National symbols of Aucuria
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The national symbols of Aucuria are those symbols which represent the Aucurian Republic and its identity as a sovereign state. These symbols, whether official or unofficial, seek to represent Aucuria and Aucurian identity by typifying or embodying its history, people, culture, political values, and geography.
Official emblems
National flag
The flag of Aucuria, as established by the country's constitution and its current legislation on national symbols, is a vertical bicolor of red and green with a white eight-pointed star emblazoned in the middle of the flag. Originally designed by Vilimas Kuzleika in 1786 and adopted by the Revolutionary Saeimas shortly thereafter during the Aucurian War of Independence, it has been used in some form by every iteration of the Aucurian state since; the First and Second Aucurian State, both regarded by later Aucurian governments as illegitimate, used a version without the central star. Additionally, government entities sometimes use a state flag variant in which the central star is replaced by the country's coat of arms.
The flag's symbolism, originally outlined by Kuzleika himself, is well-established in the country's popular consciousness; green is held to represent the country's natural wealth and duty, while red symbolizes the blood of patriots shed in defense of liberty and independence. The star's eight points are held to represent the "guiding values" (liberty, equality, independence, justice, honor, purity, fraternity, and fidelity) adopted by revolutionaries during the Aucurian War of Independence, with its white color representing the triumph of hope over tyranny; the star has also been interpreted as a compass rose or as a cynosure.
Aucuria celebrates Flag Day on March 22, the anniversary of the flag's original adoption during the Aucurian Revolution. The banner is known by several nicknames in Aucuria, including dvispalvė ("the bicolor"), raudona-žalia ("the red-green"), baltažvaigždėtas ("the white-starred"), and vieniša žvaigždė ("the lone star").
Aucuria's flag is widely regarded as one of its most recognizable and respected national symbols; the eight-pointed star in the middle of the banner has become a particularly potent symbol of Aucuria and the Aucurian Republic both nationally and internationally, widely incorporated into the emblems and logos of other entities, both public and private, as a way of showing "Aucurianness". However, the Aucurian eight-pointed star is sometimes confused with the Ardesian octagram by non-Asterians.
Coat of arms
Aucuria's coat of arms was detailed in its current specifications in 1937, shortly following the Great War, but some variant of the coat of arms has been used since 1786, when the first version of it was created amidst the Aucurian War of Independence. The creation of the original version of the coat of arms is attributed to Klemensas Brazauskas, tbd, and tbd, drawing heavily from the national flag created by Vilimas Kuzleika.
The full official description of the coat of arms is as follows:
Crest: A mural crown of four turrets or.
Blazon: Party per pale gules and vert, a mullet of eight points argent.
Other elements: Around the shield a console or and a wreath of coffee branches vert.
Supporters: Flags of Aucuria, two on each side.
Compartment: A scroll argent with the motto "libertas omnia vincit" upon it in sable.
The coat of arms created during the Aucurian Revolution replaced an earlier coat of arms used during the Ruttish colonial and United Kingdom periods, which depicted a three-masted sailing ship sailing to the sinister alongside the motto "damus petimusque vicissim". During the United Kingdom period, this coat of arms was commonly used alongside the Ruttish coat of arms, with the Ruttish crown in the crest and both coats of arms inside a wreath of coffee and tobacco.
Cockade
The national cockade of Aucuria is red-white-green, with the white stripe being thinner than the green and red. These colors were taken from the Aucurian flag, with the green and red predominating due to their being the colors of the flag's field and the thinner strip of white representing the eight-pointed star emblazoned in the middle of the flag. Several variants have existed historically, some changing the order of the colors or forgoing the thinner white strip in favor of placing the eight-pointed star itself in the middle of the cockade; however, these variants do not have official status.
The cockade was created during the Aucurian Revolution... [created by women and/or militiamen to show support for the revolutionaries, bla bla bla, inspired by the use of cockades to symbolize revolutionary sentiment during the concurrent Weranian Revolution]
During the 20th century, as the cockade became increasingly associated with socialism due to its use in countries such as Valduvia, East Miersa, and Amathia, the use of the cockade as an Aucurian national symbol became less common, particularly during the 1949-1980 military dictatorship. Nonetheless, the cockade has retained official status as a national symbol in Aucurian law, with its position being reaffirmed following the Velvet Revolution.
Anthem
[i still have no clue what to do for aucuria's anthem]
Motto
The official motto of Aucuria is "libertas omnia vincit", a Solarian phrase which translates to "liberty conquers all". The phrase was described as the "briefest possible summation of Aucuria's official national ethos... the steadfast belief that those who wrong the people shall eventually, invariably, have their sordid works undone" by cultural analyst tbd.
"Libertas omnia vincit" was adopted as the country's motto in 1786, during the Aucurian War of Independence, having been proposed as such by Bendiktas Klimantis. Klimantis's precise inspiration for the motto is unclear; the phrase follows the same structure as two quotes from the Solarian poet !virgil, "labor omnia vincit" ("labor conquers all") from the Georgics and "amor omnia vincit" ("love conquers all") from the Eclogues, as well as the quote "veritas omnia vincit" ("truth conquers all") from the pre-Amendist Reaction reformist theologian !jan hus, but - as a very short phrase - could just have easily been coined by Klimantis himself without any deliberate outside reference.
"Libertas omnia vincit" replaced the motto used during the Ruttish colonial and United Kingdom periods of Aucurian history, which was "damus petimusque vicissim" ("we give and take in return"), a phrase ultimately taken from the Ars Poetica of !horace.
Biology & geology
Animals
A megadiverse country on account of its geographic and climactic diversity, at least 54,000 plant and animal species inhabit Aucuria, more than 9,000 of which are endemic. Accordingly, the country has several official and unofficial national animals, as well as a variety of animal species associated with specific regions of the country.
Mammals
Aucuria's national carnivorous mammal, and the animal most commonly used to symbolize Aucuria, is the jaguar (Panthera onca). The only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Asterias, the jaguar's natural range once encompassed almost all of Aucuria; however, deforestation and habitat fragmentation have seen it extirpated from the country's northern pakrantė region. The vicuna (Lama vicugna), a species native to the Vaskaranas Mountains and the likely wild ancestor of the alpaca, is Aucuria's national herbivorous mammal; the species produces small amounts of very fine wool which, during the Cutinsuan period, only royals were allowed to wear. The country's national aquatic mammal is the giant otter (Pteronura satucinensis), which is the longest member of the family Mustelidae and native to the rivers of the Sythe-Juoda Rainforest; the otter has been classified as endangered since the 1990s due to poaching.
The Aucurian herding dog is Aucuria's national dog breed. Associated with the pakraščiai region of the country, the breed likely emerged in the 19th century and is believed to be derived mostly from collie stock; while primarily used a herding dog, the dog's intelligence and temperament also make it ideal as a watchdog and companion dog. Aucuria's national horse breed is the Aucurian risčia, a breed of saddle horse known for its ambling gait, which is smoother than a typical trot; the foundation stock of the breed is believed to have arrived in the country in the early colonial period.
[domesticated/bred in aucuria and thus associated with it - the llama, alpaca, guinea pig, !peruvian hairless dog] [unofficial or regional - puma, maned wolf, culpeo, ocelot, chinchilla, capybara]
A herd of vicuna in the Vaskaranas Mountains.
Birds
[OFFICIAL] [bird - harpy eagle] [songbird - rufous hornero]
[unofficial or regional - condor, caracara, macaw, toucan, cock-of-the-rock]
Reptiles
[OFFICIAL] [reptile - green anaconda] [aquatic reptile - black caiman]
Others
[amphibian - yellow-banded poison dart frog]
[fish - arapaima leptosoma]
[insect - heliconius charithonia]
Plants
[OFFICIAL] [flower - cantua buxifolia] [tree - pink ipe]
[unofficial, but domesticated in aucuria - potatoes, quinoa, cassava, coca, common beans - or otherwise closely associated with aucuria - coffee, passionfruit, guava, vanilla]
Metals and minerals
[precious metal - silver]
[gemstone - emerald]
History & culture
National personification
[do i name the national personification with a normal name or just smth like "mother aucuria" or "effigy of the republic"]
[several other types of individual regarded as unofficial representations of the country, a region thereof, or a part of its demography - cutinsuan warriors, uzkariautojai, veliavininkai, vaucai, etc.]
Patres patriae
[cutinsuan figures: mankojupankis is the actual founder of cutinsua, but capatipomas is the cutinsuan most widely-invoked today]
[colonial figure: jurgis leikauskas]
[revolutionary figures: bendiktas klimantis and juozapas kairys]
Other icons
[patron saints - the immaculate heart of mary and onamarija of apvaizda]
[national monuments or historic buildings/locations]
[natural wonders - mountains, rivers, etc.]
[cultural stuff - cuisine, music and dance, etc.]
State symbols
[state flags, CoAs, mottos]
[other state symbols - state animals, state plants, state metals/minerals]
[other state symbols - state historical figures and cultural traditions]
[state nicknames]