Acela
The pacifist designers of the Acela flag tweaked the French tricolor’s layout, substituting the blood red for sky blue, aiming to show the country’s optimistic outlook. Furthering that point is the Statue of Liberty’s torch at the center of the flag. The torch is meant to show Acela’s central role in lighting the way for progress far into the future, but many of the continent’s other residents think it better displays Acela’s need to be the center of the universe.
Alaska Free State
Alaska’s redesign technically violated the rules surrounding new flags, as they directly copied their old flag, adding a moose in snow on the bottom. However, they were considered so peripheral that the vast majority of the other successor states didn’t care, and the few who did were far too scared of the Alaskans to say anything about it.
Bayeux Republique
The Bayeux Republique’s flag takes inspiration from both French flags with the royal fleur de lis and republican tricolor, as well as Louisiana’s old state flag. Purple replaces the French Republic’s red to show the nation’s centuries-old royal origins. The pelican on the flag is vulning, but unlike in other flags there are no chicks for her to nourish. Louisiana sheds blood only to stand alone; a buffer state in the (for now) cold war between Douglass and Greater Florida.
Bluegrass Republic
The Bluegrass Republic’s flag combines the sword and scales on the Cincinnati flag with the horse and bluegrass of Kentucky. It also shows the diplomatic balancing act the Bluegrass Republic must engage in, being surrounded by larger rivals like the Rust Belt Republic and Dixie.
Jefferson
The black and yellow in Jefferson’s flag represent its right-libertarian origins (as well as its current politics), with the purple meant to represent that its residents are parts of the “natural aristocracy” Jefferson discussed in his writing. The porpoise, which can often be seen nipping at the edges of Jefferson’s thriving aquaculture farms, was selected as the national animal for both its high intelligence and anti-sociality.
Marquette
The deer is the animal of the Midwest, and it is represented both here and in the Rust Belt Republic’s flag. The background is green to symbolize the vast forests of the Northwoods region which covers most of the country. The few parts of the Northwoods that aren’t forested are home to countless lakes and streams that defy any pattern.
Mountain Compact
The Mountain Compact’s flag prominently displays the emblems both of its members, combining the color scheme and central “C” of the old Colorado flag with the Zia sun of the old New Mexico flag. As this was not a direct copy of either flag, it was allowed to pass at The Convention (more on that in the next entry in the Fractal America series, Blood Orange), albeit over an objection or two.