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Flags of Touhou: Kanako Yasaka

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This is my design of a flag for Kanako Yasaka, the sixth stage boss of Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith. She is the goddess of Moriya Shrine, one of the many deities of the polytheistic Shinto religion. Kanako brought her shrine to Gensokyo due to the decreasing importance of religion in the outside world. Like most gods, she prioritizes the gathering of faith from worshipers. Unlike most gods however, she does not place much importance in religious tradition. Kanako possesses the ability to create sky, literally the element Qián from the Taoist bagua.

Kanako can be likened to the deities of the Greek pantheon, gods and goddesses who not only live and meddle among humans, but also embody very human traits, both good and bad. For a goddess, Kanako is ambitious, occasionally short-tempered, and can appear dishonest in her various plots to gather faith. She is also the catalyst for the many of the incidents that occur in Gensokyo. She is the goddess who gives Utsuho the powers of nuclear fusion in TH11, which in turn led to the appearance of the Palanquin Ship in TH12.

Kanako (神奈子) is written with the characters for "god", the na from Nara, and "child." Yasaka (八坂) means "eight hills." 

1. Inspired by the coat of arms of Piombino, and the flags of the Vatican, and Portugal. Three vertical stripes (red, violet, white) in a 1:1:2 ratio. Left side is charged with three columns of white, vertically oriented lozenges. Right side is charged with Kanako's mirror, in a similar fashion as the Vatican flag.

2. Red and white represent traditionalism and the ritual cleanliness associated with Shinto practices. Violet represents regality and modernity. Violet and white together can also represent Suwako Moriya, the previous goddess of Moriya shrine.

3. Lots of religious symbolism. The white lozenges are meant to depict shide, the zig-zagging paper strips present in Shinto rituals. They're the same strips of paper on a miko's gohei. There are six whole lozenges to represent both Kanako's stage number, as well as the Onbashira festival, a real-life festival that takes place around Lake Suwa every six years, which Kanako is often associated with. Three columns also represents the three residents of the shrine, Kanako, Suwako and Sanae.

4. Kanako's mirror, which she wears around her neck, is stylized as the head of one of the keys of Saint Peter on the flag of Vatican City. The meaning behind her mirror is not made clear in canon, but if I had to guess, it's meant to represent the aspects of human nature present in the gods. If we look at the gods, maybe we'll see parts of ourselves as well.

Kanako has many motifs, and it was difficult to narrow it down to a few. Other possible symbols I considered were serpents and onbashira. 

Character profile on Touhou Wiki:
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