SECCESSONIST Nations (Map and Flag----CASCADIA)

[Chuck Anderson]

Hi Everyone!

Presented here is the national flag and map of the Cascadian Republic (a secessionist movement from my own region.)
Though some versions may differ, most maps will show the states of Washington and Oregon and the province of British Columbia which when combined, would comprise the territory of the new nation.

The insignia of rank for the armed forces of Cascadia could prove interesting. Would they reflect an American or Canadian military tradition, perhaps borrowing something from both nations, or would they be something entirely new and original?

Chuck Anderson
UniformInsignia Forum Administrator
cbakiteskites@yahoo.com

[general_tiu]

Found this.

http://ib.frath.net/w/File:Oregon-rank-insignias.png

Get rid of the beavers and replace it with the Cascadian Tree.

[Medic_in_Uniform]

But had you noticed that those were by Marc Pasquin, regular contributor here...?

[general_tiu]

Of course!

I am planning to post one, though.

[dcfowler]

I see the flag used extensively at Portland Timbers FC matches.

Dave

[general_tiu]

A quickie.

[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8398/8637967352_61f898eabd_b.jpg[/img]

[Toushu]

Even though the fir would be an emblem from their potential coat of arms, I don't think it would work as an insigne of rank.
Not the whole tree, anyway.

I'm not gonna suggest anything silly like using pine cones as insignia, but I think looking at what the finns use would serve as a rather believable base, since both regions occupy a similar latitude and have comparable climates.

We use spruce branches as rank badge embroidery and cap badge wreaths. This goes back to our Independence War (Civil War), when white guards used spruce twigs as cap badges.

Using small fir branches as either wreaths or rank pins sounds logical.
The Finnish Army has a surplus of phased-out spruce branch insignia to spare:
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Havu.jpg[/img]

Matched against a douglas fir branch:
[img]http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/62046/62046,1246824626,1/stock-photo-douglas-fir-branch-isolated-33172822.jpg[/img]


Also if wreaths are used, they might as well look similar to our JAG's:
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Puolustusvoimien_oikeudellinen_toimiala_v%C3%A4rillinen.png/200px-Puolustusvoimien_oikeudellinen_toimiala_v%C3%A4rillinen.png[/img]

[Torg003]

I agree with Touslu as I was going to suggest the same thing, using a stylised fir branch or twig as an emblem instead of the whole tree.
Would work much better.

[jpx2014]

I have been working on such insignia for a Cascadian military for a while now. The one I propose is for the Cascadian Self-Defense Forces or the CSDF. The CSDF would consist of three branches: Army, Navy, and Air Force. The primary focus of the CSDF is a defensive position to keep consistent with Cascadia being a non-aligned country. In these designs, I wanted to move a little bit away from the American influence. I also wanted to streamline the hierarchical system and made the rank of General/Admiral a single rank with one person occupying that rank. Let me know what you think.

[jpx2014]

This is for the CSDF Navy.

[jpx2014]

CSDF Air Force rankings. The rankings are located on the sleeves much in the manner of the RAF or Canadian air force.

[jpx2014]

In Cascadia's army, I thought it would cool looking to have corps colors prominent in the uniforms. Also, the idea of gorget patches on the collars to identify what corps a soldier belongs to. Featured are the gorget patches for service and field uniforms, the color band sleeve on the service uniform, and head gear, namely a beret with color patch behind the cap insignia. Note the rank identification to the left of the cap insignias.

Green: Infantry
Black: Command Staff
Brown: Engineers
Dark Blue: Military Police
Orange: Signals
Gray: Army Aviation
Light Green: Transport
Light Blue: Cyber Security and Intelligence
Teal: Armored
Yellow: Ordinance
Crimson: Artillery
Purple: Medical
Royal Blue: Air Defense
Red: General of Army

[Torg003]

Very interesting, sort of Canadian-US combo look in the rank insignia.
Just wondering about the navy ranks, you have master chief below senior chief. Was that a mistake or intentional (or did you mean senior master chief)?

Cheers.

[MovingtargeT]

As a resident of "Cascadia," I found the idea for this movement very interesting. Several years ago I joined a pro-Cascadian forum for a bit to learn more about it. I did some designs for hypothetical Cascadian military flags and insignia and to posted them for the other board members to see. In typical Pacific Northwest fashion, they were offended that I tainted their plan for a peaceful utopia. In their minds, Cascadia would have no need for a military.

I never made a full set of military insignia back then, but I came across this thread and decided to give it a go. I had a rough idea of how I wanted the system to look. I browsed various countries to find something similar to what I pictured. There would be slight influence from the US and Canada, but the insignia of modern Japan was actually very close to what I imagined for Cascadia. In a way, this makes sense since Cascadia is situated on the opposite side of the Pacific as Japan. Much of the population of Cascadia are of far east Asian descent as well.

The overall color scheme for all services is gray with a slightly greenish tint. To me, olive green doesn't really represent the region and anything that is too dark or forest green looks more like a civilian park ranger's uniform. Instead, I chose a shade of gray, to match our gloomy skies.

The residents of Cascadia tend to be more liberal and would not likely support a large, extravagant military. Therefore, I imagined that Cascadia would have a self-defense force, similar to Israel or Japan (again). Cascadian uniforms would be very simple and utilitarian. No pompous parade uniforms here. To keep production costs down, each branch would wear the same nearly identical uniform year-round. Field/utility uniforms would come in three varieties: woodland, desert (much of Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon is actually quite arid), or gray (for Air Force and Naval personnel). Unlike the US military, field uniforms would be worn only on field operations and not as an everyday garrison uniform. Officer rank is represented by darker subdued insignia for enlisted and company grade officers, and lighter subdued insignia for field and flag grades. Since all branches use nearly the same system, all ranks are easily recognized without drawing unnecessary attention to higher ranking individuals.

The common theme throughout the ranks is the apple blossom. Many other nations use some type of leaves or flowers, so I chose one that is synonymous with the Cascadian region. Company grade officers are identified by a series of dark blossoms, while field grade officers use the more prominent silver. Generals and admirals have the same idea, but with large blossoms clearly indicating their prestige. To align with Cascadia's progressive attitude, all rank titles are gender-neutral and there are no degrading terms such as "Second Class" or "Sub-." However, the Naval rank of "Petty Officer" is retained because it is traditional and still widely used in the English speaking world.

I hope that you all enjoy. I free-handed these images in MS Paint, so please excuse any slight imperfections. Also, I can't get the forum to show the entire image, so I posted only the link instead.

CSDF Army Rank:
http://i66.tinypic.com/2cg0zg4.png

CSDF Navy Rank:
http://i63.tinypic.com/6zsrid.png

CSDF Air Force Rank:
http://i65.tinypic.com/r1ingp.png

Field Ranks, all services:
http://i65.tinypic.com/xg036p.png

[MovingtargeT]

Hello all, I'm reposting the images from my previous post as attachments. They should be more easily visible this way.