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Fictional Names

Last modified: 2017-11-04 by peter hans van den muijzenberg
Keywords: names | san christos | san doremi | san monique |
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Introduction

Though not a flag matter, the names of the fictional entities occasionally lead to comments from those studying fictional flags as well. This pages serves as a way to keep the flag-related pages free from such off-topic comments, yet provide a way to note interesting oddities about said names.


The use of "San" for fictional countries

Where do Americans such as Allen and Europeans such as Hergé get the idea from that Latin American countries have names like San Cocho (beef stew) and San Dia (watermelon)? Certainly not from Dominican Republic or El Salvador!
Juan Jose Morales, 19 Januari 2013

That's thought too big: Santo Domingo and especially San Salvador. Most writers don't really want an entire country; they merely want a city with just enough land around it to create not-in-the-city locations.

But by now, this has become a kind of meme; people don't create San names to match existing real Latin American locations, but to match previous fictional locations.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 19 Januari 2013

Such countries are fictional indeed! There are no Hispanic nations with names of saints, such as the San Marcos of Bananas; the only two that come a little close are the Dominican Republic, capital Santo Domingo, and El Salvador, capital San Salvador.
Juan Jose Morales, 7 December 2011

More to the point, it's a fictional extrapolation on the Hispanic nature of Central and South America; the frequency of the use of "San" names for their capital cities (include also Costa Rica, Chile, and even Puerto Rico); and the use of "Saint" (English), "Saint-" (French), and "Sint" (Dutch) country and territory names in the Carribean. Combine those elements and as soon as you say that a country is called "San Ignacio" many people will instantly think "Caribbean" - despite the fact that the only country in the world to be "San" anything is in the Apennines of southern Europe.

As such, it's a useful concept that provides the necessary perception about a fictional country. It's no less acceptable than having a black and white flag with a green crescent and star on it and instantly thinking "Middle East" despite no country using a green crescent and star.
James Dignan, 8 December 2011

San Christos – Quincy, M.E.

In the episode called "By the Death of a Child", Dr. Quincy was sent to the Republic of San Christos (which seems a little bit like an oxymoron).
A.P. De New, 3 June 2006

As the fictional Republic's name is Spanish (translates as Saint Christ(ian), as far as I can ascertain), it should be written as San Cristos (sans the 'h'). 'Ch' in Spanish is spoken much like that in English; the /kh/ in Christ is reduced down to a /k/ in Cristos — its Spanish form — thus the missing 'h'!
Robert Wheelock, 4 June 2006


San Doremi – De Avonturen van Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber

Some of the adventures of Bert & friends are set in the imaginary Central American state of San Doremi, showing a bar of music on the national flag!
Jan Mertens, 23 September 2008

Must be a punning flag — music for the country name "do-re mi" («the first three notes»); "San" being, again, a misused saintly honorific in Spanish, staple for naming fictional Latin American locations.
António Martins, 7 December 2011


San Monique – Live and Let Die

"San Monique" is a senseless pseudo-Spanish name, using the honorific for consonant-name-initial saints with a female French name (it would be Santa Mónica in proper Spanish) — one more to join other ill-named vexilliferous fictional hispanic countries..
António Martins, 17 November 2011


Figurated countries

The term "figurated country" refers a fictional country, which is based in a real country, usually a country that the director of the film wants to criticize but dares not call by its real name. Petrovia is a figurated country based on post-Soviet Russia.
Jason Saber, 1 August 2013