• TrudeauCastroson [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    5 months ago

    Now that you mention it, I see your point. The Southern cross is probably worse for being a symbol of the explorers who discovered land to be colonized than for the cross itself IMO.

    Meanwhile the Nordic countries have sideways crosses because one of them started it since they had a king see a cross or something in a battle, and then they copied each other’s homework. The king didn’t even meet Jesus, he just hallucinated a cross. If you met the guy then at least that’s a story. That’s like putting Elvis on your flag because you saw him in a potato chip.

    • EllenKelly [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      The eureka flag was originally flown by striking miners in the Eureka Rebellion 1854, from memory its the first flag to feature the southern cross, it wasnt adopted by the colonies until victoria adopted its current flag later on

      Colonists largely being christian is a big part of my issue, being in a mostly christian state I was a bit blind to the significance of the cross until recently, but look at this shit

      A depiction of The Southern Cross in Mark Twain’s 1897 travelogue, “Following the Equator”

      • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        5 months ago

        It was Danish King Valdemar II, who had the flag fall from the sky to him as a sign. Some historians say it was a cross-battle dream, like Constantine, or like the 1217 Seige of Alcacer do Sal.

        I guess hallucinating crosses during or after battles was just a common thing for a while. Everyone who lost while hallucinating a cross probably died so there’s probably some confirmation bias there too. It’s like how praying for your team to win a superbowl only works if you end up winning, if you lose then I guess the other team prayed harder.