THE FLAGS OF ALTLAND

 Altlandic culture has always been marked by a love of heraldry and vexillology, as well as by an enthusiasm for the display of flags and banners. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the nation's history is punctuated by the design and adoption of new banners to mark important transitions in the political constitution of the state and of the provinces and formerly sovereign kingdoms which have constituted it.

The following is a presentation of some of the flags and banners which have played a role in expressing the national and political life of Altland and its constituent parts.

 

National Flag: The Grand Union
   This has been the national flag since the merging of the two kingdoms of Altland and Romandia a little over a hundred years ago. The red cross on a white field was traditionally the banner of Jerg Augst, adopted successively by Jergendol, Midland, and Altland. The blue saltire on a white field, originating in Montemar around the time it came under the rule of the House of Riksfildar, was later adopted as the flag of the Kingdom of Romandia under the House of Montemar-Vittorino. The super- imposition of the one flag onto the other symbolizes the indissoluble unity of the whole island in the present Kingdom of Altland/Alterra.

This flag, formerly referred to as The Royal Standard, is the merely the banner of arms of the King of Altland in his public capacity as sovereign, as distinct from his personal marshalling of arms which reflects his own particular ancestry. This banner was adopted by the House of Vittorino-Montemar when it succeeded to sovereignty over all of Altland. The red cross and its white fimbriation is derived from the national flag of Altland, the golden pine cones from the armorial bearings of Vittorino. This flag is that flown over royal property and government buildings when the monarch himself is not personally present.

 

State Flag for Government Use

 

The Royal Standard of the Present Monarch, His Altlandic Majesty, King George II Victor
  The personal standard of His Altlandic Majesty quarters the arms of the four territories held by his ancestors (Montemar, Estgorth, northern Nijmork, and Orlandia) around the red cross of Jerg Augst, upon which appears the arms of Vittorino in an escutcheon of pretence. This flag is flown only where the monarch is personally present at the time.

 

"The Starry Cross" The Navy Jack, flown at the bow of warships.

The Merchant Jack, flown by civilian vessels.

  The origins of The Starry Cross are obscure, but in various versions it has been the commonly flown Altlandic jack for at least the last three hundred years. The present version of the naval jack was made official shortly after the union of the kingdoms of Altland and Romandia at the beginning of the last century. The merchant version, made official only in 250, has nonetheless been in use on oceangoing merchant vessels for much longer. Before the union, a cruciform arrangement of stars on a plain red field, with the cross of Jerg Augst in a canton, was often flown by the merchant ships of Altland.

Flags of the Sixteen Provinces

 Each of the sixteen provinces of the kingdom has it own flag, flown by its government next to the national flag and often also flown by private persons, intimes in official, sometimes in altered form, as an act of regional patriotism.

 Until recently, the flags of the several provinces have simply been their banners of arms, sometimes in simplified form. Hence, Belterra removed the golden, scimitar-wielding lion from its flag in 237, leaving only the blue field covered with white billets; and Suthbirg centered its martlets, all in blue, in 249. Recently, however, there has been a trend toward further simplification, led by Verdania, which took the colors of its arms and arranged them in horizontal stripes on the flag it adopted in 297. A new flag is currently under consideration in Altasilva (cf. below) and will probably be adopted before the year is out. Similar proposals have been made in Swonferd, Norrik, Anselmia, and Orlandia, but they have not garnered much support except in the last-named, where those discontented with direct rule by the Crown have adopted an horizontal tricolor or gold, red, and gold, with the golden sun from the present flag centered on the red stripe (The display of this flag, except on private premises, is presently forbidden by royal decree.) The flags of both Orlandia and Sperança, often displayed in previous centuries as vertical banners hung from cross-bars, have a shield-like shape peculiar to local, county, and regional flags in the former Kingdom of Romandia.

 

Proposed New Flag of Altasilva