"Our Home, Zeta"
(National Anthem of the Republic of Zeta Cygni)
Lyrics: W.A. von Fahrvergnügen (original German)
Benjamin D. Hutchins (Standard translation)
Music: Tōryu Fuyuki

Zeta (Cygni)
Zeta (Cygni)
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!

Far off in the dark of space
She shines, freedom's star
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
You guide us home with your beautiful light
Zeta Cygni, 'til the end!

Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!

Gruesome tyrants covet her
But we'll never yield
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
We stand on guard through the unending night
Zeta Cygni, we'll defend!

Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!

Freedom ever flowers in
Her welcoming light
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
Righteous and strong, against all who love wrong
Zeta Cygni, forever free!

History

The patriotic lyrics to "Our Home, Zeta" actually pre-date the existence of the Republic of Zeta Cygni as a recognized polity by quite a few years. Wedge Defense Force founder and backer Baron Wolfgang Amadeus von Fahrvergnügen composed them in 1979, a full decade before the Empire of Salusia recognized the Republic as a nation and sponsored its membership in the United Galactica, the primary galactic superpolity of the era. What's more, von Fahrvergnügen's version was written in his native German ("Unser Land, Zeta"). It was not until 1992, when the rest of the WDF founders arrived at Zeta Cygni from Earth and the WDF truly got off the ground, that they received an English translation, which would eventually evolve into the modern Standard translation.

What few people outside some hardcore science fiction enclaves on Earth, Tomodachi, and Ishiyama know, however, is that the music to "Our Home, Zeta", is even older. It was composed in 1967 as the theme to the now-obscure Japanese science fiction television program Ultra Seven, and was adapted by von Fahrvergnügen - both melody and instrumental backing line - after he heard the Ultra Seven theme in a collection of music one of his proto-WDF technicians owned. It's said that von Fahrvergnügen didn't even know what the original music he heard was, nor what the original lyrics meant; he just liked the opening horn fanfare and adapted the rest of the piece to suit.

Customary usage

As with most modern national anthems, "Our Home, Zeta" is performed at official and unofficial functions taking place within, or involving significants persons from, the country it represents. In addition, since the Republic of Zeta Cygni is the official home of the Wedge Defense Force and the International Police Organization, it is played at major WDF and IPO functions along with the anthems of those organizations.

It is customary for only the first verse to be performed on most occasions. The major exceptions are New Avalon's Foundation Day, the official ceremonies celebrating which are always kicked off with a performance of the complete song by the Wedge Defense Force Band, and home games of the New Avalon Knights, where, for reasons now unknown, it is traditional for the second verse to be sung.

Anachronisms

Though the Standard lyrics to "Our Home, Zeta" have not changed since 2002 - indeed, have not changed substantially from their 1992 English incarnation - several details have since become incorrect. For instance, the star does not do particularly much shining in the dark of space since its enclosure within a Dyson sphere in 2374, nor - since the addition of territories in the Sol system and several neighboring star systems in the Cygnus sector to its loose protective confederation - does Zeta Cygni stand alone. However, the spirit remains.

End of Text Data Extract
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And for those of you who were wondering, a few minutes of googling turned up this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFLL_B9vLmo

Thank you for your indulgence, Gryph. I will endeavour not to do it again.

Michael C. Fortner
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".

This is what vexillologists (people who study flags) call a Nordic Cross flag. All the Scandinavian countries and a number of other places with links thereto (such as the Orkney and Shetland Islands and the West Riding of Yorkshire in England) have flags based on this same essential layout. The official spec for the Zetan flag, as displayed by government agencies, calls for it to have a two-to-one aspect ratio, with no fringes or fancy cords or what have you. (In movies, dressed-up versions with a gold fringe and other embellishments often appear in "official" contexts, to the amusement of anyone who knows the flag's origin story - see below.)

The original version of the Zetan flag was devised sometime during the startup phase of the Wedge Defense Force, mainly because one was needed for King Jerka of Salusia to hoist symbolically in front of the United Galactica Assembly building in Cheltopolis when that august body admitted the Republic of Zeta Cygni with Salusian sponsorship in 1992. As no one (least of all Baron von Fahrvergnügen) had thought of this ahead of time, the prototype was prepared in an almighty hurry on a completely ad-hoc basis by Gryphon, via "delegation" from Zoner, which is why the colors are the two shades of blue found on the flag of the State of Maine. His reasons for choosing the Nordic Cross design are unclear, but may have something to do with the fact that it has only straight lines in it and was therefore easy to sew.

The device in the upper left corner of the modern Zetan flag is called the Star of Avalon; it's the symbol of Avalon County, and appears somewhere in pretty much all official graphics relating to the county and the City of New Avalon (e.g. the license plates). It was added in 2384. The IPO uses a variation on the Star of Avalon, in red with extra points, as its own insignia.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.