What do all of the civ insignias mean?

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I'm really just contesting your proposal it's the same or the difference is negligible. ;)
I never opposed that it can be just a footnote!
 
Have to get my butt up...Huns and Songhai then...
The Huns
The flag of the huns shows probably a stylized sun. The sun has always been glorified as a type of god in various cultures and has been associated with positives traits like strength and power, and mostly also in relation wit the moon. The huns followed Tengriism, a central asian religion, which had many followers under turkic and mongolic people. In Tengriism, the sun is the son of the main god Tengri and responsible for the creation of the earth.
A sun symbol is also used today in the flag of the central asian republic Kyrgyzstan.

eh...that sounds a bit dull I think.


Songhai
The Songhai flag does not show like many other flags a coats of arms or a similar heraldic symbol, but rather a cross pattern, which is used on mud cloth, a traditional clothing in the area of Mali. It was in the past as clothing for hunters, the pattern was at that point a camouflage, but today it's a big export article in Mali and also sold to tourists.

Can't really say more about it, can we?


Others, with adjustments to Austria, Sweden and Netherlands:
Austria
The austrian flag is another instance, where the current coats of arms of a nation has been turned into a civilization symbol (Coats of arms of Austria). The symbol has been used since Austria's independence in 1919 (with a break during the annexation through the nazis), and the eagle itself already symbolizes the independence.
It's derived from the Habsburgian symbol, a double headed eagle, and is interpreted as being only the half of this empire (without hungary, the second head). The Habsburgian symbol again is itself derived from the German imperial eagle, which is itself a variation of the roman eagle.
The symbols on the republican eagle are the sickle for farmers, the hammer for workers, and a wall crown for the bourgeoisie. The icon used in Civ 5 misses the broken chains on the eagle's legs, which stand for freedom of the Nazi occupation after WW2.


Byzantium
This flag shows the partriachal cross, a variation of the christian cross. It is a reference to the Byzantine state religion, but the exact meaning of itself, as well as of the parts like the different crossings are not clear. It has been used in the Byzantine empire and it's origin is probably somewhere in the influence sphere of Byzantium (either Slovakia, Hungary of Moravia). One of the later modifications of this symbol, the orthodox cross, which is used in orthodox churches, is also called "Byzantine Cross".


Carthage
The connection between the elephant symbol and Carthage is clear: It is an obvious reference to Hannibal Barca, who crossed the Alps with his war elephants, which gave him big advantages in the next years in fighting the romans on their own territory.
This fact is so famous that the Carthagians printed the elephants on their own coins. These coins are today an interesting source for biologists to determine what properties the now extinct north african forest elephants (one of the UUs in Civ5) had.


Celts
The symbol on the celtic flag is a shield knot, a modification of the celtic knot. This type of symbol is widely known (also because it's not totally specific for the celts, it's a more universal sign in different cultures), but sadly its exact meaning isn't. It is believed that it represents a spiritual sign for protection against demons and ghosts. This interpreation fits to the celtic UA in Civilization 5, which gives them a religious bonus.


Ethiopia
The Ethiopian flag shows the Lion of Judah. It is an old symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah, from which the legends say the Ethiopians are descendants from. The lion is also a symbol for Jesus, so it is not only a jewish, but also a christian symbol, which makes it more fitting for the oldest christian empire in Africa.
In the Rastafari movement it also represents emperor Haile Selassie I (who is the Ethiopian leader in Civ5), due to the fact that they believe that he is the second coming of Jesus.


The Mayas
This flag shows probably the Mayan god Chaac. It is the god of rain, and therefore in general associated with agriculture, growth and fertility, but does not have other, greater associations. The symbol is also not very well choosen, because most Mayan symbols show people/faces in the profile (Overview) and not in the front view, which is rather common in the Aztec culture, e.g. for the Aztec god of the sun, Tonatiuh.

The Netherlands
The lion is a very general symbol in heraldry, and represents values like strength and valour, or any other traits which are suitable for a king.
During the formation of the Netherlands, the lion was used for several of the states in this area, and is still used today in the symbols of the different provinces and in form of the Dutch Republic Lion, which is also a part of their Coats of Arms, which was introduced by Willem I, the leader of the Netherlands in Civ5. The lion holds in one hand some arrows, which represent the provinces in the Netherlands, and a sword, which is a symbol for their willingness to fight for freedom.

Sweden
This flag shows the Three Crowns, the current swedish national emblem, which is again featured in the Swedish Coats of Arms. The symbol is relatively popular in Sweden and widely used, e.g. for their embassies or the Swedish ice hockey team.
The meaning of the three crowns is not known, but it is speculated that they might somehow represent the connections between the scandinavian countries, especially when they were ruled together, like Denmark, Sweden and Norway under the Kalmar Union in the 13th/14th century. Therefore this symbol is not exclusively used in Sweden, but also in Denmark, e.g. in their Coats of Arms. It has been turned into the national symbol of Sweden after Gustav Vasa terminated Sweden's membership of the Kalmar Union.


If there's nothing else to criticise, I'll add these in the next days to the overview.
 
So... anybody gotten their hands on the Gods & Kings symbols yet? I really could use those, as I am creating a mod replacing the Civ4 flags with their Civ5 counterpart.

Edit: Woops, found them on the previous page :hammer2:
 
About scenario-symbols, I say add them, but make one headline for all main civs, then one for all Scenario civs, listing flags (in the same alo alphabetical order) of civs only appearing in scenarios.

And then, just for starters: Norway
The connection between the symbol and the nation it representents are in Norways case quite good. The insignia consists of two parts, with the first one being the heraldic lion, supposedly introduced in the late 11th century, although this is unsure. The first lion to appear in a royal seal was that of Sverre of Norway, introduced during his reign in the late 12th century.

The second part of the insignia was added in 1280 by Eric Magnusson, with a crown and an axe added to the lion. The crown signifies the power of the king, and the axe represents the martyr St. Olaf II of Norway, who died at the Battle of Stiklestad by an axe. All in all, this is a good representative of Norway, although Firaxis could have chosen an older version of the insignia and not the modern one used in the modern Coat of Arms to better representent the time period where the civilization is present.

I'll shorten it down if I need to :)
 
First, great job on just about everything. I am amazed someone found the information for all those different culture symbols and posted it.

However, for Rome, two things should perhaps be added.

On the Roman flag you can see a laurel wreath, a symbol for victory. While it's not an exclusively Roman symbol, it's in western cultures strongly connected to it, because Roman emperors like Julius Caesar are often depicted wearing such a wreath.
Additionally the laurel wreath is also a symbol for different Greece and Roman gods (Apollo/Jupiter).

-The Greeks decorated the winners of the Olympics Games with such a wreath.
-The Romans awarded the wreath to a soldier who, through actions on the field of battle, apparently saved the lives of 100 or more friendly combatants (i.e. preserved his company through bravery). The decoration was often given to commanders upon successful victories as well.

(The idea was the individual deserved a crown, but the only thing available to make the crown from was a pair of cut branches or something ... Receiving the branches would be like receiving today's Medal of Honor.)

(I think someone wrote a book about Ceasar's life or something ... that is where i got that from ... a Crown of (Leaves) or (something) it was called.)
 
The Inca chakana different.
that sign is more like the sun or a club Inca
I will attach a picture
 
So... what's happened with the new ones then?

The Venetian one is probably a stylised version of the lion of saint mark, but I'm not actually totally sure on that one. It does however state "Rare, but are presented, are also depictions of the lion without a book or a sword [...]", which could open the possibility of it being the lion of Saint Mark... Still wish they had chosen a better version of the lion though
 
Portugal's quinas is right from their coat of arms and flag.
wiki said:
After the official recognition of the Kingdom of Portugal as an independent country in 1143 (it had been declared in 1139), silver bezants were added to the Burgundian flag, symbolising coins and the right the monarch had to issue currency, as leader of a sovereign state. Eventually, and given the enormous dynamism of medieval heraldry, it is believed that the shield degraded and lost some elements in battle, eventually losing the cross format. This is how King Sancho I inherited the shield from his father, Afonso Henriques, with no cross and the quinas (the five escutcheons with the silver bezants) in its place.

Brazil's is from the time they were an empire.
wiki said:
On 18 September 1822, eleven days after proclaiming Brazil's independence Royal Prince Dom Pedro signed a decree instituting these arms stating "...henceforth the arms of this Empire of Brazil will be, on a green field, a gold armillary sphere superimposed on a cross of the Order of Christ, the sphere encircled by 19 silver stars on a blue circle; and an imperial crown with diamonds set atop the shield, the sides of which will be embraced by two plants of coffee and tobacco, as emblems of its [the Empire's] riches, in their proper colors and tied at the bottom with the national bow-knot."
 
I'll take a shot at this.

Assyria: The icon is very clearly the Assyrian Star, a long-standing symbol used as an emblem for modern Assyrian people. It seems to be derived from a symbol representing Shamash, the local sun deity of Mesopotamia. The colors are likely simply representing the colors of the vast deserts the Assyrians settled in.

Brazil: As stated above, Brazil's symbol is derived from the first Coat of Arms, the armillary sphere (representing the nation's history as a colonial entity) layered upon the cross of Christ (representing strong religious beliefs of the people). These were commonly displayed on a green field, though why the actual symbol is a darker green instead of a gold is uncertain.

Indonesia: It appears that it is likely to be the Surya Majapahit, a Hindu symbol used extensively at the time of the Majapahit Empire, of course, which the game more closely takes cues from. Color choice is uncertain, it may simply be in reference to the blue of the Southeast Asian seas, and the dark red used as a symbol for the abundant spices of the islands.

Morocco: This is one of the more clear-cut ones: this symbol is the modern Flag of Morocco. The color red has long been used to represent the nation, with the green pentagram a modern addition to signify the country's religious heritage.

Poland: This emblem is taken from the Polish Coat of Arms, entitled the White Eagle, first established in the 13th century by the legendary Lech, founder of Poland. As Austria currently has the color scheme used for this symbol, the eagle here was changed to a maroon color.

Portugal: Once again, this symbol is from the Portuguese Coat of Arms, depicting the five blue escutcheons in the center, the shape itself used to represent coats of arms, making it a symbol of regency and nobility.

Shoshone: Symbol is a standard headdress used by many Native American peoples, including the Shoshone tribes. Color connection is uncertain, may be meant to represent the dark brown of the soil and the bright blue of the sky, representing the great importance of nature to the peoples of this region.

Venice: As indeed pointed out above, this is likely the Lion of Saint Mark, a Christian emblem of a revered saint, whose icon was frequently used as a symbol for Venice, both during its time as an independent republic and in modern flags and other cultural events. It is unclear what relevance the purple and off-white have to Venice, though it likely simply represents the frequent association of purple with wealth and power in Mediterranean cultures.

Zulu: As one can determine from Shaka's leaderscreen, this symbol is a traditional Zulu cowhide shield, with the brown and light pink patterns cattle often possessed. Cattle were revered and seen as a sign of nobility in Zulu culture, and shields made from their hide are very much an emblem of prestige and militaristic prowess.

Gratefully these are all pretty simple and iconic emblems, unlike a few other earlier ones.
 
So lets try this then:
Venice
This flag is probably supposed to show the Lion of St. Mark, a traditional symbol of Venice. At the height of it's power, The Most Serene Republic of Venice flew a flag with the lion on. The reason for the connection is that when St. Mark travelled in Europe, an Angel appeared in front of him while in the Venetian Lagoon and said "May Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist. Here your body will rest." This suggests that so far the insignia seems like a good choice. However, the version of the lion used might be a matter of debate, as Venice usually used a statant lion with a book and not the rampant version seen in the game. While this version is also used, it is a very rare sight and not the best representation of Venice as it leaves doubt if it actually is the Lion of St. Mark it symbolizes. As for the colours, the Purple-White combination might be to symbolise the traditional linking of purple to wealth in the Mediterranean, or the overuse of red as civ colour in game already.

Good enough?
 
If we write them for you... could you just paste them in then?

Brazil
The symbol of Brazil consists of a "[...] gold armillary sphere superimposed on a cross of the Order of Christ [...]". This was originally a part of the Royal Standard of the Prince Royal of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves created by Pedro I, and with the independence of Brazil it was modified into the flag of the Empire of Brazil. It is also found in the coat of arms of Imperial Brazil. With Dom Pedro II as leader, the insignia can be considered a good choice, as he was the second and last emperor of Brazil, reigning for a total of 58 years and 222 days. As for the colours, they can be seen as an attempt to move close to the original colours of the Brazilian flag, green and yellow, without overusing the same colour-combinations in game.

Is this good enough?
 
It's based on the purple and white part of the flag of the Republic of Venice

...Oh, you're right! I hadn't seen those tiny circles.

Y'know while some of the color things just seem random, a lot of them are chosen for a reason, based generally on official flags and emblems or associations and elements of those cultures. Probably why so many of them seem so fitting even if you don't know exactly why.
 
I think I'm able to update the overview as Content Staff, so I should be able to handle it if you guys can write it (I'm fairly short on time at the moment). Still not sure if the images for BNW have been added yet, let's see:



EDIT: Nope. So they might need to be uploaded too before we can get anywhere
 
...Oh, you're right! I hadn't seen those tiny circles.

Y'know while some of the color things just seem random, a lot of them are chosen for a reason, based generally on official flags and emblems or associations and elements of those cultures. Probably why so many of them seem so fitting even if you don't know exactly why.

At least this is a theory that should be added to the other ones
 
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