With the Fractal America Anthology ( or at least the part I’ll publish on Substack) halfway done, I figured I’d do something a little different. On top of stories for each of the Successor States of America, I’ve been working on their flags as well. Each flag has a brief paragraph explaining the design choices behind it.
GREATER FLORIDA
This flag includes the Burgundian Cross that’s flown in Florida since the Spanish founded Saint Augustine, a cross that is still on the state flag today. The seal itself shows the mix of traditionalism and optimism Florida’s attempted to embody—or at least advertise—from our time to 2121. The sun hopefully doesn’t need any explanation.
MIDWEST FEDERATION
The four main aspects of the flag (2 triangles, river, and star) each reflect one of the Federation’s four main cities. The triangle on the left represents Minneapolis’ city flag, which is a blue triangle. It is also on the “western” part of the flag to show Minneapolis is the westernmost major city in the Federation. The red triangle on the right represents Detroit, the easternmost major city in the Federation. The river is taken from St. Louis’ flag, its centrality showing the Mississippi’s importance. Finally, the star of Chicago is in the exact center as the Federation’s capital and largest city, as well as its central location.
MOJAVE REPUBLIC
The Mojave Republic’s flag is meant to show its importance as the continent’s tech hub. The yellow circle and white crescent in the flag’s central power symbol also double as the sun and moon, at least one of which is nearly always visible because of the desert’s scant cloud cover.
NAVAJO NATION
This flag includes the four sacred colors of the Navajo, each representing different precious stones for the Navajo: Jet (north), turquoise (south), abalone (west), and white shell (east). The sandy background is meant to represent the heavily desert territory controlled by the Nation.
NEW ENGLAND COMPACT
This flag is based off an older New England flag, which also included the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven,” but had a complete pine tree instead of just a couple needles. The new design was chosen to show that the Compact’s residents and leaders know what was lost. Perhaps it will become a tree again in another hundred years, or perhaps fewer than that.
RUST BELT REPUBLIC
The Rust Belt Republic’s flag is also a mourning flag of sorts. While the Successor States agreed that none of them will take on the United States’ colors nor flag, the Rust Belt Republic is right at those limits. Its national animal, the deer, is also wounded as an acknowledgement of the chaos created by The Split.
YELLOWSTONE
Yellowstone’s flag is fittingly all about nature. Starting with the bison, which is not only the flagship species of the National Park it’s named after, but is also on the flag and seal of the old state of Wyoming, which makes up a large part of Yellowstone’s territory. The red at the bottom represents the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the world’s largest geothermal power plant. Green is for the forests and pastures covering the land above, and blue to represent the region also being known as big sky country.