Saturday 7 July 2012

Northern Isles (Scotland)

There is a feeling that if Scotland votes 'yes' to independence in the 2014 vote then the Orkney and Shetland Islands would either remain in the UK or become independent of Scotland. 
Looking at this from a creative point of view on the flags forum myself and others have been discussing designs for the flag of the 'Northern Isles country'  
The two Islands groups are culturally and historically linked. They both share a mixed Viking and Scottish heritage and culture. I have even recently discovrerd my family name originates from the Viking settlements on the Northern Isles. There are also traces of Pict and Geal ancestry too. 
Both the individual island groups have their own flags (both Scandinavian crosses
Shetland_flag.png 
Flag of Shetland 

800px-New_Official_Orkney_Flag.svg.png
Flag of Orkney 

I proposed of combining them into one in a similar way the Union Jack is a combination of flags:
Civil and regional flag 

Merchant ensign (if they remain in the UK)

This idea was picked up by Leonardo Piccioni who designed another perhaps better combination design: 
  ilhas-setentrionais2.png
I also thought about defacing the St Andrew's Saltire with a logo, symbol or coat of arms. I came up with the fallowing designs:
UKNI flag saltire shield cross.PNG
Shield Knot 

UKNI flag saltire cross.PNG
Pictish Cross 

UKNI flag saltire.PNG
Viking/Pictish Brooch 

I also thought about topping them with a Scots Crown. The thing with these is that they give the impression of being part of Scotland (which they are at the moment) or they represent one culture identity or background(with the exception of the brooch which is not the best symbol) Leonardo suggested changing the field to white and the cross to blue as is done in the Novia Scotia flag. He made a St Andrews cross version based on this and a badge from 1969 commemorating the Island's transition to Scottish rule. 
ilhas-setentrionais5.png
(designed by Leonardo Piccioni)

The cross still represents Scottish heritage and identity but is distinctivly different from the flag of the independent Kingdom of Scotland (again these are only if the Scots vote yes) and the ship represents Viking heritage. The discussion and designs are still going on to view them on the flags forum click here. To see a similar post on Leonardo's blog click here.

3 comments:

  1. Sam, I'd like to put a related post in my blog. Do you allow me?

    My idea is put a link to your post, so they'd be something like twin posts.

    ReplyDelete