Fictional flags in Firefly
António Martins-Tuválkin
While editing our page <fic^frfl.html>, I come across two
“reconstructions” of the same flag offered with no explanation for
their not-so-minor differences (except for the orientation, which is
trivial). This is weird, as the canon for this is a TV series, a
motion picture, not a text one would have to “reconstruct” a described
flag design from.
So I tried to find out more in the usual learned source: a fan-powered
wiki. But at < http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Images_of_logos,_crests_and_insignias
> they are as much at loss as we are, even featuring JPG versions (!)
of the same two images we have. No snapshots, not time codes for
footage. Really disappointing.
Can anyone help in this regard, by finding the scene(s) of the
mentioned episode(s) where this flag design is shown or even glimpsed?
P.S.: While browsing Wikia, I reccomend you set up an account and
tailor it like this: Preferences : Appearance : Layout : MonoBook. —
unless you like ad spam and garish gadgets obscuring the content.
==Independents’==
Concerning other flags used in the same fictional universe, the
gallery linked above points to <
http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/File:Independents_flag.JPG >, what is
apparently the flag of the “Independents”: It is a 1:2 green flag with
two narrow horizontal yellow stripes and a black five-poinetd star
standing on a tip centered overall. The particular shades of green and
yellow seem to be indetermined, as the original posted used bright
100% saturated RGB values (RGB green — OMG, my eyes!!) and those were
later replaced with the current subdued pastel shades.
Caution should be taken concerning this design as it is tagged with
caveats concerning lacking sources. That doesn’t mean it is
non-canonical, just that it is unsourced. (As also the Anglo-Sino
Alliance flag images are, though.)
==Alliance emblem==
The unrelated starry Alliance emblem mentioned in the 2nd half of Alan
Baker’s contribution in our page will be edited as a separate
subsection, away from the flowing discussion of the flag. This is the
kind of crass editing mistake that is so common in FotW-ws but which
is fortunately rare in Marc Pasquin’s editorial work.
-- ____.
António MARTINS-Tuválkin | ()|
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De sable uma fonte e bordadura escaqueada de jalde e goles, por timbre a
bandeira, por mote o 1º verso acima, e por grito de guerra "Mi rajtas!".
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António Martins-Tuválkin
> Both can be seen as stickers in 2 different episodes. # 1 is from the
> episode "bushwacked" while # 2 can be seen in "The Train Job".
Ah, great. The discrepancy is therefore canonical, even if unintended
by the authors.
António Martins-Tuválkin
>> Both can be seen as stickers in 2 different episodes. # 1 is from the
>> episode "bushwacked" while # 2 can be seen in "The Train Job".
>
> Ah, great. The discrepancy is therefore canonical, even if unintended
> by the authors.
Still to be explained the two main differences in design, leaving
aside ratios, color shades, star sizes/positions, and possible
flipping: The color of the stars (Chinese yellow in “The Train Job”
and US white in “Bushwacked”), and the number of white stripes
(original 13 in “The Train Job” and reduced to five in “Bushwacked”).
What about that? (Both designs slightly edited and attached as
<fic-frf1.gif> and <fic-frf2.gif>, the latter flipped to show its
putative hoist at the left and recolored to Old Glory shades.)
Travis Dunn’s 21 Jul 2005 quote from «Wikipedia.com» (sic!) could
perhaps be traced in its history from the English Wikipedia article;
FWIW its current version is at <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_%28TV_series%29#cite_note-10 >
and states that «This Sino-American heritage is illustrated by labels
on crates in the episode "The Train Job", consisting of a Chinese flag
superimposed over a United States flag.»
Unrelated and unlinked there are further references to this flag and
its two concurrent designs at <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_%28Firefly%29#The_Union_of_Allied_Planets
>. Here, both depictions (<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Alliance_%28Firefly%29.svg >
and < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drap-alliance1.png >, the
latter by Marc Pasquin) show yellow stars, casting a shadow on our
report by Travis Dunn.
