OTF World Cup of Flags

[pebblethefish]

Spot on there Levin - if someone described the Estonia flag to you, it would sound rubbish.

[Southport Zeb]

Iceland narrowly

[Incandenza]

Estonia

[Bruno]

Okay, as was probably clear to everyone already, the Estonian flag is our winner and champion.


Estonia 17 8 Iceland





It's interesting to note that of the four semifinalists, Estonia had been the lowest performing flag in their qualifying group, where they edged Kenya by only 2 points and where Uruguay and Finland were respectable contenders. They were rested and ready for the finals anyway.

Botswana on the other hand barely won their finals group stage, beating Norway by a point. Botswana also had tougher fights on the way to the semis than Estonia, so they were undoubtedly tired. Argentina, similarly, were hard pressed by Uganda and barely squeaked by the Faroes and it was never a penalty.

Tournament MVP is Nordic Cross who gave everyone something to think about, but in the end a traditional triband formation showed its enduring class.

Thanks again for a lively competition everyone! I invite everyone to nominate (or re-nominate) what your pick was to win the thing.

[Nocturnal Submission]

A worthy winner.

Many thanks for the original idea and all the legwork, Bruno.

I did mention Estonia as a personal favourite some way back on one of the threads (perhaps this one) though I went for Iceland in the final. I still really like Eswatini flag even if no-one else does but I've cooled towards Bhutan and the Marshall Islands over the course of the competition.

[lambers]

Ditto. Fantastic stuff Bruno.

[Sits]

Seconded. I may have voted Iceland in the final but Estonia are worthy winners. They’ve gradually won over the OTF with their pure, simple yet unique approach.

Thanks Bruno.

[S. aureus]

Thanks Bruno. A worthy winner

[via vicaria]

Thanks for making this happen, Bruno.

A worthy winner there. Personal picks were Albania or Mongolia, which I still very much like.

[Lobachevsky]

brilliant competition Bruno. Estonia worthy winners. How did they do on twitter?

[Greenlander]

A brilliant winner and one I've warmed to over the competition. I'm also in the need it on a t-shirt camp and a new found fan of both the Faroes and Aland Islands from the sister competition. Three flags not really on my radar before.

It beat my pre-tournament favourite in the final. I also had Albania and Greece as outsiders and other personal favourites. I suspected that OTF wouldn't go for anything too garish and that the plethora of similar coloured flags (such as West Africa and Arab nations) would knock each other out on route.

Well done Bruno - thanks for a overseeing an intriguing competition.

[ad hoc]

brilliant competition Bruno. Estonia worthy winners. How did they do on twitter?

Ludicrously they went out in the group stages finishing behind the UK (!), Canada, and Rwanda.

[Lurgee]

I think Bruno was the real winner on the day.

[Incandenza]

Yes, many thanks Bruno.

Though I find it a bit amusing that after this competition surpassed the original one in terms of quality long ago, I'm far more excited by the prospect of Jamaica winning that tournament than I was with either of our two finalists here.

[Bruno]

I think Bruno was the real winner on the day.

I was just trying to avoid getting booked.

To Inca's thought, I wondered if having the knockout stage begin with the last 64 changed the sort of flags that might go deep.

[San Bernardhinault]

Thank you too, Bruno.

I've learned that I really hate drawings on flags, with only very rare exceptions. Flags should have lines and geometric shapes only. For example, before the tournament I thought I really like the Lebanese flag, for instance. But in fact I'd never really looked at it. The more I looked at the tree, the worse it got. I thought I liked Dominica's parrot and Grenada's nutmeg, but they're just messes. And almost everybody's crest looks worse the more you look at it, with the possible exceptions of Slovenia and Slovakia.

[pebblethefish]

As previously mentioned, I loved the Botswana flag so much I wanted it on a T-shirt. So I googled it and found this

[San Bernardhinault]

Take the crest off that, and you have one of the world's greatest cycling or football shirts. (As well as the best flag, despite what OTF says).

[ad hoc]

Pula is the Romanian word for dick, and features in practically every sweary expression in the language. I think I'd struggle to wear that shirt for that reason.

[via vicaria]

Based on what's at the bottom of the image, that company does lots of made-to-order flag + coat of arms tshirts. Including one for Estonia, which would also become truly excellent if it lost the (less intrusive) coat of arms:



Pula is 'rain' in Tswana, apparently (and a good luck exhortation). Seems like a nice sentiment on a coat of arms (satisfyingly non-nationalistic in any case)

[Sits]

Three lions on the shirt?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Pula is the Romanian word for dick, and features in practically every sweary expression in the language. I think I'd struggle to wear that shirt for that reason.

Someone needs to tell Croatia.