(Updated O4.14."14)
The present emblem of Monte-Cristo was initially the sign of a tavern / brothel in Marseilles des Entommeures greatly appreciated on his journey South in search of a pleasant climate and a quiet place to retire from mercenary life.
'Native' Monte-Cristans soon associated this image to one important character (a lunar almost half-goddess, no longer worshiped, but still fondly remembered) of their tradition, the Lady 'guardian spirit' of their land.
All local archives were destroyed during the Wars of Religion, but a low relief discovered on the ruins of an old church burned down then may reproduce the seal of the ancient Lord of Monte-Cristo. Typical ‘Armes Parlantes’: a large cross on the peak of a mountain, between two far smaller ones on the slopes.
The four plant-like motifs in the corners (actually outlined in dark green where required to isolate gold from white) correspond to the components of the population at the creation of the Presipality. The three crowns represent the native population of the three cantons of the peninsula, while the thistle represents des Entommeures’s Black Company. With its (mainly female) camp followers, it indeed increased by almost a third the Monte-Cristan population, depleted by the wars. The thistle was actually des Entommeures’s personal symbol (motto: «Qui s’y frotte s’y pique» -meaning similar to 'Nemo me impune lacessit' / 'Don't rub it you'll get your fingers burnt'): he judged it less unsuited to the new peaceful life he intended to live than the ‘Flaming Skull’ of the Black Company.
The pole of the State, ‘civilian’ flag is painted ‘bleu turquois’, the second state color of the Presipality (the first being the ‘dark pink’ of the Mermaid): a light-(medium) blue with a hint of green (= desaturated {primary blue + a touch of cyan}) -close to 'aqua'.
That of a military flag is painted according to the tradition of the unit.
Civilian flags have their two sides identical.
Military flags differ on two points:
- the Mermaid is slightly larger, and moved upward to leave room for a scroll below her;
- the two sides are dissimilar. The ‘Presipapal’ side (seen with the staff at the right of the viewer: 'obverse'?) keeps the four corner motifs of the national flag and the scroll is always ‘bleu turquois’; on the ‘Unit’s’ side the four corner motifs are replaced by a motif peculiar to the unit, and the color of the scroll also varies.
Some 'paramilitary' corps of the Presipapal Household bear the Flaming Skull instead of the thistle, to mark their direct service to the successor of des Entommeures.
For some reason, Monte-Cristans -specially when enlisted in foreign armies or (even more) navies- prefer to describe the Mermaid as 'light purple' rather than '(deep) pink'
('Pick up the soap, Pretty Boy!').
The initial drawing and the original flag {above}, dating from the creation of the Presipality, were rather crude and not free of some errors (see comment below).
Sign of the wharf tavern Mes rousses : thon own by a retired Monte-Cristan 'free seaman' in Fort-Nicanville
(French Antilles).
Unofficial cornette troop standard of the Monte-Cristan Carabinières de la Reine (detail).
'Philosophically progressive'
and
'mechanically inclined'
mermaids illustrating an advertisement for a presentation of
Monte-Cristan ('Lacepunk') 'military innovations'.
In Monte-Cristo even mermaids love music
(and sometimes the waves bring melodies from far away)
A red-haired mermaid: an aspect of the Fada Esterella?
'Native' Monte-Cristans soon associated this image to one important character (a lunar almost half-goddess, no longer worshiped, but still fondly remembered) of their tradition, the Lady 'guardian spirit' of their land.
All local archives were destroyed during the Wars of Religion, but a low relief discovered on the ruins of an old church burned down then may reproduce the seal of the ancient Lord of Monte-Cristo. Typical ‘Armes Parlantes’: a large cross on the peak of a mountain, between two far smaller ones on the slopes.
The four plant-like motifs in the corners (actually outlined in dark green where required to isolate gold from white) correspond to the components of the population at the creation of the Presipality. The three crowns represent the native population of the three cantons of the peninsula, while the thistle represents des Entommeures’s Black Company. With its (mainly female) camp followers, it indeed increased by almost a third the Monte-Cristan population, depleted by the wars. The thistle was actually des Entommeures’s personal symbol (motto: «Qui s’y frotte s’y pique» -meaning similar to 'Nemo me impune lacessit' / 'Don't rub it you'll get your fingers burnt'): he judged it less unsuited to the new peaceful life he intended to live than the ‘Flaming Skull’ of the Black Company.
The pole of the State, ‘civilian’ flag is painted ‘bleu turquois’, the second state color of the Presipality (the first being the ‘dark pink’ of the Mermaid): a light-(medium) blue with a hint of green (= desaturated {primary blue + a touch of cyan}) -close to 'aqua'.
That of a military flag is painted according to the tradition of the unit.
Civilian flags have their two sides identical.
Military flags differ on two points:
- the Mermaid is slightly larger, and moved upward to leave room for a scroll below her;
- the two sides are dissimilar. The ‘Presipapal’ side (seen with the staff at the right of the viewer: 'obverse'?) keeps the four corner motifs of the national flag and the scroll is always ‘bleu turquois’; on the ‘Unit’s’ side the four corner motifs are replaced by a motif peculiar to the unit, and the color of the scroll also varies.
Some 'paramilitary' corps of the Presipapal Household bear the Flaming Skull instead of the thistle, to mark their direct service to the successor of des Entommeures.
For some reason, Monte-Cristans -specially when enlisted in foreign armies or (even more) navies- prefer to describe the Mermaid as 'light purple' rather than '(deep) pink'
('Pick up the soap, Pretty Boy!').
..............
The initial drawing and the original flag {above}, dating from the creation of the Presipality, were rather crude and not free of some errors (see comment below).
Regarding the second point, des Entommeures was a learned churchman (retired), a voracious reader, a veteran Dog of War with an impressive record and formidable in haggling, but not an expert in heraldry and vexillology.
As for the first point, when des Entommeures sat at a table outside the tavern to copy the sign, with bottles of Rose de Provence to exacerbate his meagre artistic skills, he had already profusely tested the offering of this hospitable establishment (its 'tavern' aspect, at least) -to the extent that when he wanted to use his drawing as the central device of the Flag of the new Presipality, he did not even remember correctly the name written on the sign (La Sirene Coquette: The Mermaid in Vanity).
Very recently, the famous military fashion designer David Linienblatt of Tippelbruder kindly offered -not by appointment but as a spontaneous mark of friendship- to re-draw the corrected Monte-Cristan flag (and actually did David morph it): his excellent work now replaces the old 'Civic' flag everywhere. All Monte-Cristans express their gratitude to David for his generosity and applaud his talent.
The Mermaid reappears in a slightly different form on the coat-of-arms of Monte-Cristo the City, which shares most features with that of modern Makkum in the Netherlands (12.30."11 comment below).
Sign of the wharf tavern Mes rousses : thon own by a retired Monte-Cristan 'free seaman' in Fort-Nicanville
(French Antilles).
Unofficial cornette troop standard of the Monte-Cristan Carabinières de la Reine (detail).
'Philosophically progressive'
'mechanically inclined'
Monte-Cristan ('Lacepunk') 'military innovations'.
(and sometimes the waves bring melodies from far away)
A red-haired mermaid: an aspect of the Fada Esterella?
2 comments:
Too late I realised that the Monte-Cristan flag suffers from two blatant mistakes:
- it should be square rather than rectangular, like infantry flags of the period (and thus, btw, would fit better as web 'avatar' / 'icon'),
- des Entomeures' thistle should be in the 'place of honor', in the upper corner close to the pole i.e. on the *left* -flags are by convention presented with the pole on the left.
Well, as for 'Presipacy' a better translation of Presipaute than 'Presipality', it's far too late to modify it...
.
THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF MONTE-CRISTO THE CITY
As part of the new policy of developing Monte-Cristan exports, the POPP expended the shipyards of Monte-Cristo The City, and as an 'advertising' label instructed the Collège d'Héraldique to design for the City a coat-of-arms referring to its activities. For obvious reasons the design is very similar to the modern coat-of-arms of the town of Makkum in the Netherlands, also famous for its shipyards. The main differences are:
- the Mermaid is more similar to the Monte-Cristan drawing,
- the ship held in the right hand of the Mermaid is a xebec, with oars and latin sails,
- on her left hand the Mermaid holds a decorated flagon as a reminder of the spirits and expensive perfumes produced in the City,
- the sky is 'sky blue',
- the sea is azure with argent waves.
This coat-of-arms appears on the flags of the 'sailors' units of Levée en masse from Monte-Cristo the City (O4.20."09 comment).
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