Flag Friday: Confederate Cuba flags

I am doing things a little different today because the flag I originally planned to feature inspired me to write about more than one flag and allowed me some shameless self-promotion. First, lets take a look at the flag in question:

This is the "Combination of Rebel and Cuban flags" by Kylorin, which I founding in the Vexillology sub-reddit. As you can probably guess from the title, it combines elements of the Cuban flag and the Confederate flag. Some in the comments section pointed out that Kylorin used different shades of blue and red, but otherwise I have no issues with the flag. This is, however, more of a redesign and not an original flag, so there is no story...but could it have come from a timeline where Cuba was a state of the Confederacy?

This is Marc Pasquin's own combination of Rebel and Cuban flags which he described as being "more symbolic and a lot less plausible." He made two other flags like it (here and here), but that is the one I went with when I created the original title card for Trope Talk: Confederate Cuba. Admittedly I edited it to add text on it and Marc later corrected my amateurish attempt at creating a title card:

As you can see, Marc made the white lines thinner and added a star to the red field. All in all it is a prettier title card and one I am happy to host on my channel.

So why did I show three Confederate Cuba flags? Because there's more than one way to skin a cat. Despite the fact that all three flags have similar elements, they still have their differences. Thus when designing flags, even when you are intentionally combining two specific flags, there are still ways to get creative and I applaud that.

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Trope Talk: Confederate Cuba

The Alternate Historian tackles the Confederate Cuba trope in the newest episode of Trope Talk:

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Videos for Alternate Historians #11

Thanks to everyone who watched, commented and liked the trailer for my new YouTube channel. Of course, if you want to see more talented people make videos then I have some offerings for you today that will more than satisfy that need.

Up first, a look at one of Hollywood's most historically inaccurate film from the guys at Cinema Sins:

Seriously the history is so bad in Gladiator that it is amazing this movie is not considered an alternate history film. Next we have the world's worst werewolf hunter, McKinley:

I know this wasn't Rooster Teeth's intention, but this video certainly sums up most people's feeling about The Order: 1886. And now we end, as we often do, with a look at the newest episode from the Alternate History Hub. This week, Cody Franklin asks what if the United States manufactured a reason to go to war with Cuba:

Got any videos or YouTube channels that you want to recommend? Let us know in the comments or at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

* * *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Flag Friday: Deutsch Kuba

Originally posted on Sean Sherman's blog Other Times. Support an alternate historian by subscribing to his blog!

In the 1890s the German Empire acquired Cuba as a colony from Spain. Despite protests from the United States and other nations the crisis never evolved into armed conflict. While the Kaiser believed the new colony would aid in economic expansion into Latin America it did not bring much into the imperial coffers. The sporadic rebellions and needed infrastructure upgrades were a drag on the colony's economy.

Germany remained in possession of Cuba until the end of the Great War. After the war Cuba gained its independence.

* * *

Sean Sherman has been a fan of alternate timelines ever since seeing Spock with a goatee.  By day he is a CPA, at night he explores the multiverse and shares his findings over at his blog, Other Times.