Svannerland Confederation Flag

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Map [link]

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Commentary:
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My entry for Flag Challenge #43: "More British Isles" on AlternateHistory.com

The challenge:
"There are 2 scenarios in this challenge for you to choose from.

Scenario A:
In the North Sea there are one or more large islands in the Dogger Bank area.
Handwaves ensure that Rome still takes Britannia and falls in the west, and that the Germanic migrations occur – this time the North Sea Islands also serve as a waypoint being settled by Angles and the East Norse (Danes) by 1050AD.

Scenario B:
In the Atlantic there are one or more large islands off Cornwall and Brittany beyond the Scilly Isles.
Handwaves ensure that Rome still takes Britannia and falls in the west, and that the Germanic migrations occur – these Celtic Isles also become part of Western Rome and are later settled by Romano-Britons during the time of the Germanic settlement of Britain.

Challenge:
Your task is to create a flag for one of these island states at any point post 1050AD detailing:

a) the name of the state
b) its “feudal” status i.e. vassal, independent, province, etc
c) its “domain” status i.e. lordship, kingdom, bishopric, republic, etc
d) the meanings of any relevant symbols
e) a brief history"

I picked scenario A.

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Symbology:
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It uses a Nordic cross because of periods of Danish dominance in the past. The crosses in the upper left canton represent the five greatest cities of the isles, all of which are/were Hanseatic Free Cities. The central one represents the largest city and capital.

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History: A brief history of the Confederation of Svannerland
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The Confederation of Svannerland[1] was a tightly bound confederation of free cities, banding together out of mutual economic, political and military interests at the dawn of the 17th century. The lack of any true and lasting[2] centralised authority on the islands prior to this had allowed the cities free reign over their own affairs. However, this lack of political unity and a central authority had also resulted in a lack of cultural and linguistic unity in Svannerland. This lack of unity and long history of fierce independence should have rendered any hope of peaceful unification impossible, so how come they managed to unite successfully regardless of these factors?

While a number of island groups in the North Atlantic had been settled by people of different ethnic backgrounds in the past, the central position of the Svannerland islands made them a target for settlement by a far greater range of people than their cousins to the north[3]. While of limited importance prior to the growth of Hanseatic[4] trade, fishing villages had sprung up all over the island, settled by Norse, Low German, Flemish, Frankish, Scottish and English fishermen. Each of these villages retained most of their cultural and linguistic traditions until the rise of the Hansa.

The Hanseatic League is known to have influenced the languages of many of its non-German trading partners considerably. The modern Norwegian language, for instance, can attribute much of it's similarity to German to the heavy Hanseatic presence in Bergen. It should come as no surprise, then, that similar low German influence was present in the cities of the Svannerland islands, most of which had joined the Hanseatic League. Various low German dialects more or less unique to the Svannerland islands developed as a result, and eventually ended up serving as a lingua franca for the various cultural groups on the island. While other languages were spoken orally on a local basis, low German eventually became the administrative language of the Svannerland cities after the formation of the Confederation of Svannerland.

As the Hanseatic League declined, so did the wealth and importance of the cities of Svannerland. Many foreign princes had their eyes on the islands for their strategic value, however, and none of the free cities of Svannerland could stand up against these potential foes alone. Competing against their neighbours for the vaning North Atlantic trade didn't do them much good either, and so the major cities of the island decided that it would be in their best interest to unify against their common foes. This eventually resulted in the formation of the Confederation of Svannerland, made possible by the fear of foreign invasion, economic interests and a common language in the form of Hanseatic low German. They did, however, realize that they could do little to protect themselves even as a united force, and decided to find a foreign prince to protect them. The choice fell on the Charles I of England, on the terms that he would acknowledge and respect their rights as free cities. Charles I accepted, and the Confederation of Svannerland became part of the English crown.

Footnotes:
[1] A bastardisation of the old Norse name for the island chain; "Svanreyland" (Sea-bird Island). It was given this name due to the considerable numbers of sea-birds present on and around the islands.

[2] The Danes had ruled the islands several times in the past. Svannerland grew in importance in the Viking Age, and reached its pre-Hanseatic zenith under King Canute the Great, but never remained under the rule of foreign princes for long.

[3] The Orkeys, Shetland isles etc.

[4] Each major city of the island were once members of the Hanseatic League, a German-dominated economic alliance of free cities.