8x8

expansion pack: kit and ideas for remixing new board games by combining pieces and platforms of classic games one already owns—via Kottke’s Quick Links

video phone: the teleconferencing tool that’s being forced on many of us is a privacy and security nightmare whose long-term liabilities far outweigh the benefits of seeing colleagues in pyjamas

razliv haystack: a look into how the mythos of Lenin fuelled the early Soviet tourism industry

stay sane, stay safe: a graphic design community’s rapid response to promote positivity

at home everywhere: with at least a quarter of the world’s population under at least partial lockdown, a design duo has turned national flags into houses

utica club: beer steins Schultz and Dooley (voiced by Jonathan Winters) advertise Matt Brewery’s flagship beverage

tossed dallas: Tuna Antipasto and assorted silliness—see previously

mashrabiya and mezzanine: a celebration of balconies

yellow jack

While all of Italy is under lockdown conditions forming a cordon sanitaire to medically isolate potential carriers and stop the spread of sickness, it’s worth noting that the term quarantine itself is owing to the Venetian thalassocracy and the best-practises that the city modeled.
From the local dialectical form of quaranta giorni, it refers to the forty day period that ships, cargo and compliment were held in abeyance in order to not transmit the plague, which in a decade’s time in the mid-fourteenth century had claimed thirty percent of the Eurasian population. The safeguard was first developed in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and confined visitors to an outlying island for a period of thirty days (a trentine) before granting them admission. After avoid the Black Death’s first iteration, the government of Venice moved to extend the restriction by ten more days, which happened to match the course of illness from the bubonic plague from exposure to incubation through to the contagious phase and recovery. In the language of maritime signal flags, the solid yellow banner, Q for Quebec, historically indicated quarantine but now certifies that the vessel is free from communicable disease and requests free pratique—that is, to enter a port. Whereas the above semaphore whilst in harbour, L for Lima, means the ship is under quarantine.

attention to detail

Via the ever keen-eyed Super Punch, we gain a renewed appreciation for the costume department with this very subtle tailoring addition to Captain Picard’s (see also) civilian suit.  The stripe of red thread sewn into the jacket signals his membership as a recipient of the French Legion of Honour (Légion d’Honneur).

The order of merit that recognises those who have made significant contributions to the state was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 and the institution was continued by successive governments—and would surely still exist under the Federation. The special thread is in lieu of the medals and sash that the knights, officers and commanders are bestowed for less formal occasions and is stitched in by an exclusive tailor near the Palais Royal in Paris. The honour is not limited to French citizens but Sir Patrick Stewart is not a holder of this particular order.

courtesy ensign

Recently trending on a well-visited webring focusing on the vexillological arts, we are delighted to discover a number or national and sub-national banners reflagged in the style of that of Kazakhstan, the template designed by Shaken Onlassynovich Niyazbekov (*1938 – †2014) in deference to the flag of the Soviet Socialist Republic. Charged with the emblem of the Sun or some other guiding principle, a bird of prey soars beneath with the hoist decorated with a complex ornament. Variants pictured include the United States of America, Canadian, Prussia, Brazil and South Korea.

gb 12982-2004

Adopted this day in 1949 and first flown by the People's Liberation Army over Tiananmen Square three days later, the national flag of China charged with five golden stars representing unity among the social classes had its construction details presented the following during the first plenary session of the People's Political Consultative Conference.
The design by economist Zeng Liansong (*1971 - †1999) was selected by Zhou Enlai (though choosing to edit out the hammer and sickle in the large star in the canton, the upper-most hoist quarter of flags) out of some three thousand entrants. The published instructions, then distributed across the country, are filed under a mandatory standard Guobiao (国标, GB), similar to (and conforming with in most cases) ISO or DIN.

hinomaru

After affirmation in both houses of the Diet a few days prior, Japan’s Act on National Flag and Anthem became enforceable and binding on this day in 1999. Having unofficially represented the kingdom and empire since the late 1800s, the flag—known commonly as the hinomaru (日の丸, circle of the sun) and national hymn, Kimigayo (君が代, His Majesty’s Reign) —both severely restricted after World War II under American occupation though later relaxed, were accorded legal status as symbols not without controversy, as many felt that they harkened back to the country’s militaristic past. Proponents of the bill’s ratification, whom ultimately prevailed, argued that the symbols would be restorative and a source of cultural pride.

inescutcheon

We learn that among the current banners of the US states, Oregon is the only flag to have a different obverse and reverse (pictured, Alabama, Massachusetts, Minnesota and West Virginia used to)—my thinking tends that the beaver makes a better symbol (see also).
The front displays “State of Oregon” with the year of its incorporation, 1859, above and below the achievement taken from the state seal. From 1980 to 1991, the flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics displayed the Hammer and Sickle on one side only with the back being a solid red field, and the flag and ensign of Paraguay is a triband and tricolour with a small disc centred in the fess with the coat of arms on the front and the small disc on the back displaying the motto peace and justice (also used by the country’s Ministry of Justice) with a lion and a Phrygian cap.

seal of approval or there—i fixed it for you

While describing the incident as an unfortunate A/V error reminds me of the furore over a Saudi Arabian textbook that showed Yoda with King Faisal, some one really upstaged Donald Trump whilst he held another one of his tedious Nürnberger Rallies with a doctored presidential seal as a backdrop. 
To the keen observer, one notices that instead of a bundle of arrows, the bald eagle is clutching golf clubs and is conspicuously double-headed, like the coat of arms of the Russian Federation.  It’s a popular misconception that unlike this circumspect symbol that looks to the past and future, the bald eagle does not turn its gaze from peacetimewhen on a war footing. The myth is rooted in an anecdote involving Harry Truman and Winston Churchill (often quoted for things he did not say), when the US president asked the UK prime minister what he thought of the new seal’s recent redesign and Churchill recommended that the head ought to be on a swivel, ready for anything as occasion might demand. The story was repeated and spread by film and television. 

half-staff

We enjoyed this informative graphic by xkcd (aka Randall Munroe, previously) on flag interpretation and special hoisting protocols to signal distress, mourning, respect and apparently also bewilderment—the flag lowered, at least in accordance with some traditions, to make room for an “invisible flag of death” on the flagpole to fly above it. Visit the link above to see all the panels and discover more of Munroe’s comics.

rainbow connection

On this day in 1978, the Rainbow Flag, created by artist and seamster Gilbert Baker (*1951 – †2017) was unfurled for the first time at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade, an event that originated around 1972 as an informal “gay-in” and is now a celebration of pride echoed around the world.
Gilbert met Harvey Milk in 1974, who asked him to create a new symbol for the community—wanting to jettison the shorthand of the day, the Pink Triangle, reclaiming a badge of shame that the Nazis used for imprisoned men identified as homosexuals as a means of self-identification but dark and derivative nonetheless—prompting Gilbert to design his flag (previously). The colourful motif was possibly inspired by the PACE flags that first appeared during an Italian peace march in 1961 or the Judy Garland ballad, Over the Rainbow. While the banner certainly represents the diversity of the community and the struggle for recognition and civil rights, the original eight stripes had specific meanings: hot pink stood for sex, red for life, orange was healing, yellow was sunshine, green was Nature, turquoise stood for magic and art, indigo for serenity and violet represented spirit. Hot pink was subsequently dropped due to the lack of fabric and dye, and the six banded version was adopted in 1979, blending indigo and turquoise as royal blue—though often throughout the 1990s, a black stripe was added to represent those whom had died due to complications from AIDS.

a white flag with an insignia that looks like an eagle vomiting two strips of bacon

Via Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals, the American state of Illinois may have been saddled with a pretty awful banner, but it is heartening to know it is far from alone in that category with quite a few others having some quite poorly designed flags. None, I think could top the city flag of Tampa, Florida for the sheer volume and density of vexillological violations.  More to explore at the links above.

standard bearer

Via the always brilliant Nag on the Lake, we discover that filmmaker Daniel McKee has selected, identified and carefully arranged over two thousand flags, banners and ensigns from all ages into a montage with fluid transformations as the vexillological elements (see also here, here, here and here) blend into one another synchronised to the sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven.

and here we have idaho

Whereas many US states have adopted multiple official anthems coloured by one context or another—the majority sourced to eras not to be particularly proud of, New Jersey alone refreshingly of all the states and territories chooses to recognise none—though seemingly out of an embarrassment of choices rather than high-mindedness.
Others have waltzes, ballads, poems, state songs emerita attesting to the rousing horribleness celebrated that’s still too much tied up in the character of the place to let go of it altogether, marches and hymns. New Jersey, despite its diabolical native son in the Jersey Devil, does not have an official cryptid while acknowledging and taking ownership of more problematic symbols like the square dance, a patently racist contrivance rooted in no one’s cultural heritage.

暖簾

Thanks to the always brilliant Present /&/ Correct, we learn that the traditional curtains that hang in the threshold of Japanese restaurants and shops are called noren.
These bold dividers that also separate rooms as well as covering doorways and windows usually have vertical slits cut in them for easier passage. Hanging them in the morning and taking them down at the close of the business day and signal opening and closing hours and are often decorated with corporate logos—associated by extension with brand-recognition. More to explore at the link above.

the valley and bailiwick

Having declared independence once before only to have it reigned back in, the Caribbean island of Anguilla held a second referendum whose votes nearly unanimously favoured disassociating itself from the colonial governor of Saint Kitts and proclaimed itself a republic on this day in 1969.
The chairman of the freshly constituted Island Council expelled the British envoy and for about forty days basked in its freedom. On 18 March, a contingent of paratroopers and London constables peacefully occupied the island and restored order. Disappointed by this denial for self-determination, negotiations ensued and Anguilla was granted the right to “secede” from Saint Kitts, which ironically gained full independence as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis in 1983 while Anguilla remains an overseas territory. The triskelion of dolphins on the flag and coat of arms reminds one of the Manx flag, itself a crown dependency and neither part of the United Kingdom nor a part of the former empire.

e mare libertas

We’ve had a passing acquaintance with the Principality of Sealand, one of the constellation of micronations whose territory consists of a disused anti-aircraft platform off of the coast of Suffolk, for a few years and even knew of the coup d’état and the power struggles, but we sorely failed to appreciate the outsized intrigues (recommended by Digg) that this rather long-lived, tiny princely state has experienced—with the overthrow and leadership in exile being a far more dramatic and stranger story than we had supposed.
In addition to this singular offensive, the micronation’s uncertain legal status and sovereignty has been co-opted by a rash of pretenders, including an operation to issue ten of thousands of passports in the name of Sealand, unofficial, unsanctioned internet presences, shell companies and claims of diplomatic immunity by dint of above fabricated associations.
For this dynastic enterprise that began as a pirate radio station to escape the hegemony of the BBC, subsequently proclaiming independence and creating all the trappings of statehood, it’s disheartening that it is yet attended by this persistent and darker, parallel version of itself and we hope that going forward, in keeping with the spirit of staking one’s independence, that the Principality is allowed to tell its own story.

gibbous

To illustrate that even truly awful, jingoistic and pointless maps can be thought-provoking in more than pedantic ways and worth one’s consideration, Big Think reviews a few of the charts and infographics curated by the self-evidently titled Terrible Maps. I would certainly take objection to their map comparing the number of countries with their flag on the Moon (1: the US) with the number of countries with the Moon on their flags (13: Islamic majority countries.
While the US was the only country so far to land human beings on the lunar surface and return them to Earth safely, the first terrestrial flag planted on the Moon was the flag of Soviet Russia and since the Apollo missions, Japan (Hinomaru is the Rising Sun), China (the stars are symbolic of the four classes of worker and the Chinese nation) and India (the round symbol is twenty-four spoked Ashoka Chakra). Though no flags with the Moon on the Moon yet, I count at least twenty-one national flags with crescents. The thirteen ensigns right facing with a star and crescent are based off of the symbol of the Ottoman Empire, though depending on one’s location above or below the Equator and how the flags are hoisted and the way the horns are facing, the orientation of the Moon’s increscence is not a reflection of astronomical reality. What do you think? One has to wonder if this misrepresentation isn’t intentional on an important level and not meant to be emblematic the Earth’s satellite at all. Like discussion and debate about the privileging nature of map projections is conversation that we were late to bring to the table, it’s worth examining one’s geographical and historic biases, which are sometimes presented to us with a key and legend.

think different

Though we are all probably intimately familiar with his branding work, we might not have recognised the name of the individual Paul Rand (Peretz Rosenbaum, *1914 - †1996) who was one of the first Americans to adopt and champion the Swiss Style, a typographical offshoot of the Bauhaus movement, of graphic design without news of an upcoming auction of his creations. Rand fashioned iconic logos, the cohesive and unifying stuff of corporate identities, and advertising campaigns for Westinghouse, Yale University Press, the United States Postal Service, and Apple as well as for IBM and ABC television, whose emblems in one form or another are still in use.

canting arms

Our gratitude to Dangerous Minds for introducing us to the graphic design studio called Bands FC that creates sort of crests for music groups in the style of football clubs—and vice versâ—applying a system of vexillography and design rules that are rather clever though not entirely comprehensible to me at least, though they helpfully show their work.
It was hard to choose favourites among the musical homages, but there are many more examples are to be found at the links above plus the opportunity to support their operation by purchasing player/performer trading cards or a stylish team jersey with the group’s own logo.

ultramarine

John F Kennedy with significant input from the First Lady choose the iconic design of the airplanes bearing the designation Air Force One and that standard has endured out of respect for both Kennedy’s memory and aesthetic principles for fifty-five years. Now reportedly, Trump plans to change the design, decrying that the fleet of planes don’t look American enough unlike his signature transport whilst campaigning and are lacking red accents, calling the particular shade of blue a relic and a Jackie Kennedy colour. One can only guess what sort of crass and gaudy redesign that might be proposed.