The Flag Thread

All nations on the planet possess unique symbols for which its people are proud to rally behind and defend. All nations on earth possess a unique symbol that represents them, their people, and their ideals on the world stage. Whether it be for recognition, national pride, or even just identification, all nations on Earth have their unique symbols.

Yet the interstellar empires of Ravena, acting on a scale so much grander than on just a single world, have almost nothing. We all love our nations, but honestly, eighteen paragraphs of words on a screen to describe your empire isn't a something that everyone would remember about your country.

So, use this thread to show off your empires' flags! When you do have a flag, you may want to describe what it represents about your nation (What do the designs represent? Does the choice of colors mean anything? The shape of the flag itself?). Of course, nobody's going to judge if you just chose the colors because they were pretty, but given what can actually be done with flags, I'd encourage going in-depth with your descriptions. Simple exercises like these could actually help flesh out your nation a lot more than you'd think.

If you have no flags to show, why not create some?

I found this guide to be incredibly helpful in flag design. Why not take a look for advice or inspiration, and examples of other good flags?

These are the general rules for good flag design:
- Keep it Simple
- Use meaningful symbolism
- Use 2-3 basic colors
- No lettering or seals
- Be distinctive
But I'm not going to cramp your style if you decide to go a different way in your design. After all, who said that your race has to follow our petty rules?

Here's several good programs for designing flags:
- FlagMaker 1.7 + FlagMaker Jr.
- Flag Designer (Though this may be less in-depth than FlagMaker, it's good as an in-browser designer)
- Microsoft Paint.

Ruthless Galaxy, though a pretty small group, can still seem huge when you're not roleplaying with everyone. There's no chance that you or I would be able to understand absolutely everything about everyone's races. Flags, I feel, are a terrific way to sum it up.

In conclusion: Post your nation's flags here, and describe what they mean! Adding a "face" to recognize every empire by would be a dream.

The Dominion Flag symbol & colors:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The star-like shape represents the Syllai Flower, whose highly toxic nectar Kradus used to poison his opponents on his ascension to office. The three strikes in the middle represent the original three races of the Dominion (Zraak, Leprol, Jadel). Although some theorize that they represent the Arun house, being Kradus and his two parents who were killed during the Seizure of Maful. The ring of black represents eternity, that the Dominion may never end.

The field of black represents the emptiness of the hearts of the masses due to the Loccalian devastation and their ill intentions to those who do wrong, and the red represents the blood of the Rebels who defeated Primitus in his first reign. It also represents a pact made of blood to the same fallen rebels that the Dominion should never allow such a menace to arise in the galaxy again.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Originally, the System did not have a flag or symbol, however it was eventually decided that it might be useful for representation purposes when interacting with other civilizations.

The arrangement was selected by popular vote of the intelligences within the System, based on its aesthetic appeal and simple color scheme, as it easily is printed/painted in any color for various applications (and looks really good too).
The triangle and square are two of the main shapes used in construction. Since they System identifies more with engineers and scientists, it was deemed that these would be an appropriate selection for their symbol.