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Flags of Countries that Barely Were

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A flag of the Free Territory (1918-21), an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in modern East Ukraine.
(The one on Wikicommons is really inaccurate. This is the correct version based on the photo below.)

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A flag of the Free Territory (1918-21), an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in modern East Ukraine.
(The one on Wikicommons is really inaccurate. This is the correct version based on the photo

Why would anarchists use a skull theme? Doesn't that send rather the wrong message?

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Why would anarchists use a skull theme? Doesn't that send rather the wrong message?
It was a way of saying "We f*cking mean business". Some White factions did the same:
 

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The flag of the Republic of Benin. When The Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967 Mid-Western Region had attempted to remain neutral, holding a peace conference between the two sides in Benin City and refusing to allow Biafra to be invaded through Mid-Western Region. Seeking a quick end to the Civil War, Biafran forces made an advance on Lagos, capturing the Mid-Western Region and its capital, Benin City. When ethnic divides in the region between the Igbo and others threatened to destabilise the region independence was declared on 19th September 1967 in a last-ditch attempt to rally the population round a common cause. The Republic of Benin was captured the same day by Nigerian forces.
 
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Flag of the Partisan Republic of Ossola - 9 September to 23 October 1944.

The flag was used by partisans in the areas of Val d'Ossola (Piedmont, NW Italy) they had liberated from Nazifascism, until a 5.000 strong RSI force reconquered the area, just more than 40 days after the proclamation of the "Partisan Republic".

Most of the population successfully evacuated to Switzerland.

This, like other similar fleeting experiences in liberated valleys, had an important political value to show that Partisans were not just "bandits", but rather organized and able to serve as the basis for a new, democratic, political order in Italy.

The colours would represent the three major partisan groupings active in the area :

Blue: Badogliani - Monarchist groups, mostly made up of former army personnel and Catholics (but those had their own smaller groups, linkes to DC);
Red: Garibaldi Brigades - Partito Comunista Italiano;
Green: Giustizia and Libertà Brigades - Partito d'Azione (Justice and Freedom brigades, linked to the liberal-socialist Action Party, which played a very important part in antifascism and resistenza, but very limited electoral success, soon dissolving because of irreconcilable differences between the liberal and socialist factions).
 
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The Republic of the North Solomons was a breakaway region of Papua New Guinea which achieved limited autonomy for several months in the mid-1970s. Based on Bougainville Island, the region has a long-running separatist movement due to limited cultural connection with mainland Papua New Guinea. A 2019 referendum for independence passed overwhelmingly, and even though it was non-binding, the likelihood is that the country may become independent in 2027, per the negotiated deal struck this summer. So look well! This may soon be our newest country flag in just a few short years.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
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Flag of the Free State of Ikaria, July 1912-November 1912

A Greek-speaking island in the Aegean sea named for Icarus, who's famous for having flown too close to the son and supposedly crashed near the island.

Ikaria or Icaria first broke away from Greece in 1827 during the War of Independence, before returning to the Ottoman fold soon after.

In 1911, following the Italo-Turkish War, Icaria expelled the Turkish garrison. Apparently only one person died during the war.

The Free State attempted to secure its position through expatriates, such as the Pan-Icarian Brotherhood of America, who they hoped would by them some ships. This didn't happen, and the Icarians instead wound up with the Cleopatra, an old steamship. The Icarians also tried to fix the economy by issuing good-looking stamps that would be cherished by collectors - but forgery of these prized stamps meant that their values would collapse.

The island of Icaria was also deeply divided between North and South - a scuffle over where its capital should be almost caused a civil war, but a month after the Balkan Wars broke out, a Greek ship sailed in and declared the Isles part of Greece.

The Icarian flag is fairly unremarkable - it's a white cross on a blue field, similar to that of Greece. I suppose the reason for why it's designed this way is the same as the reason Greece's flag is.

My source is Lost Countries, which is a relatively light pop-history book, but I do at least trust it somewhat/
 
In January 1889, a bunch of Cossacks arrived in what is now Djibouti and attempted to set up their own micro-state, which they called New Moscow. The French, who had colonial designs of their own on the place, took exception and expelled them back to Russia after a month.

I'm not sure what kind of message they intended to send with their choice of flag, but to me it means "No we are totally not Russians."

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I would be remiss not to mention the Free Republic of Vercors, since it was proclaimed not far from my family's neck of the woods. It lasted from 3 to 21 July 1944. Considering how short-lived it was, its structures were remarkably elaborate: it had trade agreements with neighboring Diois (which supplied all-important wine), its own court, its own newspaper, customs checkpoints, an internment camp, and an airfield was under construction when the Germans counterattacked.

The flag design incorporates two symbols of the Resistance: the Gaullist Cross of Lorraine and the "V for Victory" sign.

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Flag of the Free State of Ikaria, July 1912-November 1912

If only they'd lasted and made a trade deal with the Swiss - what gorgeous flag combinations could have resulted!

I would be remiss not to mention the Free Republic of Vercors...

Now that is a fascinating little piece of history! I'll have to see what else I can find out. Any books you could recommend?

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Now that is a fascinating little piece of history! I'll have to see what else I can find out. Any books you could recommend?
There aren't any books on the topic in English that I was able to find--what Anglophone literature focuses on the Vercors only deals with the military side of the story, such as Osprey Publishing's Vercors 1944: Resistance in the French Alps by Peter Lieb. If you can read French there's Le Vercors: Histoire et mémoire d’un maquis by Gilles Vergnon.
 
There aren't any books on the topic in English that I was able to find--what Anglophone literature focuses on the Vercors only deals with the military side of the story, such as Osprey Publishing's Vercors 1944: Resistance in the French Alps by Peter Lieb. If you can read French there's Le Vercors: Histoire et mémoire d’un maquis by Gilles Vergnon.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
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