United Nations

The United Nations (UN) flag and emblem is perhaps one of the most famous and well known flags in the modern world, and is seen as a symbol of international cooperation and the strive for world peace. However from a Vexillology view I don't think its actually good flag for a worldwide international organization in fact it isn't really much better than a seal/shield on a bed sheet design commonly found in municipal flags, rather than an international flag of a form of world government. Of course it is extremely difficult to create a flag like the UN flag. Such a flag has to be relevant to all member states which currently number 193 sovereign nations plus two observers who are not members. It can't have any religious symbols, or any references to political systems. Also different regions of the world have different heraldic traditions to name only a few considerations so it is extremely difficult to make a simple flag that can be agreed to by everyone.  Hence the map of the world and olive branches which are more or less a universal symbol of peace. According to the UN website the symbolism is:
"Olive branches symbolize peace. The world map depicts the area of concern to the United Nations in achieving its main purpose, peace and security."
I decided to see if I could improve on the design a little. My first thought was to hark back to the origins of the UN and have something along the lines of the "four freedoms flag" which I had based flags on before (notably my WW2 Allied flag).

The four freedoms flag, proposed as an early UN flag
(but never had official status)

At the same time though I didn't want to completely get rid of the globe and olive symbol, Not least  because of the flags it has inspired in fiction. As I am sure every Star Trek fan is aware of, the flag of the Federation bear a clear similarity to the UN flag:

flag of the Federation from Star Trek

The flag of the pre-Federation United Earth in the Star Trek: Enterprise series also seems to be loosely based on the UN flag.  Staying with Sci-fi (sort of ) the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) flag from the animated comedy Futurama has a resemblance to the UN flag as does the flag of the Allied Nations in the movie Street Fighters and the video game Mercenaries. The fact that it has been mimicked so much demonstrates that the globe and olive branches has a universally recognised symbol and I don't want to abandon it completely. My first attempt was this:

I thought the current map of the world globe was way too complicated, so I simplified it to depicting the lines of longitude and latitude. Similar but not exactly the same as the globe on the flag of the Commonwealth of Nations. I also included four bars as a reference to the Four Freedoms flag. However this is to symbolise the nations and individuals who in the dark days of WW2 had the vision to establish a worldwide organisation dedicated to the peace and security of the planet, rather than the four freedoms symbolised in the original flag (which have been surpassed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). I also though of using a darker blue but decided against it as not only is it as recognisable as the globe emblem but is directly influenced the shades of blue used on national flags, such as Somalia. While I was happy with the symbols and symbolism I wasn't happy with how the flag looked. I tried a handful of variations (none of which I liked) until I decided to simplify again and came up with this:

I centralised the stripes, and symbolized the globe to a blue oval (Earth is the blue planet after all). However I was still unhappy with it, not because of the design itself but because it didn't resemble the laurel and globe of the actual UN flag. I could of course put this inside the blue circle, but it didn't seem right to me, to put a globe inside another globe. However I remembered the International Earth flag proposed by Oskar Pernefeldt:

Flag of Planet Earth proposed by Oskar Pernefeldt

He used a seven rings to make a flower (symbol of life) the fact that the rings are linked (like the Olympic flag) symbolises how everything is linked, however they could also symbolise the Unity of the nations of world. I decided to adopt this "Earth symbol" into my UN flag:

I think this works well, it keeps in the design a similar looking emblem to the current UN one, and it doesn't compromise on the symbolism of the globe or bars. The inclusion of the "Earth" symbol could even symbolise the hope for a future united Earth.

What I also like about this flag is that you can modify it for UN organisations but unlike the current flags of UN organisations keep the main symbolism of the globe and bars. For example the flag of the United Nations Assembly could look like:

Likewise the flag of the World Health Organisation could be this:

Just two examples of the variations that could be achieved. Unlike the current UN flag, this flag will also be easily recognizable when there is no wind.  

Tim Peake (Astronaut)

Tim Peake official NASA portrait 

Its been a while since I have did a heraldry related post, and inspired by the launch of the ESA's Major Timothy Peak along with NASA astronaut Colonel Timothy Kopra and Roscomos cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Malenchenko, I thought I would design a coat of arms for Tim Peake the UK's first official astronaut (other Britons have went into space but were either privately funded or NASA personnel with dual US citizenship).
the blason of my idea for Tim Peakes arms is:
Arms:Sable,a bend cotised sinister alternative bleu celeste,azure, in the dexter chief an estoile argent.  
 Crest: On a terrestrial globe a lion salient or, winged  charged with the roman numeral of one. Supporting in the dexter forepaw an escutcheon: Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St Andrew and St Patrick, quarterly per saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St George of the third, fimbriated as the saltire.
Motto: Inspiration & Discovery 

The symbolism of the arms black and a white star is obvious. The blue bends reflect the flag of the Army Air Corps, which is the corps Tim Peate has served in most recently as an attack helicopter pilot and test pilot.  The single star represents human space flight, the reason their is a single star reflects that Tim Peake has only flown one mission (the current one), I thought it would be a nice touch that more stars would be granted for more flights. The reason I used an estoile rather than a mullet is because an estoile is believed to originate the symbolism of the stars in the cosmos, where as a mullet is thought to originally symbolise spurs (although that's debated). 
The crest symbolises his achievement of being the first official British astronaut. The lion (often seen as the national animal of the United Kingdom) marked with a "1" and supporting a Union badge standing on a globe symbolising British symbols orbiting the planet. The wings on the lion hint to it flying in orbit and also reflect Tim's background in aviation. 
The motto reflect the mission of a British astronaut to advance science, space flight and exploration but also to inspire the people of the country and the planet. 
I thought a good heraldic badge would be an estoile charged with a Union badge defaced with the roman numeral "1" again symbolising the achievement of the first (official) British astronaut. This could be used in a standard:

I'm sure everyone would wish all the crew good luck on their mission. This is also probably the last post of the year and I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mars Colony

I was reading an article about a program aimed at establishing a human colony on Mars by 2023. In fact they have even begun the process of recruiting potential colonists, (or one-way astronauts as they call them)! The project known as Mars One does seem to be well planned out:

 I admit I enjoy a little bit of science fiction from time to time, and would love to travel to Mars, but I am not too sure about living there permanently! You would need to either be very brave or crazy or both. But perhaps my contribution to Earth's first space colony can be a flag one.

My first design features a red flag (as Mars is the Red Planet this seemed appropriate). Towards the  hoist is a pair of hands which symbolise humanity. The hands are open, and holding the astrological symbol for mars (which is coincidentally the male symbol, which I think represents the shield and spear of the Roman God which the planet gets its name from). Inside this is the Astrological symbol for Earth the home planet of the colonists.

I did the detail in white so it stands out better on the red background. I also thought it might need a little more colour so I added some blue and green stripes (inspired from my Earth Flag design). Also symbolising the home planet.

Or alternatively the stripes can be horizontally:

Let me know what you think of these designs. If you are brave (or mad) enough to sign up as a one-way astronaut or are just curious their website is here.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
I think it is appropriate giving the day to make a quick post about the North Pole.This is a part of the world that has been claimed and reclaimed by lots of nations, USA, USSR (more recently Russian Federation), Norway etc. Even though it is technically international waters, rather than land!

However no one ever thought of a flag. So here is my design.

It is a shared flag for a shared point on a shared planet. The design at the hoist comes from my 'Earth Flag' design. The white triangle is representative of the ice. The red and white stripes represent that regions association with Christmas. The symbol in the middle is a compass design which I think is the most appropriately neutral symbol.

All Comments Welcome

Flag by Samuel McKittrick

Blythe Yule an a haud Hogmanay!

 Happy Christmas and a happy New Year!

Moon Flag

Some time ago I did a post about a flag for the Earth, this also included a 'Moon flag' Well it was suggested to include the moon symbol so I have had some spare time and here it is with the astrological symbol of the moon.

 and with the last 'Earth flag' in the canton

 or alternatively covering the hoist of the flag.

Earth Flag

There have been a few designs for an "Earth Flag" none of them with any official status in any country. The UN flag is often though of as a good flag to use, in fact it was even suggested that it should be used instead of the USA flag when NASA first went to the moon. However it is still the flag of an international organisation and not the planet. many other designs feature globes and pictures of the Earth, which I think looks awful and would be inappropriate to put maps on flags. so here are my designs for an "Earth Flag."

My first design was based on the UN Flag with the wreath for peace, but the stars represent the continents and the male and female symbols represent humanity.

I personally was unsatisfied with this flag, so I looked for something to replace the gender symbols so researching I found every planet in our Solar System has an astrological symbol. The Earth's is a circle with a cross in it. These symbols have been used for thousands of years by many cultures and the individual conponants symbiosis different things in different cultures. Modern day its said to symbolise the globe (circle) and the four points of the compass (cross). So I incorporated this into my design.

I also thought this looked too much like an international organisation flag particularly the UN. So I based another design on the land/sea ratio of the planet. This is simply a blue flag with a green field on the fly and the Earth Symbol.

The reason there is more blue than green is because there is more water than land. I was also unsatisfied with this a put the green end at the hoist and the symbol so that it includes both green and blue.

As the moon is supposedly claimed by man I also designed a moon flag. This is a black flag with a white disk over a blue disc symbolising the moon of Earth. In the canton there is an Earth Symbol symbolising its sovereignty to the Earth.