Designs of the flags and some inner going-ons within their respective states. Please note that I will be talking from an in-universe perspective
France:
Design: The French flag we all know and love, using the proper colors. The origins of the flags come back from the days of the Revolution, when the traditional colors of Paris, Blue and Red, were combined with Monarchistic White. Eventually, the symbolism became confused with the overthrow of the Bourbons and the days of the Republic, but today every Frenchmen will tell you that they stand for Glory, Beauty, and Sacrifice.
Inner happenings: This is bloody France we're talking about here. If you don't know what's going on with France, you should pay more attention to the news. But, to give a quick summary, France is the one of the three Great Powers, with the largest army and second largest navy in the world. Up until about 25 years ago, France was led by the infamous House of Bonaparte, but the ever popular national hero Jean-Marie "Le Toulonnais" Lachance overthrew Napoleon III in favor of his own "Imperial Republic." As of now, France is led by Le Toulonnais's successor, Charles "The Eagle" d'Egier.
Old sphere, right to left, top to bottom:Spain:
Design: The current design dates back from before the Revolution, but has elements from back in the Medeval ages. The King of Spain at the time realized that Coat of Arms on a White Field was a rather common choice of banner, being used by Bourbon France, Spain at the time, Portugal, Sicily and many others. So, a new flag was designed, using the Red and Gold common between Aragon and Castille, with a siplified Castillian Coat of Arms placed in the middle near the Hoist.
Inner happenings: Spain is described as the "Right Hand of France." They're easily the second most powerful state in the Franco-sphere, although that's a distant second, and is believed to have the third largest navy in the world after Britain and France, although that title is contested. Over the decades since the end of the Wars of Napoleon the Great, Spain has had a rough time, although have recovered greatly in many fields, although not quite enough in others. The Bourbon Reforms of the 19th century continued some of the better policies of the earlier Reforms, while backtracking in other areas, the most famous of these being the "Castarrestar" (portmanteau of Contrarrestar and Casta), which undid the Casta system in the Americas to a large degree and gave much more power back to the Criollos. While it didn't quite mend the wound between the Spanish Colonies and the Homeland entirely (as evident with many colonials siding with Britain), it did eliviate many of their concerns.
Italy:Design: As with the French, the Italian flag gets it's origins from revolution, although one not nearly as initially successful. They had a green-white-red triband, but that would later be converted into the current design when Italy was turned from a republic into a monarchy. The exact symbolism behind it has not been fully clarified, and may never be, except for the ever so famous Napoleonic Aquila.
Inner Happenings: Called "France's Little Sister," Italy is heavily influenced by "Big Sister" France, but has simutataneously taken a different path. Upon the death of Napoleon the Great back in the 1830's, his brother Lucien gained the throne, and he had legitimate pro-Republican ideals, and as such voluntarily turned Italy into a Constitutional Monarchy, although sometimes it feels like his children think it's the Holy Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the ideals of Luciennian Constitutionalism continues on in Italy.
Rhine:
Design: Any records of the original meaning behind the flag of the Rhine have since been lost or forgotten to time. Today, your average German will tell you that the Green stands for the Forests and Fields, White stands for Industry, and Blue for the Rhine River herself.
Inner Happenings: To really tell what goes on in the Rhine as whole really does a disservice for the complexities of the Rhine. To give a couple a quick interesting tidbits:
In Bavaria, their King has erected a large series of palaces and fortresses in the Bavarian Alps, the Tirol Region. These are believed to be the Bavarian King Ludwig III's own personal series of Palmerian Defences, while at the same time fostering new lavious palaces.
In Westphalia, William Bonaparte is trying to get the commoners to adopt French as their language. So far, this has been a failure.
Speaking of language, in many of the western parts of the Rhine, many have opted to write not in traditional German, but rather in "Doutches,"* German slightly modfied to be written in a more French way (in much the same way that English, using Anglo-Saxon words that were rewritten on Norman lines). These are generally small changes. Ironically, Doutches was originally created to help Germans learn French, it actually had the opposite effect in that Frenchmen learned German easier and German literacy of French remained the same.
*(out of charcter: yes, I do realize what that word looks like.)
Austro-Bohemia:
Design: Austro-Bohemia actually has two flags, one for Austria, the other for Bohemia. The Austrian design is split in two between the hoist and fly, with the hoist side having the traditional Austrian triband of red-white-red, and the fly side having a modified version of a banner for Bohemia, which would normally be half white and half red, but the red part was cut down to a third to match with the rest of the flag, much to the anger of the Bohemians. The Bohemians, in return, say that the Austrian flag is just the Bohemian flag with an additional band of red for the Austrians at the bottom.
The Bohemian flag is rather straight forward, that being the anchient flag of Bohemia in the canton on a field of white.
Inner Happenings: Called "France's Second Right Hand," they're considered France's policemen in Central Europe, at least in spirit that is. In reality Austro-Bohemia is a hot mess that can't stop bickering among themselves and in all reality really should just be split in two already.
Naples:
Design: The origin of the Neapolitan Flag are a mystery. While the red likely orginates from the many earlier flags of Naples, the white and black are unknown. Joseph V and the Josephinian line will say that the colors stand for Beauty, Sacrifice, and furtile fields underneath the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
Inner Happenings: The oft-forgotten ally of France and Bonapartist kingdom, many in France breath a sigh of relief everytime they remember that the scenic tourist spots of Naples are still in their hands. Right now, the Ambrosi Family have become ascendent in Naples and are ruling as regents in occupied Sicily. Whether or not the House of Ambrosi is a boon or malice has yet to be determined...
Prussia:
Design: The design for the Prussian flag is borderline anchient, having it's origins over 700 years prior in the founding of the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Said Order would eventually evolve into the Kingdom of Prussia we see today, and the flag reflects this, using the White and Black motif and directly taking the Eagle.
Inner Happenings: Mockingly called the "Left Hand of France," they are the butt-end of many jokes among Frenchmen, Rhiners, and other Franco-spherians, and Prussians resents this. Frederick IV regrets not joining Corbinian in fighting against the French, but at the same time realizes all that would have happened is that he would have lost his kingdom and Prussia would be no more. Keep an eye on these guys, they might become backstabbers in the futre...
Denmark-Norway:
Design: Possibly the only flag more anchient than that of Prussia's is that of Denmarks, the Dannebrog, the origin of the Nordic Cross. Supposedly the original flag fell from the sky as a gift from God to the Danes. There's not really a need for much symbolism after that.
Inner Happenings: Ever since the end of the Wars of Napoleon the Great, Denmark-Norway has not been fairing that well. The unending Continental Blockade seriously hurt Denmark, and was hurt even harder as Lumber lost its use in Naval supplies. While Industrialization helped leviate this somewhat, it wasn't quite enough. Many Danes and Norwegians yearn for the days when the Great Powers did have times of peace and trade between one another, and even yearn for the days that Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes were allies. And so, the Dano-Norwegians have started to grumble about the French. Perhaps that's why it was so easy for Britain and Sweden to take Norway and the Danish Isles.
Switzerland:
Design: There's no officially recognized symbolism behind the design of the flag. Some argue it's for the three major ethnicities of Switzerland, German, French and Italian, but these don't really line up with the colors most associated with France and the Rhine. Alternatively, it's argued it stands for three periods of history: Celtic, Roman, and Germanic. This one is more widely accepted, but still not wholly. What is known is that the white cross is an old symbol for Switzerland back in the 1200's, and so it remains.
Inner Happenings: The rise of Modern Switzerland came at the expense of the centralized Helvetic Republic. While some attempts to centralize had come forward, they were all defeated. The struggle for centralization has been a rather large concern for the people of Switzerland. No one is alive to remember the Helvetic Republic and it's failure, but people still remember why it failed. The Great Swiss Question is to remain a proper Confederation, or to Federalize.
Poland:
Design: Based off of the old flag of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, when the Kingdom of Poland was re-established after the Treaty of Sofia this was chosen as the flag, using the White Eagle of Poland and the White Knight of Lithuania.
Inner Happenings: For the longest time, the main struggle for Poland was to cast off Saxon rule, which was achieved thanks to Napoleon II after the death of King John of Saxony-Poland (although Napoleon II had his own reasons to do so), dividing the Wettin dynasty into the houses of Wettin-Sachen and Wettin-Polonski. When this was achieved, Poland had become content with her situation. But, with the return of Saxon Rule, thanks to French occupation, Polish people are just a wee-bit upset.
Hungary:
Design: A modified version of the old flag of Hungary. While traditionally, the background for the Hungarian Cross was red, it was changed to blue for "aesthetic purposes." Most Hungarians have called bull, but aren't angry enough to protest too hard. Also included are the nine red and white stripes, originally for the Arpad Dynasty, the first rulers of Hungary, but every dynasty since has used the stripes except for the Habsburgs.
Inner Happenings: There are mixed feelings of the Bonapartes and the Bonapartist Government in Hungary. The Hungarians themselves are mostly content with the Bonapartes, as are most of the Wealthy. The Slavs, Dacorumanians, and extensively poor Hungarians, on the other hand, are opposed to the Bonapartist Government (although, for most of them, they just don't like being a part of Hungary). Louis VI and his son, Prince Louis, in particular are rather popular.
Tunisia:
Design: Very little is know about the meaning behind the Tunisian flag, there's not even really that much speculation on what it represents. We just know that the Husainids adopted it upon their ascencion back in the 1700's
Inner Happenings: Tunisia has been rather content under the Husainids and their patrons in Paris. Not really much else to say.
Serbia:
Design: Originating from the Serbian Revolt of 1804 that ultimately led to their independence. Said to be used by Prota Mateja before being adopted by Karadorde for the whole of Serbia. The colors are taken from the Flag of Stefan Vladislav, the first flag for Serbia.
Inner Happenings: The time since Independence has been a time of great rejoicing. The Centenial of the Revolt and Treaty of Sophia has brought great fervor to Serbia as they go on another Crusade of Independence (as they call it) against Russia. All of Serbia is happy, unless you're a Muslim or Croat, but then you shouldn't be living in Serbia, should you? With Milan II as Emperor of Serbia, greater things are sure to come.
Albania:
Design: This flag is directly taken from the Coat of Arms of the House of Katrioti, which prouduced their greatest national hero Skanderbeg.
Inner Happenings: In direct contrast to Serbia, Albania is going through a time of hardship since the War has begun. Before the War, Albania was doing alright, successfully acting as a middleman between Russia and France, but since then, the prince, John-Paul Iskodrali, has decided to back the French in spite of two of the three Albanian Councils (and the Prime Minister) disaproving. Strife is building in Albania as they call, if not for re-alignment to Russia, than to at least return to neutrality.
Greese:
Design: The flag of Greese is rather new design, but many of the elements are ages old. Divided into three verticle bands of blue, white, and black, each representing one of the three pillars of Greese. The White Orthodox Cross on Blue represents the Orthodox Church, the Black Eagle on White is for the Monarchy, and a White Anchor on Black is for the People.
Inner Happenings: Greese, since independence, had been going through a time of cultural revival and renaissance. The Partheon in Athens has been restored, Greese has sponsored a revived Olympic Games, and has returned to their favorite pass-time: Trying to regain Greek land that's not currently part of Greese. This has led them to one logical conclusion for the war: Go to war with Bulgaria and Turkey. Luckily, at least two of the three pillars of Greese know that doing that doing that will only end badly for the Greek people.
Haiti:
Design: According to Haitian tradition, the first flag of Haiti was created by Jean-Jacques Dessalines by taking the French Tricolore and tearing out the White Pale. Over the decades, it has been changed and altered multiple times, the most recent iteration has the blue and red straight from the Tricolore, but now horizontal. The blue stands for the Blacks, while red stands for those of mixed-race.
Inner Happenings: With every Haitian flag redesign, there was a change of government. Some have jokingly started to wonder which comes first, the flag redesign or regime change. Haiti is not a very stable country, and it's an honest-to-God wonder how they've held on to the mostly Spanish-Speaking Eastern Provinces. As a result of these Eastern Provinces, about a third of Haiti is in fact Spanish speaking. Although, to be fair, about a third of those regime changes have come about thanks to those Spanish speakers.
California:
Design: The design is rather straight-forward. Blue at the hoist for the Pacific and Coast, the Gold for the wealth of the land. The Red Star had been a symbol for California for a couple years before it's independence.
Inner Happenings: California came about due to the struggle between Conservatives and Liberals in the aftermath of the independence of New Spain. France under Napoleon II interviened and decided to declare California an independent country to give to the Conserative and Mexico would be left to the Liberals. The Conservatives, of course, weren't exactly pleased with this deal, but that displeasure left them quickly when Gold was discovered in California. Soon, the Conservatives and their families had moved to the Alta California, but California certainly didn't stay Conservative for long, as many Frenchmen, Americans, and even Chinamen (mostly fleeing from the Taiping Revolution) ended up in California and liberalizing it quite a bit. Today, the Californian Republic is a near 40-40 split between Chinese and Hispanics, with the last 20 made up of Frenchmen and Anglo-Saxon Americans who have settled the Great Basin region.
Mexico:Design: The colors have been taken straight from some of the old Aztec artwork, most notably with Quetzalcoatl Gold, Green and Red. Today, the Mexicans will tell you they stand for God, People, and Independence.
Inner Happenings: Since the end of the struggle between Liberals and Conservatives came to an end with the Independence of California (which Mexico has been fairly bitter about after the discovery of Gold in the region), and the selling of Texas to America, Mexico has remained rather stable. It isn't particualarly wealthy like their neighbors in California and America, but it isn't particualarly poor either. It is slowly improving.
New Sphere, top to bottom, left to right:
Berber Empire:
Design: Rather straight-forward. The Gold stands for the Saharan Desert, but also for the wealth that could potentially be found. The red mark (ⵣ) in the canton stands for Amazigh, or Free man. Red stands for Life. According to one legend, the flag was created when Izem the Great and Jean-Marie "Le Toulonnais" cut their hands and shook them, becoming blood brothers. The dripping blood coallescend into a pool in the sand, which created the ⵣ symbol.
Inner Happenings: Just about every person in the Berber Empire would be able to tell you the story of the adventures of Emperor Izem the Great and the future Emperor Jean the Beloved and the unbreakable friendship the two shared. Some would tell you this with great glee, some would tell you with spite. Hell, rumors pass around that as Jean the Beloved was overthrowing Napoleon III, he was in fact planning on making Emperor Izem his heir rather than his other good friend, Karl von Eger, before Izem passed away. Stories such of this should really make one understand what a close bond the Berber Empire feels towards France, being such a big part of her modern cultural identity. In other, non-French related issues, the Berber Empire has been long trying to put down the rebellions around the Niger River.
Sokoto Caliphate:
Design: The Caliphates have a long standing tradition of having flags with only one color on them. This is just another part of that tradition, even if they don't officially recognize themselves as Caliphs anymore.
Inner Happenings: Sokoto, despite existing for only a little over a century, is already an old and decaying power. It'll be miracle if Sokoto survives to the end of the decade without falling to a revolt. Granted, they have survived this long off of the miracle known as France, so it's not neccassarily unbelievable that they may continue to survive.
Tripolitania:
Design: Originally comming from when Tripolitania was still part of the Ottoman Empire, and Tripolitania decided to keep it. The three crescents represent the three traditional regions that the Karamanlids claim: Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan, although Cyrenaica has long been part of the Egyptian sphere.
Inner Happenings: Unlike their Tunisian and Berber neighbors, Tripolitania is very uncontent. Besides wanting to regain Cyrenaica, they also want to break free of Franco-sphere. Of course, they can't even begin to take on French power, which is why they stick with them. At least for now.
Bornu Kingdom:
Design: The Organa, a flag almost as ancient as the Dannebrog, no one's quite sure what it really means anymore. Some optimistic souls will tell you it's the big smile you'll find on every single Bornu face.
Inner Happenings: Bornu is an ancient kingdom that's likely on it's last legs. But, like Sokoto, it has survived this long, it may continue on.
Madagascar:
Design: Another old flag with an uncertain history behind it. With the recent discovery that the Malagasy people are descended from the Malaynesians across the Indian Ocean, it could be possible that the flag is related to that of the Malay people.
Inner Happenings: While not neccassarily a new kingdom, Madagascar is a reinvigeroated kingdom, thanks to France. There is peace at home, after a long struggle between isolationism and French open door. The House of Merina now seeks to expand, whether that's their trade routes or their territory,
Zulu Kingdom:
Design: Red verticle bar at the hoist, with traditional Zulu cowhide shield and spears, representing their fighting spirit. closer to the fly, there's five uneven stripes of White, Black, Green, Gold, then White again. White stands
Inner Happenings: Zulu first came about by the will of one man, King Shaka, and his great and sweeping army reforms led to crushing his enemies. Later rulers, when not being assassinated, reformed the army even more, adding in rifles and mechanized vehicles. Today, Zulus are believed to be some of the most ingenious military theorists in the world, and make up an unproportiante amount of the Armée des Alliés officers.
Mossi Kingdom:
Design: The four color flag of the Mossi Kingdom symbolizes the Four Mossi Values: Ancestors, Hierarchy, Family, and Land.
Inner Happenings: The Mossi Kingdom-builders have finally gotten their own permanent kingdom. They haven't industrialized, like many of their African compatriots, although unlike those neighbors, they're not in the verge of collapse, but they're not exactly having a golden age either.
Ethiopia:
Design: Originally coming from three colored pennants that merged into one rectangular flag. Red stands for the Sacrifice by the Fathers in defence of Ethiopia. Yellow stands for Peace. Green stands for the fertile lands.
Inner Happenings: Ethiopia started the 19th century small and in a civil war, a periord known as the Age of Princes. By 1900, and indeed 1915, the Age of Princes is long last memory, and the Ethiopian Empire is in a new Golden Age. While they haven't quite industrialized yet, they're certainly on their way to doing so. They have a new empire that they haven't had in a thousand years. But of course, with empire comes enemies, most notably with the Somalis and Oromo.
Champa:
Design: Presented to the newly formed Champa State by the French. The Blue Pale is for the Mekong River, Green for the jungles of the region, and Red for the great cities (that will eventually be given back to them). Also subtle French propaganda.
Inner Happenings: Ironically, this Champa state had nearly no native Chams when it was first created. Most of those that lived in this state were Khmers and Viets, with only some Chams living there. Since then, many Chams have moved from Annam and has become a plurality, much to the distress of the Khmers and Viets.
War Allies, top to bottom:Bulgaria:
Design: Three verticle stripes of white, gold, and red. Gold and Red were the colors of the Second Bulgarian Empire, White and Gold were influenced by the new Russian flag. Bulgarians would tell you that the White stands for Glory, Gold for Prosperity, Red for Strength.
Inner Happenings: Bulgaria since independence has been extremely prosperous. The only complaint they've had is that they could be even more prosperous. They don't have complaints about their neighbors, they don't even really complaints about former and even current enemies. There's only one reason they have joined France to fight against the Russian Republic, and that's because they truly do believe in the cause of Emperor Nicholas.
Dacorumania:
Design: The best result of an attempted merger of the flags of Wallachia and Moldavia, representing the unification of these two principalities into the Kingdom of Dacorumania. Moldavia had a golden bull on red, while Wallachia had a black bird on blue (alternatively, black bird on white).
Inner Happenings: Dacorumania is incredibly split on who to support, France or Russia. On the one hand, Russia has been their traditional, offical ally for centuries, if not longer unoffically. On the other hand, France would utterally crush them instantaneously. Dacorumania first united at the treaty of Sofia as the Danubian Principalities under Constantine Ypsilantis, son of the prominent leader of Dacian Independence, Alexander Ysilantis. The union would grow closer when the Danubian Principalities became the Kingdom of Dacorumania.
Two Patriarchies:
Design: A rather simple design, joining together a Gold Cross on White (for Jerusalem) and a White Cross on Blue (for Antioch). They secretly already have a flag design for when they get all five Patriarchies together once more.
Inner Happenings: The Two Patriarchies are actually shockingly stable. This may be due to the fact that many Christians from the rest of the Middle East have chosen to settle in them, while Muslims have gone the other direction. It may be due to good governance and a not nearly as heavy hand as one might expect. But one way or another, despite numberous invasions and occupations, the Two Patriarchies survive. They only have two goals. The first is to convert as many as they can to Christianity (perferably of the Orthodox kind), which they do. with a gentle hand. The other is to unite the Five Patriachries, which Emperor Charles d'Egier has promised to them once Constantinople is taken. Then they unfurl that ironically ungodly flag design they have waiting.
