I've been diving into the deep past of Aristasia for quite some time now, so I needed to come up for air a bit and get back to the good stuff: Archived mid 2000s websites with Aristasian world building!
I've been digging a bit into the flags of Aristasia, just because it's fun. I enjoy the fantasy lore vexillology of it, and it's all fairly inoffensive. The various flags of Aristasia have a few different styles to them, but they're all made in the same three colors: yellow, red, and blue, which tend to mean different things at different (or the same) times.
This is the flag of the Cairen Empire, which is the founding Empire of the current Historical era in Aristasia Pura and was established some 3,300 years ago. The flag is used by several Eastern Princesses whose realms and monarchies are held to be the direct descendants of Caire.
The rays of the sun combine both the orthogonal and the diagonal cross, representing the extension of a world-order in all possible directions of material space, while the governing Celestial principle is represented by the central Sun. This expresses the Imperial ideal: both the early mission of the Cairen Empire to expel the Outlander and establish the Divine Order throughout the Aristasian lands and the later task of unifying and administering the widespread Empire.
The heart in the microcosm of the body is the incarnation of the sun in the macrocosm of the universe, and just as the sun supplies the surrounding world with warmth and light necessary for life, so the heart supplies the whole body with its life-blood. Thus the Sun of the Imperial flag is also the Solar Heart of the Empire, and the rays are like the many paths to and from the Holy City of Caire. The saying “All roads lead to Caire” has a clearly metaphysical significance, as does the designation of such roads as “arterial”.
The Cairen Imperial Flag represents, at the highest level, Dea as the Supernal Sun at the centre of Her created universe and at the lower or “political” level, the Imperial City providing the lifeblood of the Empire, the maternal nourishment of civilisation and order. One may also note here a reflection of the relation between wisdom and method (often illustrated by the parallel of the blind maid carrying the lame maid — for the blind maid has the material power to walk, being method or substance, and the lame maid has the spiritual power to see, being Wisdom or Essence). The arterial rays transmit the life-light or lifeblood of the Spirit to the Empire, while the arterial roads also bring material support — food, goods, servants etc — to the Capital.
The Solar Centre represents the Celestial City at the heart of the Empire, the Temple-Palace at the heart of the city, the Imperial Throne at the heart of the Palace, the Solar Empress, Incarnation of the Sun at the heart of the throne, and the Divine Solar Heart — the essence of her incarnated ancestral divinity — at the centre of the Empress herself.
The two colours of the Cairen Imperial Flag represent the two qualities of the sun: light (gold) and warmth (red) which are respectively Wisdom (or Solar Intelligence) and Love, the two Divine Nutrients of the Empire.
The date for the founding of the current Aristasian era as some 3,300 years ago is quite interesting, as it doesn't correlate with any of their previous Tellurian dating practices.
