Noting that the unofficial flag of Mars as adoptedby The Mars Society is a vertical tricolor banner representing the three phases of terraformation
as depicted in Kim Stanley Robinson’s three epic science fiction novels, Red Mars (1992), Green Mars (1993), Blue Mars (1996), the non-SF blog Abyssal’s Weblog argues that the Robinson-inspired tricolor is not “a satisfactory banner for the future inhabitants of the red planet. For one, the flag is ripped in a very literal way from fiction; its symbolism is therefore rather shallow. The ideas contained in its symbolism are also excessively rooted in what will one day be considered history and will lose a certain amount of resonance with the people who it is supposed to represent. Most people who will live on Mars will live long after terraforming is complete so why root the entirety of the flag’s meaning in that process.”
Therefore, Abyssal has proposed a new design for the flag for Mars, pictured above. Here’s a description of the proposed banner: “The black background represents space and the red circle represents planet Mars. The blue band represents the Earth’s water and the green represents its land. The bands sit in the background because they are humanity’s past, Mars standing up front represents the progress its inhabitants have made since settling a new world. In the center is a gold band representing the sun. It is in the middle because it is common to both Terrans and Martians. It is thinner than the blue and green bands because the sun itself has never nor will ever be a place of human habitation. The total sum of the bands is not as tall as the Martian circle because the past is not as important as the future.”
Here are some other proposed flags of Mars that I came across:
• Individual designs by Jared Croft, Digital T, and Doram (4 flags)
• Design by the website Mars Armada
• Design by Dr. Thomas O. Paine, former Administrator of NASA
• Design by Michael Orelove of Alaska, member of The Mars Society
• Design depicted in a Looney Tunes cartoon
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3 comments:
Thanks for the publicity, Paul! :D Some of those other flags are pretty interesting.
Your welcome. I, too, am not a big fan of the Robinson-inspired tricolor.
HI! Paul! I am from Mars Armada here in Melbourne, Australia. I just finish watching the Space Walk to fix the Humble Telescope on NASA TV for four hours. When I was looking under Mars Armada I found the Link to your web site. You web site is very interesting and has a Link to my web site Martian flag, and hope you like my Martian Flag that I designed in 2001 a lot more than the Robinson-inspired tricolor :)
The two Stars on my Martian Flag represent the two Moons of Mars call Deimons and Phobos and the four green lines is a long history but to make it short it was inspired by the green lazer of the Martian ships of the original movie 'War of the World' and they represent the four horizons, because in the "New World Order" there will be just one Parliament and one President controlling the whole of Mars.
Man could have been on Mars long ago but you know the history, Eve the first woman changed mankind history all because she could not wait to eat the fruit from a tree that she was told not to eat. Anyway, happy dreaming about Mars and hopefully NASA and ESA will go to Mars in 2020.
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