In case you haven’t read it already, Laetizia Coronet has opened a competition for designing a flag for the use of Residents. The quaint custom of using the “Eye-in-Hand” logo of Second Life has been thrown into question by the trademark flap, and ‘zia is asking people to send her ideas. With my own design, that should make four entries to date. But, if you’re interested in becoming the Betsy Ross of the Grid, read her article and break out your Paint Shop Pro or GIMP.
Just remember not to waste her time with ridiculous entries; she says right in the article that she won’t consider any Lag Flags (solid grey), anything even distantly smacking of a derogatory nature, and text should be kept to the barest minimum. The best flags combine a clear symbology, expressing a few key points. For instance, this is my own submission:
As I said in my submission letter to ‘zia, “The field is a rainbow gradient, symbolizing both the international/pan-ethnic nature of the Resident Community, and world with unlimited potential of Second Life — a horizon without end.
“The blue canton is charged with a Celtic knotwork, the interlacing, never-ending, multicolored spiral symbolic of the never-ending creativity exhibited by Residents.”
What do you think? Heraldically speaking, the color combination stinks, but I think we may not need to concern ourselves with that in a virtual world. Even if it doesn’t win the competition, I’ll probably use it as a personal ensign!
I like the knot one the best. While I know we aren’t constrained by flag rules in the atomic world, I think the knot makes a bolder statement.
I have to say, while I normally love this sort of thing, I seem to lack the insight to combine symbology with a greater meaning.
Can someone tell me how to hook a flag flexi-prim to a flagpole — at both ends? I tried that this afternoon, intending to give it a hoist and see if anyone would salute it, and the thing hung by only one corner (sigh).
I thought that one edge of the flexi prim was “stiff”. I remember making hanging banners for my tower and the bottom end sort of stayed straight
Aha! When I turned on the flex, the prim was sitting as I would normally expect the flag to be viewed, with the hoist (the left edge) and canton at the top left. I’ll try texturing the thing, then turn the hoist edge down, and see what my results are. Thanks, Gahum!
Turns out it’s a bit more elaborate than that. The texture for the flag needs to be properly oriented, on both sides, so that the hoist edge of the texture is on the hoist edge of the prim. That means rotating the texture 90 degrees left, then giving it a mirror flip for the back (reverse) side of the flag.