Flags of Borealia
Flags of Borealia
Official flags of Borealia throughout its history, from colony to commonwealth.
The Endeavour Bay Company was formed in the early 1820s with the stated goal of establishing a chartered colony with license to exploit the resources of what was then known as Cookland. A flotilla of ships sailed from Liverpool in 1822 and upon arrival off the coast of modern Calder, surveyed several potential sites before settling on a cove near the mouth of the river Wren as it flowed into the Great Loch. Though this was not the place where the famous Captain Cook had first landed and claimed the isles for Britain , the proprietors of the Company saw fit to name the new Settlement after his ship anyway.
Endeavour Bay was of course not the first settlement on the Borealian isles, as the were a multitude of whaling stations belonging to various private ventures already established amongst the fjords of the Westfell coast. Tensions between these diverse' Whalermen' groups and the Cookland colonists would precipitate future events.
The Flag flown at the of the Endeavour Bay settlement was simply the Union Flag inescutcheoned with the arms of the company.
The fallout resulting from the Whale War, and fears that either the French or Americans would soon stake their own claims on the isles, lead to the British government formally declaring the formation of the Colony of Endeavour Bay. Though the Company maintained most of their land claims, a n agreement with the Whalermen settlements confined this mostly to the New Albion region. A new governor was installed in Endeavour, and it saw an influx in new settlers as it became the new base for the Royal Navy's North Pacific Whaling Patrol. Many of the whaling companies, though they still maintained their west coast factories, now took advantage of the burgeoning center of commerce and amenities at Endeavour to move their supply depots there.
Other industries, specifically logging which supported the whaling industry, also began to appear, with smaller settlements and operations spreading out across the Borealian mainland, though mostly centered in Calder and New Albion. The catalyst for further change was the creation of large sheep ranching outposts by the North Borealia Company in the early 40's. This together with some small mining operations led to the development of a significant settlement in the North, that became known as Aurora, after the ship that brought many of the original workforce form Hull in 1841.
The Endeavour Colony Flag was the more regular Red Ensign emblazoned with the arms of the Endeavour Colony.
Growing dissatisfaction with the focus of administration in the Colony on the city of Endeavour itself spread across the isles in the late 40s. To many northerners in Deira and especially the ever restless Whalemen, it seemed as if the colonial government was only interested in the running of the port and city alone, and ignored issues in the rest of the colony. Many settlements in the North around Aurora, had become almost defacto independent of the colonial government. Matters came to a head with the abortive Arden Valley Rebellion, where a group of landowners and businessmen had gathered at the Arden Valley logging town to declare their secession from Endeavour Colony and the creation of their own government, The group was in the process of electing their own governor who would then petition London for recognition, when the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of a squadron of Colonial Constabulary and Royal Marines requisitioned from the Navy station.
The leaders of the 'rebellion;' were escorted back to Endeavour where they put under house arrest whilst the government decided what to do with them. Though a strong faction in Endeavour itself supported deportation, which only stirred further mutinous sentiment in the North, a further escalation of the crisis was prevented by the intervention of the Colonial Office (itself alerted to the issue by the local Royal Navy commander). Resolution came in the form of a reorganization of the isles into the Crown Colony of Borealia in 1848, which would continue to administered from Endeavour, but would now include in it's constitution concrete provisions for local government and representation at a Colonial Parliament. The Arden Valley Rebels were released, and returned home to a heroes welcome.
The Crown Colony of Borealia Flag featured the star Polaris inescutcheoned with a combination of the Endeavour arms and those of Deira.
Borealia developed steadily during the remainder of the nineteenth century. The whaling industry was increasingly supplanted by logging and agriculture as the chief products of the colony, supplemented by a growing mining sector, chiefly on the back of the small Ingram River gold rush in the 1860s. The colony declined to take part in the confederation of Canada, though it was strongly recommended by the Colonial Office in London. Borealians feared the the great distance between themselves and the Future Canadian government in Ottawa would lead to the being neglected. (The counter proposal that British Columbia be incorporated into Borealia was quickly rejected, but did gain some limited traction.)
The demographic make up of the colony also changed during the late nineteenth century, whereas it had primarily been populated by settlers drawn from Northern England, and the Scottish Lowlands, with the much smaller and diverse whalemen keeping to their own isolated communities, increasing immigration began to come from Ireland and other European sources, chiefly from Scandinavian countries. There was also a large influx of labourers form the far east, mainly Japanese who were employed in many of the logging and mining industries in the west of the Isles. As transpacific trade between he Americas and Asia increase, Borealis began to become a significant stop for vessels making such journeys, and Endeavour as its chief port, started to take on a more cosmopolitan character.
The outbreak of the First world War in Europe saw Borealia thrust quickly into the action as several German raiders prowled the North Pacific waters, sinking a number of ships before being chased off by a combined Royal Navy and Japanese squadron. This experience and the panic it created would prompt the creation of a Royal Borealian Navy during the later part of the war.
Following the conclusion of hostilities Borealia fully ratified the statue of Westmisnter and transitioned to Dominion status. The Flag was changed to that of the blue ensign, featuring Polaris and four stars, each representing one of the then provinces of Borealia.
The ending of preferential trade links with Britain in the 1970s, coupled with the election of the Labour- Progressive Party coalition government saw the beginning of significant changes in Borealian society. The economic shocks to the war material export focused industries that had previously sustained Borealia, forced the new government into radical action. Heavy focus was placed on the reform of the education system along new progressive theories and investment in value added industries that would focus on the Asian and North American markets. It was during this time that in recognition of the now very sizable ethnic Japanese minority, (which reached its high water mark of 15% in the 1978 census) that Japanese was made a co-official, this was seen by many as the culmination of the reconciliation policies that had been put in place since the abortive invasion of 1942.
The increasing trans-pacific air traffic market netted Borealia a boon in tourism and aviation related industries, as it was a convenient refueling point for flights travelling from the US west coast to Asia. Aurora international Airport was greatly expanded with new terminals and runways. It was during this period that Borealia accepted the construction of several US military bases, including a submarine maintenance deport in North Borealia, a large SAC base near Ryther, and in the 80s a PAVE PAWS radar installation was built atop Mount Ashford. This level of military co-operation with the United States allowed funding for an expansion of the Royal Borelian Navy to help it fulfill its commitments as part of the newly organized APTO in 1985.
The Progressive government championed the change of name to Commonwealth from Dominion and the revision of the national flag to remove the Union Jack. The new design was chosen by competition, which was won by an art student from Stamford.
Borealia entered the new century with a vibrant and diversified economy, deeply integrated into pan-pacific trade networks. Early investment into renewable energy, combined with the existing nuclear power infrastructure that was developed in conjunction with American companies enabled the Commonwealth to be the first country ion the world to fully divest itself of fossil fuels from it's national grid in 2004.
The focus on technical education also paid off with Borealia developing a set of highly successful high tech industries.
The 150th anniversary of Borealia was celebrated with a series of festivals across the country, and cultural programs that explored Borealia past and present. It also coincided with a slight adjustment o the proportion and colours of the flag,
Official flags of Borealia throughout its history, from colony to commonwealth.
The Endeavour Bay Company was formed in the early 1820s with the stated goal of establishing a chartered colony with license to exploit the resources of what was then known as Cookland. A flotilla of ships sailed from Liverpool in 1822 and upon arrival off the coast of modern Calder, surveyed several potential sites before settling on a cove near the mouth of the river Wren as it flowed into the Great Loch. Though this was not the place where the famous Captain Cook had first landed and claimed the isles for Britain , the proprietors of the Company saw fit to name the new Settlement after his ship anyway.
Endeavour Bay was of course not the first settlement on the Borealian isles, as the were a multitude of whaling stations belonging to various private ventures already established amongst the fjords of the Westfell coast. Tensions between these diverse' Whalermen' groups and the Cookland colonists would precipitate future events.
The Flag flown at the of the Endeavour Bay settlement was simply the Union Flag inescutcheoned with the arms of the company.
The fallout resulting from the Whale War, and fears that either the French or Americans would soon stake their own claims on the isles, lead to the British government formally declaring the formation of the Colony of Endeavour Bay. Though the Company maintained most of their land claims, a n agreement with the Whalermen settlements confined this mostly to the New Albion region. A new governor was installed in Endeavour, and it saw an influx in new settlers as it became the new base for the Royal Navy's North Pacific Whaling Patrol. Many of the whaling companies, though they still maintained their west coast factories, now took advantage of the burgeoning center of commerce and amenities at Endeavour to move their supply depots there.
Other industries, specifically logging which supported the whaling industry, also began to appear, with smaller settlements and operations spreading out across the Borealian mainland, though mostly centered in Calder and New Albion. The catalyst for further change was the creation of large sheep ranching outposts by the North Borealia Company in the early 40's. This together with some small mining operations led to the development of a significant settlement in the North, that became known as Aurora, after the ship that brought many of the original workforce form Hull in 1841.
The Endeavour Colony Flag was the more regular Red Ensign emblazoned with the arms of the Endeavour Colony.
Growing dissatisfaction with the focus of administration in the Colony on the city of Endeavour itself spread across the isles in the late 40s. To many northerners in Deira and especially the ever restless Whalemen, it seemed as if the colonial government was only interested in the running of the port and city alone, and ignored issues in the rest of the colony. Many settlements in the North around Aurora, had become almost defacto independent of the colonial government. Matters came to a head with the abortive Arden Valley Rebellion, where a group of landowners and businessmen had gathered at the Arden Valley logging town to declare their secession from Endeavour Colony and the creation of their own government, The group was in the process of electing their own governor who would then petition London for recognition, when the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of a squadron of Colonial Constabulary and Royal Marines requisitioned from the Navy station.
The leaders of the 'rebellion;' were escorted back to Endeavour where they put under house arrest whilst the government decided what to do with them. Though a strong faction in Endeavour itself supported deportation, which only stirred further mutinous sentiment in the North, a further escalation of the crisis was prevented by the intervention of the Colonial Office (itself alerted to the issue by the local Royal Navy commander). Resolution came in the form of a reorganization of the isles into the Crown Colony of Borealia in 1848, which would continue to administered from Endeavour, but would now include in it's constitution concrete provisions for local government and representation at a Colonial Parliament. The Arden Valley Rebels were released, and returned home to a heroes welcome.
The Crown Colony of Borealia Flag featured the star Polaris inescutcheoned with a combination of the Endeavour arms and those of Deira.
Borealia developed steadily during the remainder of the nineteenth century. The whaling industry was increasingly supplanted by logging and agriculture as the chief products of the colony, supplemented by a growing mining sector, chiefly on the back of the small Ingram River gold rush in the 1860s. The colony declined to take part in the confederation of Canada, though it was strongly recommended by the Colonial Office in London. Borealians feared the the great distance between themselves and the Future Canadian government in Ottawa would lead to the being neglected. (The counter proposal that British Columbia be incorporated into Borealia was quickly rejected, but did gain some limited traction.)
The demographic make up of the colony also changed during the late nineteenth century, whereas it had primarily been populated by settlers drawn from Northern England, and the Scottish Lowlands, with the much smaller and diverse whalemen keeping to their own isolated communities, increasing immigration began to come from Ireland and other European sources, chiefly from Scandinavian countries. There was also a large influx of labourers form the far east, mainly Japanese who were employed in many of the logging and mining industries in the west of the Isles. As transpacific trade between he Americas and Asia increase, Borealis began to become a significant stop for vessels making such journeys, and Endeavour as its chief port, started to take on a more cosmopolitan character.
The outbreak of the First world War in Europe saw Borealia thrust quickly into the action as several German raiders prowled the North Pacific waters, sinking a number of ships before being chased off by a combined Royal Navy and Japanese squadron. This experience and the panic it created would prompt the creation of a Royal Borealian Navy during the later part of the war.
Following the conclusion of hostilities Borealia fully ratified the statue of Westmisnter and transitioned to Dominion status. The Flag was changed to that of the blue ensign, featuring Polaris and four stars, each representing one of the then provinces of Borealia.
The ending of preferential trade links with Britain in the 1970s, coupled with the election of the Labour- Progressive Party coalition government saw the beginning of significant changes in Borealian society. The economic shocks to the war material export focused industries that had previously sustained Borealia, forced the new government into radical action. Heavy focus was placed on the reform of the education system along new progressive theories and investment in value added industries that would focus on the Asian and North American markets. It was during this time that in recognition of the now very sizable ethnic Japanese minority, (which reached its high water mark of 15% in the 1978 census) that Japanese was made a co-official, this was seen by many as the culmination of the reconciliation policies that had been put in place since the abortive invasion of 1942.
The increasing trans-pacific air traffic market netted Borealia a boon in tourism and aviation related industries, as it was a convenient refueling point for flights travelling from the US west coast to Asia. Aurora international Airport was greatly expanded with new terminals and runways. It was during this period that Borealia accepted the construction of several US military bases, including a submarine maintenance deport in North Borealia, a large SAC base near Ryther, and in the 80s a PAVE PAWS radar installation was built atop Mount Ashford. This level of military co-operation with the United States allowed funding for an expansion of the Royal Borelian Navy to help it fulfill its commitments as part of the newly organized APTO in 1985.
The Progressive government championed the change of name to Commonwealth from Dominion and the revision of the national flag to remove the Union Jack. The new design was chosen by competition, which was won by an art student from Stamford.
Borealia entered the new century with a vibrant and diversified economy, deeply integrated into pan-pacific trade networks. Early investment into renewable energy, combined with the existing nuclear power infrastructure that was developed in conjunction with American companies enabled the Commonwealth to be the first country ion the world to fully divest itself of fossil fuels from it's national grid in 2004.
The focus on technical education also paid off with Borealia developing a set of highly successful high tech industries.
The 150th anniversary of Borealia was celebrated with a series of festivals across the country, and cultural programs that explored Borealia past and present. It also coincided with a slight adjustment o the proportion and colours of the flag,
