[Chris, *please* don't do that again (i.e. don't post quotes from an
email without permission). One reason it's important is because you
quoted my real email address in your headers, which is supposed to
remain spam-free and is distinct from the address that I use to post
with.]

Chris Bates wrote, quoting myself:

> >Can you think of a good colour, other than red, that could symbolise
> >creativity? I suggest purple (because colour psychologists say that
> >purple promotes creativity - see for example this website:
> ><http://www.dulux.com.au/html/inspiration/colour_psychology.aspx>)
> >so how would you feel about replacing the red with purple (but leaving
> >the black as it is)?
>
> Purple sounds good to me. :) The colour of purple that velvet often is....

I'm happy with changing the red to purple - any other opinions?

> >No, definitely not. The rules of heraldry do not allow gradients. I
> >don't mind being flexible with the rules, but not that flexible.
> >(Besides, I think there is indeed a clear boundary between fact and
> >fiction.)
>
> *shrugs* Does it have to conform to the rules of heraldry? But if you
> don't want a gradient then that's fine with me... I have no extremely
> strong feelings either way, although I do mildly prefer the gradient
> idea. And I'm not so sure there is a clear distinction... everything is
> relative in the end. :)

The quote I mentioned from Terry Pratchett ("rules are there to make
you think before you break them") sums up my feelings on the matter.
Yes, I strongly advocate that we should respect the rules of heraldry.
The two biggest reasons why I am opposed to any sort of gradient are
(1) because a flag ought to be constructable in any medium, including
cloths of one colour each, and (2) because from a public image point
of view, we don't want to give people the impression that conlangers
are fuzzy about the boundary between fact and fiction.

> The faces stay as they are then for now. :)

I'm happy to see ideas for representing faces on the flag. The
requirements I can think of are these:
  - Represent a face with at least a mouth and protruding tongue.
  - Respect the rules of heraldry, i.e. think before you break them.
  - Don't be too detailed.
  - Don't make it look "cartoonish".

Of course, I'm still perfectly happy to see completely different
ideas for a conlanger's flag, totally unrelated to my own suggestions.

Applications: I suppose I foresee the main application of the flag
being as a graphic on people's websites, e.g. people could use it as a
graphic link to their main conlang page. What else?

Adrian.