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So the other flag thread is missing? Or what? Anyway, I have never tried my hand at making National Flags for my RPG settings, but thought I would give it a try after being inspired by Sent's amazing comments.

So here's my first dip into vexillology. Feel free to comment or add some of your own for comparison. I tried to use classic color symbology and iconography to match each nation, rather than just picking at random. See if the flags match the descriptions of each nation. (And yes, I did shamelessly steal from real-world flags. Can you guess which ones?)

Oberith

Oberith is a nation of advanced magic using Rakshasa that worship the Sun God.

Arable Land: 110,000 m^2; Population: 5.5 million; Cities: 6; Towns: 54; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 55

Nash-Tarith

Nash-Tarith is a nation of Naga that worship the Moon God and are very xenophobic.

Arable Land: 90,000 m^2; Population: 4.5 million; Cities: 6; Towns: 54; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 45

Sihn-Tarith

Sihn-Tarith is a nation of Crocodile-men that also worship the Moon God and are the closest thing to an ally with Nash-Tarith.

Arable Land: 40,000 m^2; Population: 2 million; Cities: 4; Towns: 36; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 20

Arbasti

Arbasti is a nation of goat-men or faun that worship the Earth God and are subservient to the Kiln Nation.

Arable Land: 60,000 m^2; Population: 3 million; Cities: 5; Towns: 45; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 31

Kiln

Kiln is a nation of toad-men called Dar that worship and are highly favored by the Earth God.

Arable Land: 10,000 m^2; Population: 500,000; Cities: 50; Towns: 0; Villages: 0; Fortifications: 5

Tongo

Tongo is a nation of samurai Husky dog-men that worship the Sun God.

Arable Land: 110,000 m^2; Population: 5.5 million; Cities: 6; Towns: 54; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 55

Wayh

Wayh is a nation of Samoyed dog-men, cousins to the Tongo breed, that worship the Ancestors.

Arable Land: 60,000 m^2; Population: 3 million; Cities: 5; Towns: 45; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 30

West Reach

West Reach is a nation of nomadic shape-shifting humans that worship The Green.

Arable Land: 20,000 m^2; Population: 500,000; Cities: 1; Towns: 0; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 5

Merodachi

Merodachi is an island nation of foxkin that worship the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Arable Land: 50,000 m^2; Population: 2.5 million; Cities: 4; Towns: 36; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 25

Kenku Isles

Kenku Isles is an island nation of seafaring bird-men that worship the Sky God.

Arable Land: 40,000 m^2; Population: 2 million; Cities: 4; Towns: 36; Villages: thousands; Fortifications: 20

Mermaids

The oceanic nation of the mermaids dominates the world beneath the waves and worships the Ocean God.

Arable Land: unknown; Population: unknown; Cities: unknown; Towns: unknown; Villages: unknown; Fortifications: unknown

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The other thread got nuked when Poxy proved to be a fucktard by shitposting and his flags were lame to begin with.

This is a better thread for your flags anyway.

Sent will have all the better opinions of course since vexillology is one of his (many) personal obsessions, but these mostly all look to me like good flags with strong colors and really recognizeable symbols. The only issue I see is that the art on a few of them seem a little complex for something that must be identically sewn in quantity by hand, at least assuming a typical medieval fantasy tech level. And the colors on the fox one are a little wonky imo.

I think I like the Wayh the best, with the crocodile guys a close second.

Are there any humans in this setting?

The dragon icon seems the most intricate to me, while the oak leaves would come in second. I'm confident the oak leaves could be sewn onto a flag as applique though, which is largely done by hand.

I agree with you on the fox flag, something is off with the yellow, which seems more lemon-yellowish I think. I may try to see what recoloring it might do. I'm also a little concerned about the blue color on the dragon flag. Perhaps more baby-bluish?

I really like the way the Wayh flag turned out too.

As for the setting, there are no-longer any humans - except that the shape shifters appear as human in their natural form. Most of the Ancestors appear human, as well as a few forms of the main gods, and the angelic messengers of the Ancestors as well.

Historically, flags and shields in particular could get really complex depending on the artist making them, because it wasn't necessarily about being identical as much as it was about having the same features that symbolize the same things. That's why heraldry has so many rules and distinct words and (relatively) few and very simple colors, because stuff like dye color/consistency, artist skill, etc. may not be the same throughout all the different places that this flag or heraldry might be made. That's why there's so many different animals but the details keep changing, and all the four-legged ones have similar poses (sitting, "rampant", etc.)

If the king of France, for example, conquers some place far away like England, the flag artists there might not know how to draw, for example, (the flag of france probably didn't look like this at whatever time) a fleur de lis *exactly* as it appears on the flags in france, and they might not have the local resources to make the exact same blue dye. (Or if they do, it might be expensive or wash out easily) So the end result might be light blue, or dark blue, but it would definitely still be a fleur de lis of such and such a color, on a blue background. And that's why heraldry has all those funny vocab words.

The Naga and the Crocodile people sound like the Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims.

Yeah, I can see the parallels. I might go with this even further when developing their culture some more.

Added some variations of the last three flags. Still not 100% satisfied with them yet though...

The problem with the new Mermaid one is the red x design now looks like some nation that hates sea shells.

Oh wow, you are spot on haha!

Farking racist mermaids lol!

A mighty ocean empire should be a sinister cephalopod with a trident and crown or something. I'm not sure an ocean race would feel properly represented by the discarded shells they cast up on land.

I mean, it is a nautilus shell, I suppose I could put the cephalopod back in it.

Made changes, and have the most current designs chosen. @ISentinelPenguinI - Critique?

These are very small nitpicks; because lots of them are so well-done. Especially the goat one is instantly recognizable.

However, I will say that the Tongo flag would look better if these lower sun rays allign with the bottom of the sun. I would imagine that medieval fantasy flag makers would find it much more convenient.

In general, most of the colors are pretty good. If you want to lean on the realistic side of things, I would suggest to refrain from the color purple (which you did!!!), purple dye was pretty expensive in most regions.

The Kenku island flag is the only one I am not that fond of. The upper yellow part of the dragon kind of blends in with the light blue. If you make the blue a bit darker or make the background entirely black, it would look a lot nicer.

The mermaids flag could do also a bit of simplification. The head could be 2 half circles and the tentacles could be a few straight lines. From a distance it would have a stronger silhouettte

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out and see what it looks like :)

Is this what you meant?

It seems to highlight the uneven rays though lol!

Yup that's what I meant!!! Haha, I see that all the sun rays were actually at a slightly different angle from each other. Coming from someone who has experience in magazine page layout-work, I can already feel the pain if you want to adjust all these rays.... Flags are really finicky business at times. 

But oh your dragon flag looks very nice now!!! The dragon emblem really stands out a lot more!

I like Oberith, but it feels a little weird. I think the stripes are a bit too skinny, it reminds me a little bit of a window more than a flag.

Nash Tarith is very spooky, and I'd recognize it anywhere. I feel like everybody in this setting would immediately know what the red moon means!

However, the dark blue on black of Sinh Tarith feels strange. It's not a combination that I see often, and the colors make me think of what people in the 1980s portrayed the inside of computers looking like, with the blue laser squares and stuff. It feels weirdly futuristic for a fantasy flag. It also makes me want to know why the Tariths share a naming convention and a symbol with each other- You can use the subtle differences to express a lot about how the nations are distinct or similar, by explaining what the stripe means, or giving them different kinds of crescents.

The Aries symbol is a really good idea for a goat civilization! I like its runey appearance and its carroty color scheme. If this flag were on a cake, I would eat it. I feel as though some of the colors are a little too dark, it feels like if, at a distance, the black would kind of blend into them.

The colors of Kiln very much stick out, though they might be too striking. I also like their symbol, it feels pretty earth god-y. But, the structure of the flag reminds me of Israel. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it is a strange association.

The new and ammended Tongo is very good, the little corner bits bothered me too. 

Wayh is potentially my favorite of the bunch. I think its colors go together the best, and the symbol partially addresses my only real complaint about all these*. The roundel design makes it stick out from all the others, and it resembles a japanese Mon symbol, which is a really good characteristic to have as their neighbors and cousins are samurai dogs. Having the flag being a vertical rectangle similar to a Hata Jirushi as opposed to a horizontal one would really complete the picture depending on what time period this is.

The dark green doesn't contrast with the black very well, but all the same, West Reach looks tasty. If this flag were frosting on a cake, I wouldn't eat it. Because the inside of that cake is almost certainly garlic bread.

Merodachi is good, though the fox falls into the awkward middle ground of being simplified enough to look modern, but also too simplified to look modern. Flags with animal symbols, like Wales, Montenegro, Albania, Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium, Central Finland, Papua New Guinea, and a lot of European provinces where the animals were adapted from old heraldry, tend to be the most detailed of all of them, and they are the biggest exceptions to the rule of "simplicity is better". Typically they are pretty detailed sillhouettes or heraldic drawings. This two tailed fox looks a bit like a corporate logo, where I think it might actually look more like this (the fox emblem is taken from a russian state flag. I've seen a better one somewhere that was far more fox-like and actually sitting down, but I have no idea what region of what country that was and it kills me right now)



I like the kenku isles, they remind me of Bhutan, but prettier.

The mermaids I find questionable, because the detail of the nautillus makes it look kind of out of place in comparison to the rest of the symbols here, unless it's a heraldic drawing, but that's just the thing.

*My central complaint is that, if this is fantasy taking place in ancient times, the flags are too standardised. Flags and banners were a lot looser of a language and heraldry or the local equivalent of it was the main thing, with banners often being the plate on which it was served. The concept of 2:3 silk waving freely in the wind wasn't standard by any means, and there would be a lot more different shapes on display to symbolize these places. Often shields, vertical or pointed banners, etc.

An excellent resource for this is https://azgaar.github.io/Armoria/ which is just a good program in general for planning out these kinds of designs and symbols. What it can't do, editting the svg later on in photoshop or GIMP can.

That coat-of-arms generator is actually pretty neat. I clicked randomize a few times until I got a giant foot on one, at which point I decided I'm wearing my luck thin. Good to keep bookmarked for any sort of DnD shenanigans, though.

Ah, thanks for the feedback! I'll do some more adjustments and see how it goes. I hadn't thought about old flags being not the same shape and really like the idea of a vertical banner-style flag for Wayh.

Well, I'm happy with what I got now and appreciate the suggestions that help me get to this point.

I varied the shapes a bit - adding the points to the Nash-Tarith and Sihn-Tarith flags to represent fangs/teeth (both of which are signature traits among snakes and crocodiles).

The West Reach flag is a little more square.

For the far-east inspired Tongo and Wayh, I made them vertical, imagining them carried on poles attached to the backs of their best samurai warriors.

For the Mermaid Nation, I made it more of a banner, as how does a flag flutter underwater anyway? They would be carried on poles like Roman banners.

I like the more varied shapes.

Those two images at the end aren't showing up for me though.

Last two images are maps of the world that I am hosting on BHB. Unfortunately, new tech prevents them from loading to most phones due to BHB not being https. You can still open them on a phone though, by pressing and holding the box icons and then previewing or opening from the pop-up menu.

They appear just fine when you open them in a new tab!

I really like the way the Tarith flags have changed! Nash-Tarith looks more sinister than ever, and the stripe in the middle of Sinh Tarith particularly complements the new shape. Tongo and Wayh look really good, and I think Tongo has become my favorite out of all these! I definitely think the subtle shape change for west reach makes the logo fit a lot nicer. And I like the Mermaid flag a lot now actually. The non-modern shape of the flag makes the nautilus picture fit a lot better, and it's easy to imagine a long flag like this waving ominously overhead underwater, or being readable from above.

In other news, I finally found the russian flag with a more appealing/immediately readable sort of heraldic design for a fox! Thank goodness I saved it on my phone years ago in my folder full of flags or I wouldn't have been able to find it.



Admittedly, I tried changing the colors in GIMP and this made it look like more of a squirrel, but the first one also seemed to have that problem.

It did not look much like a fox to begin with tbh. Well, the tail does, but I'm not sure what to make of that face.

I might you around with it to see if I can get a more fox-like face without being too obvious an update.