(last update: O7.27."13)
As Capitain of the Gardes de l’Etrier, the POPP wears their uniform on the three ‘military days’ of the Presipality (significantly *not* official holidays): Saint George (Day of the Gardes), Saint Michel (the Warrior Archangel) and Sainte Barbe (Day of the Carabiniers). He also wears this dress on the morning of the day of Saint Sulfond.
On May 7th the POPP wears his uniform with, as all Gardes on this day, a red carnation fastened by a black string to the cockade of his hat.
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On the days of Saint Michel and Saint Sulfond the POPP traditionally wears a ¾ shinning white armor over his coat during the military ceremonies. A tremendously oversized gorget, displaying the 'Flaming Skull' between two thistles over a trophy of flags, kettle-drums and cannon barrels, is screw on the breastplate (a normal-sized variant is worn when not in armor). Then his horse carries an old-fashioned (2nd half of the 17th C.) saddlery, black with gold and garnet inlays, and 3 oestrich feathers -dark pink, black and bleu turquois- on the head; the mane and tail of the stallion are braided with dark pink and bleu turquois ribbons.
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The Prince-President also wears his Garde uniform at the funeral of one of them –as their Capitain he has to attend the burial of every Garde, active or retired, and of course at all ceremonies public or private of the Corps.
It may be significant (though no foreigner is sure of the meaning) that the only official (albeit unwritten) obligation imposed to the ruler of Monte-Cristo is to train daily with Veuveuse and Etripiere, des Entommeures' own pair of blades. Even Dyane-Adeline, the only POPPesse so far, scrupulously abided by this obligation (when appearingin her capacity of Capitaine des Gardes she dressed like a man, though her uniform was re-cut in what could be described as a very 'sexy' way, and she rode like a man).
Now this uniform is also one among a lot of other he can choose to greet a foreign emissary. Diplomats and long-term residents are sure that the choice of dress is governed by a code, suggesting in what initial mood the POPP receieves the stranger. Thus the Garde uniform is said to signify initial distrust ‘I harbor the deepest doubts about your real intentions’ /‘I’m not a priori inclined to believe a single word of what you’ll say’. But, even accurate, this information is totally useless, double language and concealed lies being the basis of diplomacy. Well, at least of the diplomacy of a tiny statelet in a world of battling superpowers. «He is the worst liar he who sometimes tells the truth».
Two old flags decorate the 'meeting / working room' in the Presipapal private quarters. The one 
on the left was that of Kabitened Yann (Jean) Kullacec's bande of Britton volunteers who, despite their fanatical Catholicism, fought alternatively for the two sides during the Wars of Religion in the hope that the winner would acknowledge the independence of Brittany. In the end, revulsed by the atrocities committed equally by both sides and having understood that the majority of their Britton (Vive la Bretagne!) compatriots did not care for independence, they lost any faith in religion and nationalism and joined the Black Company (hence the added 'Flaming Skull') to find a new family, home, honour and reason to fight : the Company "Us against the whole World". The band of the Carabiniers still plays regularly the Marche de Mormoilec these Brittons brought with them -though visitors from Brittany are quite surprised to hear the bagpipes supported by Galoubets instead of Bombardes; and some of the drums are quite different. For sure, nowhere outside Monte-Cristo do people traditionally dance Britton An Dro as well as Provençal Farandoula!
The one on the right, remounted as a vexillum, was the standard of des Entommeures' own squadron -the ancestor of the Gardes de l'Etrier. Certainly the oldest banner of the Black Company, since it displays the unit's original badge, the non-human skull breathing flames, soon replaced by the more 'religiously correct' 'Flaming Skull'. It is say that for some 'very private' ceremonies of the Gardes the POPP carries himself this standard from his private quarters to the place of gathering.
Various flags, trophies of the 'active times' of the Compagnie Noire, decorate the anteroom of the Prince-President's private 'meeting / working room'. The one of the left was the standard of another mercenary company, conquered in fair fight during the Wars of Religion. There was no hatred, not even real hostility between the two companies: they were professionals doing their job -a dirty, at times nauseating job- as well and fairly as they could. Had the two companies met again outside a battlefield -even if still under contract for opposite sides- des Entommeures would have willingly 'ransomed back' the standard for a symbolic price (or ever simply a drink for the whole Black Company). But the opportunity never turned up.
On May 7th the POPP wears his uniform with, as all Gardes on this day, a red carnation fastened by a black string to the cockade of his hat.
.
On the days of Saint Michel and Saint Sulfond the POPP traditionally wears a ¾ shinning white armor over his coat during the military ceremonies. A tremendously oversized gorget, displaying the 'Flaming Skull' between two thistles over a trophy of flags, kettle-drums and cannon barrels, is screw on the breastplate (a normal-sized variant is worn when not in armor). Then his horse carries an old-fashioned (2nd half of the 17th C.) saddlery, black with gold and garnet inlays, and 3 oestrich feathers -dark pink, black and bleu turquois- on the head; the mane and tail of the stallion are braided with dark pink and bleu turquois ribbons.
.
The Prince-President also wears his Garde uniform at the funeral of one of them –as their Capitain he has to attend the burial of every Garde, active or retired, and of course at all ceremonies public or private of the Corps.
It may be significant (though no foreigner is sure of the meaning) that the only official (albeit unwritten) obligation imposed to the ruler of Monte-Cristo is to train daily with Veuveuse and Etripiere, des Entommeures' own pair of blades. Even Dyane-Adeline, the only POPPesse so far, scrupulously abided by this obligation (when appearingin her capacity of Capitaine des Gardes she dressed like a man, though her uniform was re-cut in what could be described as a very 'sexy' way, and she rode like a man).
Now this uniform is also one among a lot of other he can choose to greet a foreign emissary. Diplomats and long-term residents are sure that the choice of dress is governed by a code, suggesting in what initial mood the POPP receieves the stranger. Thus the Garde uniform is said to signify initial distrust ‘I harbor the deepest doubts about your real intentions’ /‘I’m not a priori inclined to believe a single word of what you’ll say’. But, even accurate, this information is totally useless, double language and concealed lies being the basis of diplomacy. Well, at least of the diplomacy of a tiny statelet in a world of battling superpowers. «He is the worst liar he who sometimes tells the truth».
on the left was that of Kabitened Yann (Jean) Kullacec's bande of Britton volunteers who, despite their fanatical Catholicism, fought alternatively for the two sides during the Wars of Religion in the hope that the winner would acknowledge the independence of Brittany. In the end, revulsed by the atrocities committed equally by both sides and having understood that the majority of their Britton (Vive la Bretagne!) compatriots did not care for independence, they lost any faith in religion and nationalism and joined the Black Company (hence the added 'Flaming Skull') to find a new family, home, honour and reason to 
The one on the right, remounted as a vexillum, was the standard of des Entommeures' own squadron -the ancestor of the Gardes de l'Etrier. Certainly the oldest banner of the Black Company, since it displays the unit's original badge, the non-human skull breathing flames, soon replaced by the more 'religiously correct' 'Flaming Skull'. It is say that for some 'very private' ceremonies of the Gardes the POPP carries himself this standard from his private quarters to the place of gathering.
-._.-.-._.-
Various flags, trophies of the 'active times' of the Compagnie Noire, decorate the anteroom of the Prince-President's private 'meeting / working room'. The one of the left was the standard of another mercenary company, conquered in fair fight during the Wars of Religion. There was no hatred, not even real hostility between the two companies: they were professionals doing their job -a dirty, at times nauseating job- as well and fairly as they could. Had the two companies met again outside a battlefield -even if still under contract for opposite sides- des Entommeures would have willingly 'ransomed back' the standard for a symbolic price (or ever simply a drink for the whole Black Company). But the opportunity never turned up.
-._.-
But other types of flags decorate one side of this anteroom: copies of the Colours of those regiments associated, in a way or another, with Monte-Cristo.
When the His Eminence the Cardinal Johan-Louis von Hausseinem in Christofberg, Feudal Suveraen Fuerste-Erzbischof of the Archbishopric of Witzboldfeld
as Elector Spiritual of he Germanic Reich in Pangaea, crossed this rooms only 4 flags were on display:
a pair were those of the Regiment Fiona McGregor - Les Filles de Minerva, an all-female Galatan regiment raised by an ex-student of our Ecole des Sciences des Demoiselles; our traditional neutrality notwithstanding, the unit when raised benefited from a cadre of (female) Monte-Cristan 'military advisors' and 'drillmistressses'.
The third was a copy of the regimental flag of Cavenderian IR5 Aurora: its Colonel, a successful Monte-Cristan soldier of fortune, recruited a number of compatriots as cadre of the unit.
The fourth, sent kindly from Enteburg in antipodial Pangaea, was a copy of the 'mermaid on Pink' flag of the Kurfustin Fusiliers: it never was a secret that this design owns most to the pleasant memories their Lieutenant Colonel Hans "der Adler" Richterkept from his sojourn as a Palace page in our Presipality.
After his return to Pangaea, the Elector Spiritual, deeply enlightened by his visit to Monte-Cristo, having as a mark of friendship allowed his powerful neighbor Enteburg to recruit regiments in Witzboldfeld, firmly 'suggested' they were granted a flag showing the 'Monte-Cristan Mermaid' : this is alreday the case of the Witzboldfeld Regiment; a copy of the flag of the (currently raised)
Witzboldfeld River Marines is expected soon (Cardinal Johan-Louis von Hausseinem, the Elector Spiritual, kindly sent copy of a preliminary project {left}, but the final design is yet undecided and will probably be notably different).
Recently were proudly added copies of the Colours of the first Monte-Cristan Legion in foreign service, the Monte-Cristan Freiwillige for Herrschaden: a Legion comprising an infantry regiment 
(with integral artillery) and a regiment of Light Dragoons.Following Monte-Cristan tradition, each unit has a single flag, but with a 'State' reverse and a 'regimental' obverse.
These magnificent standards are the work of the world-famous military fashion designer David "NBA" Linienblatt of Tippelbruder.
The Elector Spiritual of the Pangaean Reich, having not only found enlightenment in Monte-Cristo, but in these very rooms the inspiration for the 'civic / national' flag he devised for the new Volksrepublik, judged it was the least it could do to send copies of it, and of the new derived flags of a few regiments specially attached to the lord Protector and the new regime, to contribute to the decoration of the anteroom of the Prince-President's private meeing room.
The Republikanische Grenadier Garde Witzboldfelds
(brass buttons, yellow / gold lace)
Foot
But other types of flags decorate one side of this anteroom: copies of the Colours of those regiments associated, in a way or another, with Monte-Cristo.
When the His Eminence the Cardinal Johan-Louis von Hausseinem in Christofberg, Feudal Suveraen Fuerste-Erzbischof of the Archbishopric of Witzboldfeld
as Elector Spiritual of he Germanic Reich in Pangaea, crossed this rooms only 4 flags were on display:a pair were those of the Regiment Fiona McGregor - Les Filles de Minerva, an all-female Galatan regiment raised by an ex-student of our Ecole des Sciences des Demoiselles; our traditional neutrality notwithstanding, the unit when raised benefited from a cadre of (female) Monte-Cristan 'military advisors' and 'drillmistressses'.
The third was a copy of the regimental flag of Cavenderian IR5 Aurora: its Colonel, a successful Monte-Cristan soldier of fortune, recruited a number of compatriots as cadre of the unit.
The fourth, sent kindly from Enteburg in antipodial Pangaea, was a copy of the 'mermaid on Pink' flag of the Kurfustin Fusiliers: it never was a secret that this design owns most to the pleasant memories their Lieutenant Colonel Hans "der Adler" Richterkept from his sojourn as a Palace page in our Presipality.
After his return to Pangaea, the Elector Spiritual, deeply enlightened by his visit to Monte-Cristo, having as a mark of friendship allowed his powerful neighbor Enteburg to recruit regiments in Witzboldfeld, firmly 'suggested' they were granted a flag showing the 'Monte-Cristan Mermaid' : this is alreday the case of the Witzboldfeld Regiment; a copy of the flag of the (currently raised)
Witzboldfeld River Marines is expected soon (Cardinal Johan-Louis von Hausseinem, the Elector Spiritual, kindly sent copy of a preliminary project {left}, but the final design is yet undecided and will probably be notably different).
Recently were proudly added copies of the Colours of the first Monte-Cristan Legion in foreign service, the Monte-Cristan 
(with integral artillery) and a regiment of Light Dragoons.Following Monte-Cristan tradition, each unit has a single flag, but with a 'State' reverse and a 'regimental' obverse.These magnificent standards are the work of the world-famous military fashion designer David "NBA" Linienblatt of Tippelbruder.
The Elector Spiritual of the Pangaean Reich, having not only found enlightenment in Monte-Cristo, but in these very rooms the inspiration for the 'civic / national' flag he devised for the new Volksrepublik, judged it was the least it could do to send copies of it, and of the new derived flags of a few regiments specially attached to the lord Protector and the new regime, to contribute to the decoration of the anteroom of the Prince-President's private meeing room.
The National Flag of Witzboldfeld
The Republikanische Grenadier Garde Witzboldfelds
(brass buttons, yellow / gold lace)
Foot
Horse
If, fulfilling the wish of both the People and the provisional Lord Protector of Witzboldfeld, Kurfuerstin Annabel von Vorlund accepts to become the Lady Protectrix of the Republic, the unit will proudly take the name of LeibStandarte Annabel Herrscherinbeschuetzer (LSAH ).
The Volkssturm (the new Militia of men and women volunteering to defend the Republic and the Revolution)
If, fulfilling the wish of both the People and the provisional Lord Protector of Witzboldfeld, Kurfuerstin Annabel von Vorlund accepts to become the Lady Protectrix of the Republic, the unit will proudly take the name of LeibStandarte Annabel Herrscherinbeschuetzer (LSAH ).
The Volkssturm (the new Militia of men and women volunteering to defend the Republic and the Revolution)
(tin buttons, white / silver lace)
Foot
Dragoons
Foot
Dragoons
David "NBA" Linienblatt of Tippelbruder designed with his usual artistic genius all these splendid flags from the confuse suggestions and rough sketches shamelessly submitted by the Elector Spiritual.
Reconstructed banners?
Sounds 'Da Vinci Code'-like but 'seriously' put forward by a French amateur historian / heraldrist: the Fleurs de Lys on the French Arms are a later distortion of original *frogs*: not because some repute of frog-eaters, but because the Salian Frank ancestors of Clovis came from a marshy area...
As a curiosity, the Palace had the College d'Heraldique reconstructing variants of the old French King's Banniere and Army Oriflamme (kept in the Abbey of Saint-Denis) with an ermine ('pean' actually: golden on a coloured field)-like 'sowing' of tiny frogs instead of tiny lilies or flames, and fields of 'imperial' (Ancient and 'Futurist') colours....
Monte-Cristan self-derision:
._.-.-._.
Reconstructed banners?
Sounds 'Da Vinci Code'-like but 'seriously' put forward by a French amateur historian / heraldrist: the Fleurs de Lys on the French Arms are a later distortion of original *frogs*: not because some repute of frog-eaters, but because the Salian Frank ancestors of Clovis came from a marshy area... 
As a curiosity, the Palace had the College d'Heraldique reconstructing variants of the old French King's Banniere and Army Oriflamme (kept in the Abbey of Saint-Denis) with an ermine ('pean' actually: golden on a coloured field)-like 'sowing' of tiny frogs instead of tiny lilies or flames, and fields of 'imperial' (Ancient and 'Futurist') colours....
Monte-Cristan self-derision:
2 comments:
Uniform of the Presipapal 'Civilian Household': bleu turquois coat with dark pink lining (cuffs, &c...), Monte-Cristan livery lace, buttons silver.
The 'Service Interieur du Palais' wears dark pink waistcoat, breeches and stockings and is really 'civilian' in nature. The 'Service des Ecuries et Transports', following the tradition of the Armed Drivers of the Black Company, is sometimes armed, and its members (buff / buckskin smallclothes & stockings) are trained to use their weapons. The same applies to the 'Service de Foresterie et Vénerie' (forester green smallclothes and stockings). The two 'armed' services wear silver lace on their tricorn.
Uniforms of the Civilian Houshold : complement
- In 'heavy duty' indoor service, cooking, cleaning... servants of course discard their coat; the 'civilian' branch wears a 'civilian' -sleeveless, long in front only- waistcoat, while the 2 'militarized' branchs wear a 'military type' one. In any heavy duty all wear a fatigue cap instead of the tricorn.
- The women of the Household are also uniformed and, if in the appropriate branch, armed and trained. this, as a symbol of their total equality of rights with the males in Monte-Cristo, and as a rememberance of the female camp followers of the Black Company, hard war veteran women who had to fight more than once.
If indoor they substitute a skirt to the men's breeches; outdoor they wear very tight trousers under very high boots. When not wearing their tricorn (minute and of 'female' design' for the civilian branch), instead of a fatigue cap the have a kind of bonnet
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