Fortressian Vexillology
Fortressian Vexillology refers to the flags of the Principality, and to the rules which govern their design, display, and care.
General Construction
All flags of Fortressian government organizations must have a 1:2 ratio, with the exception of the flags of offices, which must instead have a 1:1 ratio. These rules apply to all flags across the Principality, while there may be additional rules for certain sorts of flags representing different categories of organization or thing. For example, colonial flags must have three squares of pink, white, and black equaling 1/6 the total area and located at the hoist in addition to whatever other design is present. These rules do not apply to non-governmental flags such as the personal flag of the Princess or those of the Libertine Party, although the latter complies with them voluntarily.
Use
Typically if a government organ does not have its own flag, either because it doesn't need one or one hasn't been designed for it yet, it will use the flag used by the organization it is subordinate to.
State and Government Flags
Flag of the Principality of the Pillow Fortress
The Flag of the Principality of the Pillow Fortress consists of a canton of three horizontal stripes of one each; pink (#FFAEC9), representing change, difference, diversity, and energy, white (#FFFFFF), representing purity of purpose, and black (#000000), representing solidarity with all oppressed and downtrodden peoples yearning for the freedom found within the Principality. The field is cyan (#3399FF), representing both the sky and the ocean, two seemingly endless expanses which symbolize endless possibility. The lack of any charge or badge within the field is symbolic of the Pillow Fortress lacking any territory, and thus lacking anything concrete with which to derive further symbolism from.
Territorial Flags
Flag of the Pillowans Abroad Province
The Flag of the Pillowans Abroad Province consists of a cyan (#3399FF) field, representing the field on the flag of the Pillow Fortress, surrounded by a white (#FFFFFF) border, which symbolizes separation and distance. Together these components symbolize the residents of the province being physically apart from the rest of the Principality.
Flag of Marie Byrd Colony
The Flag of Marie Byrd Colony consists of the tricolor colonial stripe along the hoist, and a bicolor of dark blue (#0000CC) representing the waters of the Antarctic Ocean, and white (#FFFFF) representing the Antarctic continent, divided upward diagonally. Should the colony ever be integrated into the Principality as a province, the colonial stripe will be removed and the rest of the design reproportioned to fit a 1:2 ratio.
Flag of Olympus Mons Colony
The Flag of the Olympus Mons Colony consists of the tricolor colonial stripe along the hoist, and depiction of the surface of the planet Mars and the Olympus Mons volcano as seen on the horizon. The ground is gold (#FFCC33) and the sky is dark red (#CC0000). Should the colony ever be integrated into the Principality as a province, the colonial stripe will be removed and the rest of the design reproportioned to fit a 1:2 ratio.
Provisional Flags the FSSGR - TTE Colonies
The Principality's colonies organized under the FSSGR - TTE, aside from Olympus Mons Colony, all have provisional flags designed over the course of a few hours in order that their articles on the Pillow Fortress Wiki conform to those of the other territorial entries. Some effort was made at including a bit of symbolism, but as none of these are intended to be permanent, whether or not that modest meaning is maintained in future designs remains an unanswered question.
Flag of the Proxima Sol Economic Zone. It depicts a highly stylized rendition of the planet Mercury and the Sun.
Flag of the Morning Star Colony. The stripes depict a cross section of the planet Venus from atmosphere to surface.
Flag of the Clair de Lune Colony. The gray circle depicts the moon while the white crescent implies artificial lights as seen from space.
Flag of the L1 Archipelago. The number of stars denote which of the five Lagrangian Archipelagos it is.
Flag of the L2 Archipelago
Flag of the L3 Archipelago
Flag of the L4 Archipelago
Flag of the L5 Archipelago
Flag of the Helium Shores Colony. It depicts a highly stylized rendition of the planet Jupiter with its great red spot.
Flag of the Hades Colony. It depicts the surface of the Jovian moon Io.
Flag of the New Byrd Land Colony. It's the flag of the Marie Byrd Colony but with a star on it to denote both outer space and newness.
Flag of the Cherubim's Glory Colony. It depicts the mythological cherubim emanating glory.
Flag of the Alter-Pacifica Colony. The gold and blue are taken from a false color image of the moon Titan's hydrocarbon lakes.
Flag of the Sideways Colony. The pun is obvious.
Flag of the Alter-Atlantica Colony. Blue and cyan are the traditional colors of the planet Neptune, while the expanding triangle implies expansion out into trans-Neptunian space.
Flags of the Throne
Flag of the Throne
The flag of the Throne consists of the colors found in the canton of the state flag, pink (#FFAEC9), white (#FFFFFF), and black (#000000) arranged in a novel pattern. As the canton of a flag is considered its most prestigious location, by using the same colors the Throne is marking itself as the executive or "head" of the state.
Provisional Flags of the Throne Departments
Each department within the Throne has its own flag, currently these are all provisional, and are intended to be replaced with more professional looking versions at a later date. What is not intended to change is their overall design, the so-called "seal on a bedsheet" (SOB). SOB style flags are controversial owing to a set of design principles popularized by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA). For various reasons it was determined that most of these principles did not apply with regards to what the flags of the departments are trying to do:
- 1. Keep it simple.
The example NAVA gives of simplicity is that a child should be able to draw the flag from memory. This is an arbitrary requirement, especially for flags that are intended to only ever be seen rarely by the general public. Pillowans are unlikely to form as intense an emotional attachment to any department flag as they are to the state or other territorial flags, and thus they don't have to be "memorable". Furthermore, department flags are not to be used in the manner flags have been historically used: identifying ships at sea, denoting what entity controls a particular territory, or to assist in coordinating armies on the battlefield.
- 2. Use meaningful symbolism.
The seals of the departments are meaningful in both their component elements being related to the task of their department, but also in being the departments first and (currently) only symbol.
- 3. Use 2 or 3 basic colors
The reasoning behind using only a small number of colors is related to simplicity, and so is addressed in the response to rule 1. The use of "basic colors" was rejected, because with 21 and potentially more departments in the future, using the same 5 or 6 colors would quickly become tedious.
- 4. No lettering or seals
Since the department flags don't need to be simple and are not to be used in situations where their quick visual recognition is necessary, there is no reason to not use lettering or seals where or when appropriate.
- 5. Be distinctive or related
The flags of the department together have a distinct visual language which sets them apart from other Fortressian flags. This was, in fact, one of their major design goals.
Flag of the Department of Agriculture
Flag of the Department of Community Cohesion
Flag of the Department of Culture
Flag of the Department of Defense
Flag of the Department of Economics
Flag of the Department of Education
Flag of the Department of Health
Flag of the Department of Housing & Urban Development
Flag of the Department of Immigration & Emigration
Flag of the Department of Industry
Flag of the Department of Infrastructure & Energy
Flag of the Department of Intra-Governmental Affairs
Flag of the Department of the Interior
Flag of the Department of Justice
Flag of the Department of Labor Coordination
Flag of the Department of Population
Flag of the Department of Public Services
Flag of the Department of Science, Research, & Development
Flag of the Department of Sport & Recreation
Flag of the Department of Territory
Flag of the Department of Transportation
Flags of the Directory
Flag of the Directory
The flag of the Directory consists of three swallowtail banners of red, blue, and green representing the three councils, each with a white star symbolizing state authority. These elements are slightly modified when carried over to the flags of the individual councils.
Flag of the Council of Labor
The flag of the Council of Labor consists of twenty-six white (#FFFFFF) stars in the canton, representing the guilds of the Council. Its red (#CC0003) color being the traditional color of labor.
Flag of the Council of State
The flag of the Council of State consists of one hundred twenty white (#FFFFFF) stars in six rows of twenty on a blue (#0000CC) field, blue being a color associated with general knowledge.
Flag of the Council of Territory
The flag of the Council of Territory consists of five white (#FFFFFF) stars, representing the total seats on the council, on a green (#00CC00) field, green being a color associated with land and thus traditional understandings of territory.
Flags of the Xeer
Flag of the Xeer
The flag of the Xeer consists of a black (#000000) scales of justice against a half and half crimson (#C60C30) and white (#FFFFFF) field. The space within the scales above the plates are inverted.
Flags of the Pillow Fortress Armed Forces
Flags of Client States and Client Non-State Entities
Flags of the Republic of the Serene Gate
The Republic of the Serene Gate typically favors a heavy use of gold (#FFCC33), white (#FFFFFF), and black (#000000) in its flags, symbolizing wealth and prosperity, peace and sincerity, and will and devotion, respectively.
Flag of the Republic of the Serene Gate. The white star of sovereignty casts its golden rays down, opening the world to trade and commerce.
Flag of Mare Munificent. Gold and green are both colors highly associated with wealth and money.
Flag of the Pillow Fortress-Serene Gate Permanent Friendship Association. It combines the flags of both states in a dignified and inoffensive manner.
Provisional Flag of the Dominion of Corvus
Client non-state entities must have some kind of flag in order to represent themselves in official Fortressian ceremonies and government activities. As the Dominion of Corvus consists entirely of non-human animals that have historically shown no interest in vexillography, it was necessary for the Principality to design one for it. Like the flags of the FSSGR - TTE, this is a provisional flag, which is to be improved in the future if and when human-corvid communication has progressed to the point where their design opinions and preferred symbolism can be obtained.
Flag of the Temple of Eusocianity
The Flag of the Temple of Eusocianity features the symbol of Eusocianity in the middle.
Flags of the Princess
Personal Flag
The personal flag of the reigning Princess is a horizontal tricolor of pink (#FFAEC9), white (#FFFFFF), and black (#000000) in a 1:2 ratio. It lacks all symbolism other than being a visual shorthand for the Princess, and the choice of colors and design were arbitrary beyond what she found visually appealing at the time of its creation. This flag predates the flag of the Pillow Fortress, with the latter being derived from it.
