like... while fancy ones can look cool, I think there's also value in being able to draw it without too much difficulty, so if you're going to have one that can't be drawn easily, it had better look pretty cool. That's part of what I like about the Union Jack - it's complex enough to look cool, but still fairly easy to draw by hand. It's also a problem I have with tricolors - they're overly simple, and there's way too many of them these days, which can make it hard to remember which one is which (consider Luxembourg vs. The Netherlands, or even simply whether Germany or Belgium has horizontal instead of vertical striping).

For my own country, the U.S., I think it's a good basic design, but the 50 stars make it rather infeasible to draw by hand very accurately. It's also just a hint on the busy side with all the stars and stripes. But certainly a better choice than a tricolor.

I'm split on the issue of minimalist flags. While the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya's flag was effective at making it easy to associate a green flag with Libya, I wouldn't say it conveyed much of a message about the country, either. Though to be fair, I couldn't tell you what message Germany's flag is supposed to convey, or Russia's current one, or a lot of others. Whereas symbols such as hammers and sickles, crescents, and AK-47s do at least attempt to tell you some of the country's values.

 

[History_Buff]

Define "Humanity."

Your neighbours. Your compatriots. People around the world. Basically anyone who's not your family or friend.

 

[Yeekim]

The new flag was introduced by the UN High Representative after the Parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina could not decide on a solution acceptable to all. The new flag contains no historical or other references to the Bosnian state.

And now it serves as an eternal warning to any future nations who can't agree on such an issue among themselves...

 

[Josu]

I am not sure about the answer to the poll. I think that simbols may be important, but they become a problem when they turn more important than people.

In Basque country we have an eternal row with simbols, here a sample.
This is the unofficial coat of arms of Euskal Herria (Basque country) over the Ikurriña (Basque flag)

It is formed by the coats of the different provinces of the Basque country. On top we have, Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. Below we have Labourd, Navarre and Soule. Lower navarre is not included because Basque nationalism considers same province as Navarre, and in fact the coat of arms is the same as the one for Navarre

Nowadays Navarre, Basque autonomous comunity and French basque country are different administrative entities, hence they have different coat of arms.
This is the current official Basque autonomous comunity's coat

As you see it is quite different to the Euskal Herria's one. It does not include the French area's coats and there is a red area where the Navarre's coat should be.

Navarre is nowadays governed by UPN (Spanish unionist and navarre regionalist, they appoint the difference between navarre and everything that smells basque), and they asked politely in a trial in supreme court to remove their coat from Basque Autonomous comunity's coat, so that's why the their area is just red.

 

[kochman]

I think being able to identify people and things with symbols might be just a little bit useful.

Absolutely is in combat...

 

[holy king]

 

[holy king]

Define "Humanity."

i guess what he means is the entirety of the species.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

best flag ever, REBEL TO THE END.

 

[Kyriakos]

Not that funny when you have 40K soldiers, and the rebels are 40K, AND the timurid horde comes with 40K Horsemen at you

 

[NedimNapoleon]

I can never produce a Communist revolution in V2, its impossible! I get reactionary, anarchist, jacobin but never Communist! I want a communist Denmark or Haiti!

 

[History_Buff]

Not that funny when you have 40K soldiers, and the rebels are 40K, AND the timurid horde comes with 40K Horsemen at you

That's your own fault for not having prepared for them. Got to have some defense in depth to let them split their stacks.

Also, don't fight 40k stacks of rebels, like, ever. Accomplishes very little.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

I walked around the corner in some European capital and ran into the Vietnamese embassy, its flag in the sun.

It is darn cool.