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Hello New Martians.
I recently made a few changes to the Wikipedia article titled "Flag of Mars". For example, I added a reference to an article that was published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. That reference article is titled "The great Martian flag wars". The reference provides some interesting history about the two leading versions of the Flag of Mars.
"It is possible to build a rational and humane culture completely free from the threat of supernatural restraints." Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth
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I once designed a flag - a red disc at the centre (to symbolise the planet itself of course) on a background split diagonally in equal proportions between green and blue, to symbolise the process of terraformation.
Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com
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Louis: In the “Mars Society International” section of this forum I posted a message titled “A Phi-based Flag of Mars”. I described my Mars flag design as including two Kepler triangles. Wikipedia has an article titled "Kepler triangle".
You might consider giving your Mars flag design an aspect ratio of 1 to the square root of Phi (~1.272). Then the triangles in your design would be Kepler triangles. The aspect ratio of your design would be slightly higher than the aspect ratio of the flag of Monaco (see the “List of aspect ratios of national flags” article in Wikipedia).
Some countries have a main flag and an alternative flag (an ensign) that is suitable for attachment to a moving vehicle. The main Mars flag might have an aspect ratio equal to the golden ratio (1 to 1.618) and an alternative flag might have a 1 to 1.272 aspect ratio. The relatively shorter “ensign” would be sitable for attachment to the antenna of an automobile. The shorter length of the ensign would make the ensign less likely to be torn by air resistance as the vehicle moves.
You might consider having the left and right edges of the central red circle on your flag design pass through the two golden section points on the common hypotenuse of the two Kepler triangles. And maybe add a smaller circle on each side of the central “Mars” circle; one small circle to represent Phobos and the other to represent Deimos.
"It is possible to build a rational and humane culture completely free from the threat of supernatural restraints." Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth
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Louis: I drew an ensign that is composed of two Kepler triangles (one green and the other blue). The ensign’s aspect ratio is 1 to 1.272. The solid red circle that represents Mars is centered on the intersection of the flag’s (invisible) diagonals. The circle is 0.618 units in diameter, so its diameter is in golden ratio with the height of the flag. [1 to 0.618 (the reciprocal of Phi) is a golden ratio.]
The tilt axis of Mars has varied from 10 degrees to 60 degrees so the common hypotenuse of the two Kepler triangles, tilted to about about 52 degrees from vertical, can represent the axis of Mars (the tilt axis is currently at about 25 degrees). I added two small red circles to represent Phobos and Deimos. The circle representing Deimos is a little larger and a little farther away.
Would you buy a little flag of that design and attatch it to the antenna of your car?
"It is possible to build a rational and humane culture completely free from the threat of supernatural restraints." Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth
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Pascal Lee’s original “Flag of Mars” had an aspect ratio (height to length) of 1 to 2. He later changed the aspect ratio to 2 to 3. An image of the revised flag is shown on his website (pascallee.net/artwork/flag-of-mars).
In the “Specifications” section of Lee’s “Flag of Mars” webpage, Lee explains that one of the three vertical color bars of the flag is "Imperial Blue” (color “19-4245” of the Pantone Color Matching System). He wrote, “it's ironic that a celebration of Exploration and Liberty would end with Imperial Blue”.
I have thought about the name “Imperial” and I have concluded that the government of Mars should be named the “Imperial Republic of Mars”. The Republic should have an Emperor who has the constitutional authority to fix the Prime Meridian of Mars, and to perform such other official functions as the constitution or the parliament may authorize. For example, the Emperor might be empowered to imperiously proclaim dominion over Phobos and Deimos, and to thereby transform the Republic into an empire!
The Emperor’s official residence should be grand enough to attract a steady stream of tourists, who will gladly pay a small fee for a guided tour of the “Imperial Palace of Mars”.
The Emperor’s official flag might have an Imperial blue field and one gold star for each of the states or provinces of the Republic. The Emperor’s flag might look similar to the flag of the European Union (Google “European Union flag”).
A carefully drafted Martian constitution could establish a harmonious balance between liberty and imperialism. “Long live the Emperor!”
Last edited by Scott Beach (2017-02-23 15:20:14)
"It is possible to build a rational and humane culture completely free from the threat of supernatural restraints." Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth
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