Forum:Official collaboratives/Kalkara

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Greetings, mappers of OGF.

We wish to present an overview for collaborative territory known as Kalkara, located in UL02c. The collab provides a homeland on OGF for the Maltese theme. Since Maltese culture and language are very complex, its background lore will necessarily involve other regional collabs. This is a project that we (KAB and Alessa) are coordinating, but we want this to be a fun project for the broader community. This discussion allows us space to coordinate different elements of the project.

Discussion

All official discussion must take place on the forum and not offsite. If you have specific questions you are welcome to message KAB or Alessa privately.

• I wonder how populous the state would be. I believe something around 3-5.5 mln. should go well. Nevertheless, it would be quite pleasant to see another well-planned collab appearing on OGF. Sudo91 (talk) 08:18, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Looks like a solid plan! The history fits perfectly with Arion's and we can sort out exactly how the two countries would have interacted once I figure out Arion's history, current status, and development in more detail. And of course, I'll contribute at least a little bit when the project opens :) --Lithium-Ion (talk) 18:27, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Community projects

Flag proposals

Fellow mappers, we would like to start soliciting ideas for a Kalkaran flag! There are a couple things to consider keeping in mind with the design: it should be relatively simple and with easy-to-manufacture dyes, since it would likely have evolved from the symbology of the medieval Christic (Ortholic) knights. So, some type of easily drawn decorative cross with simple colors will go a long way. Do not worry about the flag being "boring" or overly simplistic.

It isn't required, but it would be nice to have some type of symbolism that can invoke the Cross of the Order of St. John (often called the Maltese cross) or other Maltese symbol to connect the territory to real-world Malta; we are not necessarily looking to replicate the symbol directly of it but perhaps a variation on it.

Have fun! — Alessa _(talk) 16:02, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

No.	Flag	Description
1		Hi! This is my proposal for a Kalkaran flag. It is a simple red cross on a white field, with a symbol that seems to be between a Maltese cross and a Cross pattée in the canton. I chose red since it seemed like a easy to make dye, however it also bears similarity with the red on the actual Maltese flag. I would be willing to change the color if needed. PaintedBlue (talk) 19:13, 13 January 2023 (UTC) I created a suggestion these days too, but as PaintedBlue proposal is so much better than my one, I will keep it simply as Aħmara flag, hehehe (Yes, even as an "municipal" flag, I still will improve the coat of arms, trying to make it better) -- BMSOUZA (talk) 13:48, 14 January 2023 (UTC) Hello again. Inspired by KAB, I would also like to present a version of the flag with a yellow cross rather than a white one, with the yellow representing the same meaning as on KAB's proposal. PaintedBlue (talk) 21:16, 15 January 2023 (UTC)
2		I present a very simple design, a red and white saltire. I feel like the Maltese cross could take a role similar to that of St. Andrew's cross, so instead of having a symbol resembling the cross and the knights, it can be represented through a pattern, which can be used for various other stuff aside from the flag. Because I personally find flags with borders cool, I included two variations for this flag, in blue and black, if anyone prefers those. Bixelkoven (talk) 23:22, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
3		I propose a tricolour of white, red, and black, plus a yellow Maltese cross. Generally easy to come by dyes, each colour can represent different things, which can be decided at a later date. The yellow represents the Order, and the providence bestowed upon them centuries ago when they were sent to seize the lands of Kalkara from Mazan. Additionally, any flag that does not get chosen as the national flag will more than likely have a place as a provincial or municipal flag somewhere in the nation. KAB (talk) 00:57, 15 January 2023 (UTC)
4		This proposal is a basic reuse of this Breton flag. The flag has been rotated 90°, slightly resized, and black replaced by a shade of carmine, colour that may have historically been an expensive and exotic dye, fitting a seafaring nation. The ratio is 1:2. --Aiki (talk) 21:58, 15 January 2023 (UTC)

These all look like great ideas! Thank you, PaintedBlue, Bixelkoven, KAB, and Aiki for your submissions! KAB and I have had a chance to chat about the flags, but we didn't want to make a decision without fielding some feedback on the four options. One thing we will do is to use all four in some way. There will be a national flag, a flag for the strait (largest) city, flags for the second and third largest cities, and either military flags or flags for a historic capital or important historic center.

Does anyone have any thoughts about which they think work best in these situations? We'll give a few days for feedback. — Alessa _(talk) 14:57, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

Some thoughts and suggestions on the flags, as an outsider:

• I think Flag 1 would be most appropriate for an "older" or historic version of the flag, based on the designs involved. Could even work in some symbology regarding the white vs. yellow cross, where the yellow cross version is used only in a certain circumstance (e.g., when a ruler is present the yellow cross version is flown over the seat of government and the "empty" white cross version flies when the ruler is elsewhere).
• Flag 2 I would suggest be the military battle flag, given how much of the body of the flag is red and how easily it's visible from long distances. Could even keep the different colored borders to represent different branches (so the navy flies the flag with a blue border, the ground forces use the version with a black border, etc.).
• Flag 3 would make a good national flag. It's simple and straightforward, but there's plenty of opportunities to apply symbolism to each of the four colors used.
• Flag 4 would make a good city flag, in my opinion. I also like how the negative space essentially creates a second, interlocking Maltese cross.

--TheMayor (talk) 16:01, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

• As said before, I like very very much the Flag 1 (by PaintedBlue) as national flag. A simple design, and a simple maltese cross.
• I would use Flag 4 (by Aiki) as a military or naval flag maybe...
• Flag 3 (by KAB) looks very good as a national capital flag.
• Flag 2 (by Bixelkoven) is not "ugly" - as I use the same design with other colours as a province flag in Novakia hehehe - but I think it is very simple. Would fit well to any big city or even a state/ province/ region/ etc...

--BMSOUZA (talk) 02:21, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

Thank you both for the feedback! I will acknowledge that my personal opinion (not speaking on behalf of KAB here) was leaning towards flags 3 and 4 for the national flag, with a little favoring of 4 for the national. My thought was to make KAB's flag the flag of the strait city, PaintedBlue's the historic flag or flag of another large city, and Bixelkoven's the naval/military flag or of a large city. That said, I know KAB originally had some thoughts different than mine, so I'm going to give him the freedom as the other coordinator to craft his final proposal for how to distribute these. They're all nice, so we can definitely find some use for them even if not national. — Alessa _(talk) 13:55, 27 January 2023 (UTC)