Culture of Adammia
The culture of the Empire of Adammia is primarily influenced by British culture, of which it is an offshoot. Adammia's territories are surrounded by the United Kingdom and most of its citizens are also British citizens. Other factors include Adammia's status as a micronation, which has given Adammic culture a number of eccentric qualities.
Adammic culture is particularly characterised by its media, and its relatively high number of independently-run YouTube channels means that it has more video entertainment outlets than almost any other micronation. Adammia has also developed its own tradition in heraldry and this has a significant role in Adammic culture.
Influences
Besides the United Kingdom, there are a number of other macronations, micronations and fictional nations which have influenced the development of Adammic culture. The Empire of Austenasia and the Federal Republic of St.Charlie are often cited as examples of micronational influences; for example, the former influenced the overall structure of the Empire's constitution, the Supreme Directive, whereas the latter was the inspiration for the practice of numbering terms of the legislature with roman numerals. Fictional sources of inspiration include the Septim Empire from the Elder Scrolls games - it is the source of the names of Imperial City and White Gold Palace.
A major influence during the early Empire was the Empire of the Great Adammia Islands, which was a fictional location created for a forum-based roleplaying strategy game known as Xanada vs. Sportica. Most obviously, this was the source of the Empire's name - at first, the Empire of Adammia was thought of as the "real-life Adammia". The Empire of the Great Adammia Islands was, in turn, inspired by the British Empire at the height of its naval superiority, as well as Star Wars' Galactic Empire. Emperor Adam I created the Great Adammia Islands and its leader, a character known as Grand Admiral Lord Adam Maximus, several months before founding the real-world Adammia; it was the members of the Ordo Vladius, who were all also players of Xanada vs. Sportica, who were the first people to hear about and join the Empire, which is one of the reasons why the Ordo is so highly valued and trusted by the Emperor. Xanada vs. Sportica ended years ago, and it no longer continues to influence the Empire, but its legacy lives on in the Empire's name and the Emperor's secondary title of Grand Admiral of the Adammic Navy, which was used by the leader of the Great Adammia Islands and was in turn inspired by the Star Wars character Grand Admiral Thrawn. XvS is also the source of the names of the province of Serkatia and the colony of Xanada, which in the game were the nations invented by Lord Helliker and Lady Gilmour. The city of Varwall also takes its name from XvS.
Language
English is the official language of Adammia and is spoken by all of its citizens. This is because most citizens are from English-speaking macronations such as the United Kingdom, or from macronations where English is well-taught, such as the Netherlands. Some citizens, particularly members of the Ordo Vladius, are also fluent in other languages such as French and Dutch. Since most citizens were educated in the British education system, many have been taught the basics of French, German or Spanish. Latin plays a role as a ceremonial language, with its usage heavily promoted by the Monarchy. This is largely inspired by the Austenasian tradition of honouring the Roman Empire.
The Yorkshire accent is the dominant accent of North Adammia. Approximately a third of the Empire's population are from Yorkshire and speak with this accent. Old Tytannian English is a variant of the Yorkshire dialect which is considered to be unique to Adammia, and is found only in the province of Greater Tytannia. South Adammia, by contrast, sees a wide mix of English accents, due to the fact that it is mostly comprised of student housing for the University of Birmingham.
Literature
Adammia does not have much of a tradition in literature; although a number of citizens, including the Emperor, have written stories either as part of school work or as a hobbyist exercise, it is not believed that any Adammic citizen has ever had literature published by a macronational publisher. However, Emperor Mother Jayne has recieved acclaim from many within the Empire and elsewhere for her skill as an amateur poet.
Music
Musical preferences in Adammia broadly align with those of the UK and the rest of the Western world, with mass consumption of pop music, and minority followings for metal, progressive rock and other more niche genres.
The Eurovision Song Contest is particularly popular in Adammia. In 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Lord Maude, Duchess of Greater Tytannia Lady Thornton, and Army Chief-of-staff General Sir Alex Read travelled to Israel to attend the event in-person. Adammic honourary citizen Madam Alice Sutton COA is a noted Eurovision "superfan" who has been interviewed by the BBC's Eurovision branch.
Emperor Father Kevin is generally considered to be Adammia's most accomplished musician, having conducted his brass band, Knottingley Silver Band, at the Royal Albert Hall. He is also a proficient guitarist who played in several small pop/rock bands such as Isis in the 1990s alongside Emperor Mother Jayne; she later spent some years in the folk band The Durbervilles. Emperor Father Kevin has also taught the guitar to a number of Adammic citizens, including his son, Prince Jake, who is said to be extremely musically talented, and former Adammic Army corporal Michael Mellor, who is now a member of the metalcore band Goodbye Graceful. In 2016, Sir Cavan Garfield, then-governor of El Grandens, briefly produced vaporwave music under the name "Succ", whose album of the same name was the first album to be produced in Adammia.
There are two anthems associated with the Adammia. The main theme from the film Chariots of Fire is the national anthem. The Emperor's anthem, which is associated with the Monarch, is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. The original national anthem was Sim Broadway from the soundtrack to SimCity 3000, and was replaced with Chariots of Fire following a referendum in March 2014.
Media
Adammia has a national newspaper called the Adammic Express on Wordpress, which has been operating since the first week of the Empire's existence. The Adammic Express is written and edited completely by the Emperor. Releasing a news summary once a week during the Empire's early days, it reduced its output significantly before being rebooted in 2017 and changing format to articles on individual news stories. Originally it was only available in an online format, but between 2015 and 2017 it published a monthly physical edition which served as a compilation of the more regular online articles.
In response to a perceived bias in the Adammic Express, figures associated with the Storm Party have since 2018 published occasional articles under the banner of the Adammic Times, particularly responding to events where the Express has not responded in a timely manner. The Times is perhaps most notable for its 2019 exposé of the Emperor's involvement a data privacy scandal related to MicroWiki edits, which is often considered to be a low point in the popularity of the Adammic monarchy.
Adammia has also seen clear yellow press in the form of Lady Amity Gilmour's occasional publication, the Daily Rag. With Gilmour at the time loosely affilated with the Liberal-Moderates, the Rag's absurd attacks on the Storm Party in the run-up to the 2018 election resulted in criticism, which the Lib-Mods tried to distance themselves from. When Gilmour became more involved with the Lib-Mods, eventually becoming the party's deputy leader, the Daily Rag largely stopped publishing.
Broadcasting
The state's official broadcaster is Adammic Online Broadcasting, which uploads occasional videos and news segments from the Empire on YouTube. AOT is also operated exclusively by the Emperor. It is most notable for producing the annual Emperor's Christmas Broadcast, as well as recording the State Opening of Council, the Emperor's Foundation Day address, and the Emperor's Fabulous Quiz. In 2019, the YouTube channel was terminated by Google without explanation, causing the permanent destruction of much historical footage.
Adammia's most successful private YouTube channel is AB Animation Ltd., which is owned by Emperor Adam I. This channel predates Adammia and originally gained some success making Minecraft videos in 2012 and 2013, such as its Craftanium SMP series. Following its short series The Micronations Show, which was well-recieved in the micronational community, the channel became mostly inactive in 2014. It still uploads videos on occasion, mainly vlogs from each Insomnia Gaming Festival.
In the past, Adammia had a number of active YouTube channels, more than any other micronation, but these gradually became inactive or defunct between 2016 and 2018. They included JakeACake, owned by Prince Jake, which began life in 2014 making gaming videos and later vlogs, before changing its focus in 2017 to produce short films. Other examples included Matties Gaming, owned by Sir Matthew Foster; CreativeTux, owned by former High Lord Overseer of Creatuxia Sir Damian Parker; and Werton34, owned by former Legate of Borealia Sir Will McCracken.
Visual arts
Adammia has several amateur artists. Colour drawings by Emperor Mother Jayne, such as the Kingfisher drawing, feature prominently in the Chambers of the Ruling Council. Adammia also has a National Gallery to feature artwork by Adammic citizens. Currently it contains work by Crown Prince Daniel, Madam Becky Spencer-Smith and Lady Madam Chloe Robertson.
Heraldry
Heraldry has become a key part of Adammic culture with every member of the Order of Adammia, the Order of the Meerkat and the Ordo Vladius, Adammia's three chivalric orders, entitled to bear a coat of arms, alongside the Imperial Family. The Order of Adammia and the Order of the Meerkat serve as the Empire's main honours system, whilst the Ordo Vladius is an independent entity aligned with Adammia, assisting the Emperor with ambassadorial and security concerns in exchange for full citizenship. The Order of Adammia dates from May 2013, the same time that the Ordo Vladius formed its alliance with Adammia, whilst the Order of the Meerkat was founded in 2018 in order to reduce the size of the Order of Adammia.
Most members of the Order of Adammia and the Order of the Meerkat are friends and family of the Emperor. Most people are inducted into these orders in the Emperor's Birthday Honours List. Some members are not Adammic citizens; membership has been given to foreign leaders as a gift on occasion. The Monarch is the Sovereign of the both orders and grants membership at their own discretion.
Most Adammic coats of arms follow a common format with the individual's father's family represented in the top left, their mother's family represented in the bottom right, and the remaining two quarters available for something of their choosing.
National Parks
Adammia has one national park, the Jagstonian Plains National Park, alternatively known as the Winifred Hall Memorial National Park. It was created in November 2016.
Museums and libraries
Adammia does not have a permanent museum, but the Imperial Archive does hold a number of historical artefacts, such as Adammia's first flag, drawn on paper with coloured pencils. These artefacts are traditionally exhibited in a temporary museum in White Gold Palace on Foundation Day.
Naming
Taking honourary citizens into account, James is the most common first/middle name in Adammia, and Louise the most common female name.
Streets in Adammia are often named after families from which the locals are descended, famous micronationalists, or other people of significance, often in tribute following their deaths. The four streets in Watertopia are named after the four families from which the House of Hall is descended: Hall, Kelly, Boxall and Manns. Tytannia is home to Bates Street, named after Paddy Roy Bates of Sealand, whilst Norton Road is named after Emperor Norton. Horsley Road, in the Jagstonian Plains, is named after Emperor Adam I's late former headteacher, whilst Kilmister Square in Primoria is named after Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, of whom the Emperor was a fan.
Religion
Adammia is a strictly secular nation, this being a result of Article XII of the Supreme Directive. All religions must be treated equally under the law (as long as they do not "present any risk to the rights of other humans or national security or stability"). It is unknown if this has had any effect on the religious composition of the Empire. It is known that Emperor Adam I is an atheist and originally established atheism as the Empire's official religion, before later abandoning this and making the Empire completely secular without any official religion.
35 out of Adammia's 54 current citizens (64.8%) have given their religion as atheist, agnostic or "None", or have not given their religion for whatever reason. A further 10 (18.5%) gave their religion as the Church of England, 3 (5.6%) as Roman Catholic, 1 as Methodist and a further 1 as simply Christian, putting the total Christian population at 15 (29.8%). 1 citizen simply gave "Theist", whereas 2 were categorised as "Other". The proportion of irreligion compared to Christian groups is much higher than in the UK; this is believed to stem from Adammia's generally younger population and the country's secular status. It is believed that, much like in the UK, many individuals who give their religion as something other than "no religion" do not actively practice their religion.
Despite the Empire's secular position and the religious apathy of most of its citizens, Christmas Day is celebrated as a national holiday, though in a mostly cultural rather than religious capacity. Christmas is celebrated much as it is the United Kingdom, with Christmas dinner and Christmas trees amongst the common features. The Emperor publishes his Christmas Broadcast on Christmas Day, a tradition largely derived from the Christmas broadcasts of Queen Elizabeth II. Each Christmas Broadcast typically addresses a specific theme, such as conflict and compromise, or the importance of family.
Politics
Adammic political culture revolves around the Imperial Parliament of Adammia, the Empire's legislature. This consists of the Ruling Council, which meets in-person in Varwall, and the House of Citizens, which meets online via a Facebook group. Collectively, the Ruling Council, the House of Citizens and the Monarch can pass legislation and together they are the Empire's highest authority. The executive Imperial Government is led by a Prime Minister who must have the confidence of the House. This system is defined by the Empire's constitution, the Supreme Directive.
Adammia's three main parties are the Liberal-Moderate Party, the Storm Party and the Red Green Alliance. Currently they hold 12 out of the House's 13 seats between them, with the novelty Dank Party taking the last seat; a coalition led by Lib-Mod Prime Minister Lord Charles Michael between the Lib-Mods and the Dank Party forms the current government, with Storm as the main opposition party. Former Prime Ministers include Emperor Mother Jayne Belcher, who was a Moderate Prime Minister who was elected to three consecutive terms as the Empire's first ever Prime Minister. The Emperor Mother was a notably popular leader with a "common sense" approach who is known for organising events such as Foundation Day. She was succeeded by her partner Sir Paul McKenna of Labour, and her son Prince Jake of the Liberal Party, both of whom served uneventful terms. Lord Helliker was the first Prime Minister elected from outside the Emperor's family, in 2017, and as Moderate leader he oversaw a coalition with the Liberals which eventually resulted in a merger into the Liberal-Moderate Party. Helliker is credited with introducing significant judicial reform, but the party merger proved unpopular and caused Helliker to lose re-election to Lord Juliano Saunders, of the new, populist Storm Party, in 2018. Saunders was a controversial yet popular Prime Minister who instigated significant constitutional reforms, introducing the House of Citizens; Adammia had before this point been unicameral. He stood down voluntarily in 2019.
The dominant political figure of the Empire is Emperor Adam I, the founder of the Liberal Party. He is credited with founding the Empire, constructing its political system, and expanding its territory and population to where they are today. Sir Reginald Hall, the Labour Party's founder, has a long career almost as long as the Emperor's, having been the Emperor's Chief Advisor since the Empire's very early days and later became Minister of Finance. The Empire's oldest citizen, he is highly well-regarded as an elder statesman by his fellow politicians from all parties. Historically, Adammic politics was very quiet, with the Ruling Council agreeing to the vast majority of the Emperor's proposals, and very little effort being put into election campaigns. This began to change in 2017 in the election between Lord Helliker and Lady Admiral Simpson of the Nuclear So-and-so Party, which saw detailed manifestos and social media being used for the first time. Campaigning stepped up again in the 2018 election, which saw Juliano Saunders establishing the Storm Party and assembling a campaign team which delivered the first organised election campaign in Adammic history, comparable to the Midlothian Campaign. This "gang of four" of Saunders, Lady Anna Worthington, Lord Callum Gurr and Sir Asher Bond made heavy use of rhetoric and slogans, and organised themselves effectively in the Empire's Facebook group; the Liberal-Moderates, unprepared, were not able to respond in kind and subsequently lost the election.
Saunders' government was a tense one, with Lady Worthington, one of Storm's most radical members, advocating for war against neighbouring Wazakhstan, in order to "liberate" it from its dictator, Ned Hilton, and Labour leader and Deputy Prime Minister Lord Sam Maude often acting as a mediator. In 2019, the leaderships of all three major parties changed. Lady Worthington took over leadership of Storm; her heightened rhetoric, which often directly attacked the Emperor, is often cited as a reason why Storm lost the 2019 election, with many voters feeling that Storm's radicalism had gone too far. Lord Helliker stood down as Lib-Mod leader and crossed the floor to Storm; he was replaced by Lord Charles Michael, whose confrontational style was identified by his party as a potential foil to Storm's rhetoric. Lord Maude, often seen as one of Adammia's most sensible politicians, stood down as Labour leader and was replaced by Billy Thompson, who rebranded the party as the Red Green Alliance and took it in a much more radical left-wing direction.
For the most part, North Adammia is notable for its high levels of political apathy, something which pervades many parts of the United Kingdom. Most citizens in the North do not have any allegience to any particular British political party, and some of them don't vote at all in British elections. By contrast, the population of the South almost entirely consists of members of the UK Liberal Democrats, having been introduced to Adammia by the University of Birmingham's Liberal Democrat society. It is the involvement of these citizens which made Adammic politics increasingly active from 2017 onwards.
Cuisine
Cuisine in the Empire of Adammia does not largely differ from British cuisine. Scones are known for being especially popular in Adammia and they are occasionally home-baked in Maternia; there have been suggestions that scones could become the official national cuisine. Maternia also creates its own Yorkshire puddings.
Wine is a popular alcoholic drink in Adammia and Capital Brewery Ltd.'s wine-making operations in Imperial City are a cornerstone of the Adammic economy. Capital Brewery also makes its own beer. In addition, many Adammic citizens are associated with a particular beverage that they are known to be fond of. Emperor Adam I's taste for fruity ciders such as Strongbow Dark Fruit is well-known, and former Prime Minister Sir Paul McKenna is known to enjoy single-malt whiskey.
Sport
The Empire's current national sport is Esports. The national sport has been changed twice in the past - first it was Fencing, then Auto racing. Despite this, Adammia has never hosted sporting events for any of these sports nor any other sports.
Many Adammic citizens are sports fans. A number of British football teams are popular in Adammia, most notably Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United; rugby and Formula One also have smaller followings. The Grand National often coincides with Foundation Day and it is Adammic tradition to watch the horse race on TV in Imperial Square as part of the Foundation Day celebrations.
Esports was chosen as a national sport primarily due to the fact that video games are very popular amongst younger citizens of the Empire, with games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Overwatch. Although organised tournements are yet to appear, there does exist an Adammic Esports Association with the intent of organising such things in the future. Video games play a key role culturally, with many of Adammia's younger citizens and honourary citizens often coming together at gaming LAN events such as the Insomnia Gaming Festival, Epic.LAN and StratLAN. These events form one of the main social settings for groups of Adammic citizens beyond the Empire's borders.
Pets
Several Adammic households have pets. Perhaps Adammia's most well-known pets are the two Billys: the first being a lurcher owned by Emperor Mother Jayne who acts as the mascot of the Adammic Army, and the second being a cockatiel owned by Sir Reginald Hall who lives in the Chamber of the Ruling Council in White Gold Palace.
Humour
Examples of running jokes or memes which have emerged in certain sections of Adammic society are given below:
- Birdmen: In November 2015, Prince Jake took a photograph of a beach at Filey and jocularly claimed that several blurry, distant figures in the photograph were humanoid "birdmen". The purported existence of Birdmen soon became a running joke between Prince Jake, the Emperor and Emperor Mother Jayne. Birdmen are seen as a satirical take on the Lizard People conspiracy theory.
- When the Stillness Comes: Prince Jake and Emperor Mother Jayne maintain that the song When the Stillness Comes from Slayer's 2015 album Repentless is a particularly bad song, or maybe even one of the worst songs ever. Others, such as the Emperor and Lord Sir Andrew Hall, have defended the song.
- Winning Eurovision: Every year, the Emperor will facetiously claim that Adammia has won the Eurovision Song Contest on his personal Twitter account.
- No-state solution: Adammia, not wishing to take a side in the Israel-Palestine conflict, refused to recognise either Israel or Palestine, something which Prime Minister Lord Saunders jocularly called a "no-state solution".
National costume and dress
Clothing and fashion in Adammia follows fairly relaxed modern Western tradition. Some Adammic citizens, however, have notably fashioned their own, individualistic look. Emperor Adam I is particularly well-known for this with his top hat; at formal state occasions such as the State Opening of Council, the Emperor can be seen wearing his full imperial regalia, consisting of a tuxedo with a black bow tie, his top hat and a cane. The distinctive sight of the Emperor wearing full regalia whilst giving speeches is frequently associated with the Empire itself. Other examples include Sir Reginald Hall, whose practice of almost always wearing a grey jumper has been the subject of many jokes, and Sir Alex Helliker with his trademark trench coat.
State symbols
Flag
The National Flag of the Empire of Adammia consists of a green circle on a blue background. The flag has been associated with the micronation since the day the Empire was founded, 13 April 2013. Designed by Emperor Adam I, it was formally adopted when the original Supreme Directive was ratified on 19 April 2013 and has remained unchanged ever since, although it now derives its status from Imperial Decree III after the article referring to it was removed from the original Supreme Directive by its First Amendment. Decree III states that in order to change the national flag, a replacement design would have to win support in a national referendum.
In August 2013, Emperor Mother Jayne purchased fabric which was used by both herself and Emperor Adam I to sew the first fabric Adammic flag, which was completed in November 2013. This flag is still in use to this day in Imperial City, usually flying over Imperial Square from a window on the upper floor of White Gold Palace when the Emperor is present, and kept in storage when he is not; in this way it acts as a sort of Imperial Standard.
Other symbols
The state animal is the Meerkat which appears on the Coat of Arms. The present Coat of Arms was produced by Emmanouil Tsompanoglou of the Ashukov Federation and in March 2014 replaced an earlier design by Emperor Adam I. The full blazon of the present Coat of Arms is:
Party per pale Vert two swords palewise crossed Argent with hilts Gules, and Azure the side sinister of a nine leafed twig Vert; for a Crest, the Holy Roman Imperial Crown modified with sides Or; for Supporters, two meerkats rampant; Motto "IMPERIVM ADAMMIAE" below the shield and motto "Quaerentibus sapientiam et honorem" below the first motto.
