¶
¶ A New Flag
¶ Author: 2 September 2024.
Excerpt from Prelude to Protectorate: The Rise & Fall of the Final Terran Accord (Sillinvalina and Chelsie Porax, 132 DE):
For most of its history, the top brass of the Cosmic Navy had always been a fledgling political power, unable to effectively wrangle political clout from the corporations, who both commanded the economies the TCN relied upon, as well as many sporting sizable military fleets of their own. However, for nearly the past half-decade, the Accord upper establishment had used Terra's first contact with alien life to drive popular and corporate support for expanding the navy. Now, as the wake of the Rinan Campaign settled, concerns among the Accord elite about the possibility of increasing military influence grew.
Regardless of the reality of his actions during the formal conquest of the Rinan Community,[1] Admiral Bacco Terrizzi was a hero to the Accord. The face of the man who had led humanity's victory over the looming alien threat could be seen on the front page of the news across Terran space, and, much to the chagrin of Madam Pierre and her administration, Terrizzi loved to talk.
Although he was never much of a politician, Admiral Terrizzi had no small share of political ideas, topics of which he used his newfound media attention to expound upon at length. His ideas were across the board, and while his stances were unfocused politically, the amount of popular support among both the working class and smaller corporations concerned the Accord establishment. They worried it was only a matter of time before Terrizzi grew tired of simple media attention and decided to start leveraging his popularity politically.
While most of his positions were insignificant populist talking points, among his visions was the creation of a new administrative sector comprising Nyrina and surrounding Terran colonies, to be under the purview of the Cosmic Navy. He routinely talked of the necessity of this special sector, citing the failure of the corporations to properly incorporate the rinans into the greater Accord, although in private he seemed to be primarily focused on preserving the legacy of his victory. Regardless of the motivation behind this, the Accord leadership was deeply concerned with the precedent of granting the Cosmic Navy perpetual control over any territory, much less an entire sector.
However, despite the amount he spoke politically, Terrizzi still was not a politician and lacked any strategized political ambition, and Madam Pierre believed he could be easily handled with a modicum of appeasement. Her administration began to draft a range of plans, most of which were some combination of bribery and flattery, although if those failed, there were plans to give Terrizzi majority shares of a new corporation which would be created to oversee the administration of Nyrina. None of these would ultimately be required, as Terrizzi brought a solution to the table himself.
The Terrizzis, while well-off, were never ones to wield much influence - they didn't have much money to their name, but they had enough connections to live comfortably on the fringes of Terran high society. They had the odd respected naval officer, but mostly made their way as "consultants" or similar do-little careers for the corporations of family friends - as the terrans of the time would say, the Terrizzis made their way bucking elbows.
Edwardo Terrizzi was the admiral's nephew and he had dreams to become an artist known across the Accord. Thus far, he had found some minor notoriety among the Jovian elite, but he had greater ambitions. In May of 2522 (32 BT), at the request of his nephew, Admiral Terrizzi met with Madam Pierre at her office, along with a series of documents for a rather grand proposal: a new flag for the Accord.
The Accord's existing flag dated back to the mid 2200s, where it was originally created as a banner for just the Sol System. The discussion of a new flag would routinely pop up every so often, but it seldom garnered much proper attention, mostly as the domain of insignificant rookie politicians. The younger Terrizzi had nonetheless drawn up a design and put it onto the desk of an actually important figure in Accord politics. Furthermore, the design had an ardent supporter - the renowned admiral himself, who was not just doing this as a family favor - he wanted to see this flag adopted.
Among the documents detailing the designs and letters to various political officials, Edwardo explained his vision for the new flag:[2]
I present to you a flag of four colors:
The first: a field of a rich imperial purple. Just as the Accord stands upon the foundations laid by the great empires of Terran history, the flag bases itself in that noble heritage. Still, while we respect the great powers of our past, the Accord has accomplished what even the Romans could have only dreamed of: Never[3] before has all[4] of mankind been united under a single banner.[5]
The boundless prosperity of the Terran Accord[6] is indisputable, which brings us to the second: the gold. At the flag's center, the face of Mother Terra, the now-spent womb[7] from which our mighty peoples sprung. Around again, a second circle represents our beloved Luna, whose inspiration lifted our forefathers to take the steps to our rightful place among the stars. Flanking Terra on its left, the majestic wolf of Mars, whose strength guides and protects the Terran peoples across the Accord. To its right, the noble eagle of Jupiter, along with its wings of the Great Moons, whose constant vigilance reminds us of the highest Terran ideals: Loyalty, Perseverance, and Freedom.
Thirdly are the laurels of victory in green. As we continue to extend our reach across the void, Terra remains undefeated in its conquests.[8] Already we have passed our first trial the galaxy has laid out for us, handily guiding the Rinans to their place in our glorious Accord, as overseen by my very own uncle. This is but a first victory of many[9] as we expand our reach across the cosmos.
Following, next are four brilliant stars in white: One in each direction, representing the destiny of Terra to rule over all corners of our galaxy. The largest and northernmost,[10] the core of the galaxy, hangs over Terra as a reminder of her rightful place as the seat of power among the stars. Resting just to its side is the star of Nyrina - a shining reminder of Terra's first conquest, the first world of the multitudes which shall be tamed and brought into the light of Terran civilization.
And finally, clear across the bottom, in the words of the wise and noble Romans: Spiritus Invictus Terra per Astra Lucebit Aeterna - The Indomitable Spirit of Terra Shall Shine Eternally Across the Stars. Words to guide, words to inspire. Simple. Beautiful. Words each and every terran can look up at with pride, a reminder of the assuredness of our ascension to our rightful place in the universe.
In her later years, Madame Pierre confided that it had taken all of her many years in the political theater to retain her composure upon having a perfect solution to one of her greatest woes at the time laid right on her desk. There was a modicum of pushback from traditionalists in the legislature, but not enough however to pose a significant barrier to Madame Pierre's administration to push through the bill to formalize the new design.
For his part, Admiral Terrizzi was far more than satisfied with the outcome. He continued to appear in the media, but faded into more of a background presence as a regular speaker of various political and news programs, now singing the praises of Madame Pierre and the rest of the Accord leadership. He had secured the Terrizzi legacy. Not only was his nephew's flag now flown all across the Accord, but on each and every one was the star of Nyrina - the great accomplishment of his career immortalized as long as that flag would fly over Terra.[11]
Sadly, Admiral Terrizzi passed away a few years before the arrival of the Compact due to complications incurred by his time in microgravity over his career. Edwardo Terrizzi continued to have a prolific career as a painter under the Accord, which in turn truly blossomed in the care of the Compact. He is survived by his ramet who is still making art and raising chickens on Io to this day.
If curious to learn more, please check with your owner before proceeding with your research on this subject. ↩︎
Translation from Late Wild Italian by Meleo Ilpinphin, Second Floret. ↩︎
This had occurred several times before this was written, notably under the Solar Union Treaties of the 22nd century and the first and second Terran Accords, which were only loosely connected to the contemporary Accord as polities (see Chapter 2 if you want to learn more!). ↩︎
It is notable that at its height, at most 97% of terrans lived in Accord-controlled territory, as opposed to 100% under the Compact for the past century. ↩︎
Given the extent of actual control the central government of the Accord exerted over its territory, with most of the power being local to the corporations running various systems, it is arguable this statement could also be said to be true of the United Nations of 20th and 21st century Terra. ↩︎
Xenohistorians have estimated that upwards of 90% of terrans at the time were living below the most basic of living standards by contemporary terran scholars' metrics. ↩︎
She's doing quite well these days, thank you very much. ↩︎
One has to specify "conquests", as one must discount all the various trade disputes and sedition movements with various corporate factions which the Accord lost. ↩︎
The second xeno culture the Terran Accord entered into conflict with was the Affini Compact. We thankfully all know how that went. ↩︎
In this time period, the coreward direction from Terra was often considered "Galactic North", although usage of such cardinal directions had largely fallen out of fashion by the time of terran domestication. ↩︎
Over three whole decades! ↩︎