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Welcome to micronationalism! You may have heard about us from Sealand or Molossia, this community is full of micronations. CupertinoGuides is a Cupertino Forum project where guides are produced to help new micronationalists learn how to make a stable and democratic nation.

This chapter is about the basics of starting a new micronation. Authored by Jayden Lycon, formatted by Tyler Mullins.

Justification

Before starting out with any flags or titles or anything, ask yourself why do you want to make a micronation? Could it be that you just want to have some fun, or do you want to operate a political science simulation? Perhaps you want to run a fantasy empire to your heart’s extent?

Why should I?
It’s generally good to cite a reason to start your micronation. It makes it more legitimate as well as stands out from the large crowd of other nations. Furthermore, your reason can help you drive the direction of your micronation and can be cited in your declaration of Independence.
For example, If I made a micronation for a political science simulation, I would focus on the legal parts of the nation like governmental powers or the constitution. Likewise, if I wanted to start an empire, I would travel around the world claiming land everywhere I go. A justification of your micronation’s existence can help you focus on what parts as opposed to others.

Micronation examples

These are a couple of micronations’ reasons for existing:

Principality of Hutt River
The Principality was founded in by the late Leonard George Casley (Prince Leonard I). It was founded due to a dispute within the Australian government in regard to wheat quotas.

Republic of Molossia
The Republic of Molossia was founded in 1977 by Kevin Baugh and James Spielman as The Grand Republic of Vuldstein. This was a childhood project between both members.

Republic of Yu-Xia
Yu-Xia was founded on 3 February 2020 due to the United States’s flawed governmental system and constitution.

State of Vishwamitra
Vishwamitra was founded on 15 April 2007 as a gathering of friends.

New Athens
The Free Nation of New Athens was founded on 30 September 2019 to protest unjust local laws.

Territory

After thinking about why you want to start your micronation, then you need territory to rule. The common consensus varies greatly community by community, with each neighborhood having its own sets of unwritten rules on this matter.

MicroWiki community
In the MicroWiki community, the general consensus is that your claims must be reasonable in size and that you can travel to them. This means that it is not preferable to claim territories in Bir Tawil nor Antarctica as both are overclaimed and are inaccessible to your average Joe. Claims that are preferred in that community may include: Your or your friend’s house (with permission from the friend if you are doing the latter)
A public park or public building you can travel to The size of your claim may also matter. It’s generally not recommended to claim large swaths of land or a block of land with many buildings and residents in it. These claims are generally considered hard to enforce and thus less realistic. For example:
• It’s recommended to claim a small park.
• It’s not recommended to claim a really big park.
• It’s recommended to claim your house.
• It’s not recommended to claim a huge residential complex with many citizens residing there.

Solidifying your claim
To solidify your claim, it’s generally recommended to place the flag of the micronation in that territory. Look at the photo- this claim of a small creek is solidified through the micronation’s flag being placed on the territory. It’s not a formal requirement, but it makes your claim more legitimate- plus you got some cool photos you can nominate for featured picture status!
Examples that are considered widely accepted are:
• Aaron Island, which comprises a small part of an uninhabited creek. This claim was solidified through a flag.
• Arroyo, which is apart of Wendatia. This claim includes a friend’s house and a creek.
• Sealand, which is a micronation located on an old fort that the Royal Family lives on.

Other communities and sectors may have other standards relating to territory. For example, Aerica has a colony on Mars, and Westarctica claims apart of Antarctica. Both are respected in their own communities and sectors. I recently spoke to Kevin Baugh on this matter, and he wrote a very good quote on this subject:

“Micronations can be as much about ideals as places, and for most it’s the idea of their nation that matters. For example, Obsidia’s entire nation is a rock that their Marshal carries in a case. Can she live on that rock? No, it’s a symbol, in her case showing that nations are about people, not land.”
— Kevin Baugh, 2021

Your territory should represent you and your micronation, and people could judge your nation just by what types of claims you do choose.

Symbols

Symbols represent your micronation. Normally, a micronation has a coat of arms or emblem, and a flag.
Tutorials for designing digital seals, flags and ribbons can be found at HERE

Rule of tincture
This guide uses the term “rule of tincture”. It began in heraldry (i.e., the study of coat of arms), but its rule can be translated to generally good design. The rule is No metal on metal. No color on color.
Now you may be confused; how can I put a medal like carbon on a color like black? Well, it doesn’t work like that. In heraldic terms, metals are Gold/yellow and Silver/white (argent).
Colors are:
Blue (azure), Red (gules), Purple (purpure), Green (vert), Black (sable), everything else.
Black is an exception to the rule since it isn’t considered a color in European terms.

Symbols: Raster and vector
When creating digital graphics and symbols, it’s important to know the different between a raster and a vector.
In this example, the top-right shows a vector graphic zoomed in, whilst the bottom-right shows a raster graphic zoomed in.
Raster graphics are comprised of pixels. Common raster graphic file extensions include .png, .jpeg, .jpg, and .gif. Raster graphics can be extremely detailed, however, would have a diminished photo quality once scaled up. Common raster editors include paint.net, GIMP, and Krita.
Vector graphics are comprised of math equations to create a graphic. You will not have to do math equations to create these graphics, since programs like Inkscape provide an extremely easy way to create these graphics. These graphics can be scaled up without a loss of quality, however at the cost of less detail. Common vector graphic file extensions include .svg.

Symbols: Flags
Good flags fulfill a majority, if not all five principles listed by the North American Vexillological Association, those being:
• Keep it simple
• Use meaningful symbolism
• Use 2 or 3 basic colors
• No lettering or seals
• Be distinctive or be related

These principles were set up in the book Good Flag, Bad Flag, compiled by Ted Kaye. It is a great read and I’ll recommend you read it. A report also by the North American Vexillological Association called “The Commission’s Report and the Guiding Principles on Flag Design” is also a good read when making a flag. Good, free software to make your flags include:
• Paint.net (my personal favorite)
• GIMP
• Inkscape
These ones are more basic and limited in features:
• Tennessine
• Flagmaker

Declaration of Independence

Well, you have got everything ready, it’s time for your nation to be born. You will need to draft a document proclaiming that you have become independent from a macronation.

What does it need?
A declaration of independence usually contains:
• Your land claims which you plan to integrate into your new micronation
• The macronation(s) that you plan to secede from
• The date
• Reason(s) for leaving micronations or macronation
However, it is not a requirement for a declaration of independence to contain all of these requirements. Some parameters, like the date, are essential for informative purposes though.

Where / what to do I write it on?
There are multiple ways to write your declaration of independence, those being:
• Pen and paper (Recommended if you want to have physical laws and such)
• Microsoft Word
• Google Docs (Optimal for sharing online)
• PDF file (Would look more uniform across platform, but is hard to edit)

What to do next?
Some micronations also send their declaration of independence to a member of parliament/legislature and/or the head of government or head of state of their micronation, though this is optional.
Examples and templates for declarations of independence can be found HERE

Constitution

A constitution is a document that sets up your government, outlines how your micronation is governed and who will have the power, along with the rights given to citizens.
Most micronations have a codified constitution. That means that their constitution is on one document, which is written. Other micronations have an uncodified constitution. That means that their constitution is made up of several sources. “I am the law. Do I really need a constitution?” Yes. If you do not have this / these document(s), then you won’t legally have the power to “be the law.”

Common topics
Most constitutions contain the following sections: • Preamble
• Form of government
• Rights
• Freedoms
Examples and templates for constitutions are located HERE

Constitution: Codified vs Uncodified
There are pros and cons for both codified and uncodified constitutions.
Pros: Codified
• Is considered “higher law.”
• Clear rules.
• Can be found in one place.
• Fewer spaces for a constitutional crisis.
• Usually faster to write.
Cons: Codified
• Will be slow to amend (especially if you have a big population) and may not be up for times.

Pros: Uncodified
• More flexible.
• Easier to amend and thus more modern.
Cons: Uncodified
• More documents to look through.
• Documents have the same status of other laws, which means rights can be easily amended.

Constitution: Preamble
This part explains the document’s purpose. This should always be at the beginning of your constitution.

Whereas statement
Generally, these statements would start with the word “whereas” just to sound fancier and lawlike. A general whereas statement for something like a constitution would likely be “WHEREAS the people from voted to unite into one nation. This document outlines the governance of this new nation.”

Citation
This part is important as it will tell the reader how to cite this document. They usually have 2 names, a short and a formal name. Most short names are “Constitution Act, ”, whilst most long names are usually “An act to constitute , ”.

Commencement
This will tell people when this document will be law. It is usually • Day after the signing and ratification of the document.
• Immediately after the signing and ratification of the document.
Furthermore, this will also tell which land claims that this act will be affected upon

Constitution: Form of government
Some popular forms of government include monarchy, democracy, or direct democracy. Ensure that you do a lot of research before selecting your government.

Democracy
• Increased citizen engagement
• More laws passed
• More activity
• Democratic
• Less executive power
• More chances of a political crisis
• Increased chances of a new leader
• Lots of people in government
• Stronger political divide

Absolute monarchy
• More executive power
• Less chances of a political crisis
• You are leader until you want to abdicate
• Lower citizen engagement
• Less activity
• One man nation

Constitutional monarchy
• Generally, mixes democracy with monarchy.
• Monarchy shares duties with a government or appoints a government to do governing duties.
• Constitution defines powers between the government and the monarchy.

Constitution: Rights
Rights are certain freedoms that your citizens are entitled to. Your government needs to respect and fulfill these rights.
These rights are frequently granted by a government to its citizens:
• Right to vote (only used in constitutional monarchies or democracies usually)
• Right to privacy
• Right to a fair trial
• Right to political affiliation
• Right to form a union
• Right to peaceful assembly
• Right to work
• Right to life

Which ones should I choose?
Choose the rights that you believe will lead to a prosperous and successful government! If you don’t feel like doing that, you could adopt the UDHR, short for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees numerous rights to the citizens of its signatories. Overall, while they may depend between micronations, the rights of your nation’s citizens are an issue that should not be left unnoticed.

Constitution: Freedoms
Freedoms are certain activities that citizens can participate in, that their government can not interfere with.
These can include:
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of movement
• Freedom of religion
• Freedom of the press
• Freedom from forced servitude

Conclusion

This has been Chapter 1: Starting a Micronation.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to building a successful micronation.

Check out Chapter 2: MicroWiki if you’re interested in learning how to create professional MicroWiki articles.