The Kingdom of Vikesland was a

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was founded in 2005 by Christopher Barry Joseph Beyette (King Christopher I), a television news cameraman employed by the CHUM network. Vikesland's creation and subsequent development was the intended focus of a documentary film about micronations which Beyette planned to produce. The focus of the micronation's activities subsequently shifted to unspecified endeavors of a charitable and humanitarian nature. In addition to this, Vikesland began building a reputation among the micronational community. This stemmed from the state's various interactions with other micronations; notably the

Grand Duchy of Westarctica Westarctica (officially the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, formerly the Protectorate of Westarctica) is an unrecognized micronation in Antarctica, founded in 2001 by Travis McHenry, who styles himself as Grand Duke Travis. It claims a region of W ...

and the attendees of

MicroCon Microcon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and ...

2015. During its existence, Vikesland received a small amount of media coverage. Most stories made about the micronation were lighthearted in fashion and highlighted Vikesland (in addition to other states) as examples of the greater micronational movement as a whole. The official website of Vikesland stated that the micronation was "not secessionist" and had no intention of claiming the territory of Canada or any other sovereign state. However, the site also identifies Beyette's place of residence near the city of

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

, as well as a nearby 6.5 square kilometre rural property which he co-owns with his parents, as being "Vikeslandic territory". The latter was referred to as the "Royal Ranchlands". According to the official website, Vikesland (as a kingdom) was dissolved in April 2018. Recent edits to the site indicated an intent to revive the project as the "Jarldom of Vikesland" sometime in the Spring of 2019, however no further updates were made, and the website is no longer operable, as of December 2019.

Flag

The kingdom's original flag was made up of three horizontal bars of black, white and red, in style of that of

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. At the center of the white bar it had a white, Albanian-style double-headed eagle. On 25 January 2015, King Christopher officially changed the flag of Vikesland to that of a single pure-red background decorated by a white and (light) blue

Nordic cross A Nordic cross flag is a flag bearing the design of the Nordic or Scandinavian cross, a cross symbol in a rectangular field, with the centre of the cross shifted towards the hoist. All independent Nordic countries have adopted such flags in t ...

. In addition the flag sported a black German-style double-headed eagle on the top left corner with a red

Maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...

in its center.King Christopher orders national flag change.
, Kingdom of Vikesland, 30 January 2015; access date 10 February 2020.

References

External links

Official Site (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vikesland, Principality Of 2005 establishments in Canada Micronations in Canada History of Manitoba by location Former unrecognized countries Micronations

Flag

See also

References

External links