THE SUPERSTATES OF GEORGE ORWELL'S NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

Mr. Orwell had nothing to say about the the flags of the superstates that divided his fictional world, so I designed them myself. For Oceania, red symbolizes the prevailing ideology (English Socialism or Ingsoc in Newspeak), blue symbolizes the seas that separate the state's various provinces (the British Isles, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and white symbolizes purity of thought (goodthink in Newspeak). The V symbolizes the inevitable global victory of Oceania and Ingsoc; the three white stars symbolize the three slogans of the Party (War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength). For Eurasia red symbolizes the prevailing ideology (Neo-Bolshevism), the green stripe spanning the flag symbolizes the extent of the state (the entire European and northern Asiatic land mass), the large yellow star charged with a red star symbolizes the ever-victorious peoples of the state under the leadership of the ruling party. For Eastasia red symbolizes the prevailing ideology (Obliteration of the Self) and the ruling party, and the yellow triangle represents progress and inevitable victory. The three stars symbolize the three provinces of the state (China, Japan and Southeast Asia). The larger star is for China, symbolizing that country's leading role in the revolution that established the state.

In the 1984 film adaption of Orwell's novel, the flag of Oceania was depicted as black, bearing the emblem of the Party. The clasped hands, reminiscent of the emblem of the Socialist Unity Party of the defunct German Democratic Republic, presumably were meant to represent racial solidarity.

FLAG OF OCEANIA

FLAG OF EURASIA

FLAG OF OCEANIA AS DEPICTED IN THE FILM 1984