User talk:Freeanthony

Artaxiad flag
Hi Freeanthony,

I just saw you reinstated the retouched flag you uploaded. What I just additionally realized is, is that both flags (both the "original" one, as well as the slightly retouched flag added recently by you) are unsourced and are based on self-made interpretation. We take great care in our WP:VER, WP:RS and WP:OR policies. I understand that you are very much interested in these matters, as attested by the content on your blogspot, but using your own blogspot as a supposed source to back up a self-made flag violates the very same policies I linked above, is not allowed. In one sentence; you will need explicit sources, reliable sources, that state that the Artaxiads used such standards/flags throughout their existence in order for such a flag to exist on the page. Bests - LouisAragon (talk) 21:49, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Dear LouisAragon,

Thank you for your honest concern for the well-being of wikipedia. I'm a big admirer of this community myself. However, I find it quite ironic to be franc. The previous rendering of the flag was up for over 8 years, without a single source and was quite inaccurate in many respects. Here I present a well-researched reconstruction describing every little detail, from the shape, the colours, the style etc... with imagery to primal sources, and I receive such criticism from you. First of all the flag I have uploaded is not slightly retouched. It's a complete redesign based on historic evidence as described on my blog post, and quite deviates from the one that was up for over 8 years. Secondly, I'd like to point out that the medium "a blog" does not disqualify the accuracy of the rendering and should not be simply disqualified on wikipedia either. Many scholars regularly blog and have generated quite an authority in their respective fields, f.e. Dienekes the Anthropology blog. You have proposed to revert the flag to the original version which really baffled me to be honest, luckily you now seem to realize that the original flag was not up to standard with the quality Wikipedia seems to demand in recent years. Therefore you too should be very supportive of this rendering, is my personal opinion. As for sources on the Artaxiad flag/coat of arms I would like to direct you to a fine book written by your (and mine, ja ook mijn) countrymen Herman Brijder titled: Nemrud Dagi: Recent Archaeological Research and Preservation and Restoration Activities in the Tomb Sanctuary on Mount Nemrud (2014), which I have also mentioned in the blog post. Furthermore fine early work describing the Artaxiad flag was done by Fr. Vardan Hatsuni's in his work "Flags of Armenia," Venice, 1919. And can equally be found in the book called “The Armenian Herald” by the Armenian National Union of America., 1918. There are tons of mentions of the Artaxiad symbols in other books even in Russian f.e. “Очерки по истории культуры древней Армении by Тревер, Камилла Васильевна” (1953). Equally you can find mentions of the Artaxiad coat of arms at the Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. Here is an online link: http://www.heraldicum.ru/armenia/history.htm, Other examples can be found in the book “Coinage of the Artaxiads of Armenia” (1978) and the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, Volume 8 (2000). I can and will provide many more sources to prevent the deletion of this rendering as it is to date the most accurate rendering of the coat of arms of the Artaxiad dynasty on the internet. There is no contest as to how the Artaxiad family ensign looked in academia, the only contest are the details which I have highlighted in my post. In fact it’s so well documented that it can even be found on the current coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia (lower left corner of the shield). Not trying to appeal to authority here, but I am a scholar myself and previously I have reconstructed the shape of the Artaxiad tiara, effectively proving that it was shaped like a triangular prism instead of a cylinder as often depicted in popular art. You can read about the details on my blog if you are interested: http://www.peopleofar.com/2015/05/29/what-was-the-true-shape-of-the-ancient-armenian-crown/ I am currently in the process of writing a paper about this very subject which will be published in a respectable journal. So this is indeed a subject close to my heart. This flag I present to the Wiki community is researched in detail and reconstructed with great care. I sincerely hope it will be accepted by the community and to that end I will extend my full cooperation. Let me know if you have any more questions I'll be happy to oblige.

Kind Regards,--Freeanthony (talk) 02:22, 2 February 2017 (UTC)