Vandewal Principality

Vandewal Principality
Vandewal Principality
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Vois, Observe, Evolue (Latin: Audi, observe, Evolves)
Official languages	English ; French
Demonym(s)	Vandewalian
Government	Democratic Principality
• Prince	Thomas de Vandewal
Establishment	May 2018
Population
• (as of 31 December 2021 census) census	27
Currency	Euro
Time zone	UTC+2
	Website; Government website ; Official Discord
	Vandewal Principality is member of the Union Against Micronational War and the Micronational Organisation for Asexual Visibility

The Principality of Vandewal (VP) is a self-proclaimed micronation whose territory is located on a star close to the Sun. It was founded on 14 May 2018 by its current prince Thomas de Vandewal, himself elected by two ministers, also still in place.
The Principality of Vandewal is a democratic principality and has a prince with powers limited by the Constitution. The Principality is mainly involved in commitments to peace, freedom and equality and is a signatory state of Union Against Micronational War (UAMW).
The microcode of Vandewal Principality is VP.

Etymology

The name of the Principality is taken from the name of its current prince. When elected to create the micronation, voters decided to keep this name.

History

Birth

Micronation was born in May 2018 when the future prince in place, Thomas de Vandewal, thought of founding his micronation. He has been passionate about this environment for some time and avidly browses the MicroWiki for long hours. Strongly inspired by both the political aspirations he has had for a long time and the intimate wish to succeed in building a viable nation, he decides to take the plunge. Finally, on May 14, 2018, he decided to surround himself with two ministers and was elected prince, before deciding on a government in the Democratic Principality. The two ministers then chosen remain in place.
The government decides to embark on a slightly different project: with many political ideas but few physical links, it decides not to claim a territory on Earth, but a star in the universe, believing that the metaphorical aspect of the situation is clearly more attractive. It was now necessary to decide which ideology to turn to, but the decision was not very difficult to take. The Prince is naturally a great defender of human rights, he decided to guarantee the freedom and equality of men through his micronation. It thus engages against war, misery and imbalances in the World. The government which surrounds it decided to accompany it in this process in order to succeed, one day perhaps, in making a better world.

The First Age : 2018-2019

The first year of micronation is only slightly marked in the media because the government initially decides not to share it internationally until the national situation has not been clearly stabilized, understood and acquired. Thus, the first months are marked by some reforms and laws aimed at guaranteeing the sustainability of micronation.
The nation reaches ten citizens two months after its creation and the first Grand Elector is then elected. His term will last six months. The first version of the Principality's website was launched during this period and suddenly allowed much better exposure of the micronation around it.

The media age : 2019-2020

At the end of 2019-beginning of 2020, judging that micronation is well in place and that each citizen has found its place there, the government decided to start an international opening program. To this end, micronation is beginning to be shared outside of government knowledge.
In May 2020, two years after the creation of the micronation, the Prince decided to redesign the website in order to offer a better showcase for the Principality. A few days later, the Principality's MicroWiki page will be founded to allow as many people as possible to come to know and discover micronation. Meanwhile, the government is initiating the first revision of the Constitution to include a clause in favor of their engagement for transgender people. This clause drastically changes the official micronation papers.

The international Age : 2020-present

In May 2020, the Prince finally decides to extend his knowledge network internationally. He then began a process of diplomatic relations by contacting various other micronations in order to start establishing cordial contact.
This same month, the Principality also signs the Union Against Micronational War (UAMW) which corresponds entirely to the pacifist spirit of micronation. On July 2020, the Principality signs the Micronational Organisation for Asexual Visibility.

The Micronation

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2018	10	—
2019	11	+10.0%
2020	15	+36.4%
2021	27	+80.0%

The population of the Principality experienced a strong start in its first year, going from three original citizens (members of the government, including the Prince) to ten citizens. The majority of these new citizens are acquaintances of the members of the government who happen to be charmed by the ideology of the project.
The year 2019 marks a slow progression of the population. This fact is logical because the year 2019 was very little marked by a media present and micronation could not be spread.
The May 2020 census, however, shows a further strong increase in the number of inhabitants. This situation is mainly due to the international opening of micronation.

Languages

Within the Principality, the official languages spoken by the government during the meetings are French and English.
Informally, the Principality also recognizes that some of its citizens speak Spanish, Italian and German.

Religion

The Principality does not recognize the state religion and does not impose any religion on its citizens.
In addition, each citizen is free to exercise the religion he wishes.

Currency

Afin de faciliter les relations internationales, la Principauté a choisi de ne pas adopter officiellement de nouvelle monnaie et a ainsi choisi de rejoindre la monnaie européenne, l'Euro.
Cependant, le prince et le gouvernement songent à développer leur propre monnaie.

Citizenship

The application for citizenship in the Principality is free and open to everyone, without any distinction between each applicant. Each person wishing to be a Vandewalian nationalist must make the request using a form on the Principality's official website or via the Discord.
Citizens subsequently receive their identity document within the Principality which they must have and present during voting sessions.
Each Citizen can also access a title of nobility, according to the advice of the government.

Politics and government

The Principality uses the Democratic Principality as the political system. Thus, power is shared according to the following facts:

The Prince presides over government meetings and is present at the votes of the laws but cannot participate.
The ministers in place are responsible for proposing the laws: these must first have been verified by the Prince. Although the latter is not responsible for voting on this law, he may make use of an amendment if he considers that this law is unconstitutional; anti-democratic; can harm the happiness of citizens; can harm the principality.
The great voters (themselves elected by the people) are in charge of approving or not this new law. If they vote positive, the law will be adopted in the next official bulletin.
Finally, the Princely Guard is responsible for enforcing the laws issued by other authorities. The Princely Guard is designated each year by the Prince.

Ministers are elected every three years by the people. The great electors are elected every two years by the people.

The powers of the prince are limited by the constitution according to the following sub-articles:

The Constitution cannot be modified for laws going against the Prince.
The Prince is the image of micronation.
The Prince cannot intervene in proposals, votes or adoptions of laws.
The Prince cannot exercise the functions of Minister or grand elector.

Powers

Judiciary power is held by a Grand Elector elected for the sole purpose of administering justice. This particular great voter is appointed Judge-voter. The judge-voter cannot vote the laws and the courts of judgment must be held, if need be, once a month.
Legislative power is held jointly by the Ministers and the electors. The ministers are responsible for proposing the laws while the Grand Voters are responsible for passing it.
Executive power is held by the Princely Guard, which are responsible for taking the necessary measures to prevent citizens from violating the laws of the Constitution.

Parties

Currently, the only political party exercising its functions in the Principality is that of the Prince: Princely Energy. Consequently, this party is therefore the majority party in the Principality.
Each citizen is free to create a new political party or to join those already existing.

Titles

The Prince is awarded with the following titles :

Prince of the Nation in Vandewal Principality
Honoribus Populi in Vandewal Principality
Order of the Ebony Crown (EBN, 5 July 2022) in Kingdom of Ebenthal
Royal Ebenthali Order (ROE, 4 December 2020) in Kingdom of Ebenthal

Foreign relations

The Principality is a micronation for peaceful purposes. To this end, it agrees to maintain cordial relations with all the micronations falling within this framework

Diplomacy

The Vandewal Principality currently recognizes the existence of each state which can attest not to be at war.

The Vandewal Principality has mutual recognition with the following nations :

LGBTQ+ Rights

Within the Principality, the rights of citizens from the LGBTQ + spectrum are greatly respected, preserved and are equal to those of citizens outside the spectrum. Thus, there is no discrimination against LGBTQ +.
On the contrary, these are covered by anti-discrimination laws.

On June 7, 2020, the government has launched an international initiative to support and strengthen the rights of people from the LGTBQ + spectrum. The LGBTQ + cause is very important to the government and it seemed logical that we should work to develop the cause. Thus, we launched the LGBTQ + Rights Treaty, an international treaty that each nation can sign and which commits the signatory nations to take actions in favor of LGBTQ + people.

Here are the nations that signed the treaty :

Vandewal Principality
Free State of Sabini
Ferthroy Principality
Republic of Utopia
Chi Empire
Republic of Suverska

On July 12, 2020, the governement signs the Micronational Organisation for Asexual Visibility.

Army

As a peaceful micronation, the principality does not have armed forces.
The only authority approaching this description is the Princely Guard, a group of citizens designated by the Prince responsible for enforcing laws. However, the Princely Guard is not authorized to use weapons.

Territory

The principality claims a star in the galaxy. Although it is not clearly designated, the principality claims a star close to the Sun. Its space is then fairly shared between each citizen, including the government. The only thing left is an unshared space, a central area: the voting place.
The place of the vote is, as its name suggests, the central place of the star where the new laws are judged. Each official adoption of law must be held either on the place of the vote, or in a relegated place on Earth, previously announced by the government.

National Symbols

There are three national symbols.
At first, there is the flag. The principality flag is made up of its coat of arms applied on a red stripe, all overhanging a blue stripe. The blue stripe represents the power and the assertion of the prince, while the red stripe represents the power of the rest of the government and the people, as well as the strength of the convictions claimed by the principality.
Secondly, our coat of arms is made up of various elements, each with their own meaning. The central shield flocked with the initials of the name of micronation represents the origins of coats of arms, dating back to the time of chivalry. The flowers added around the shield represent the sustainability of the principality. Finally, the central crown represents the Prince, while the two surrounding crowns represent the Ministers.
Finally, the principality's motto is "Audi, observe, evolves" (See, observe, evolve). This is quite simply the result of a common reflection that the government has adopted asking itself how to do better than the other states.

Commitments

The Principality is involved in numerous struggles in favor of several causes, here are some of them. This list is not exhaustive and may change over time.

Commitment to a free and open source internet: the Principality wants the Internet to remain what it was originally, an anonymous place of exchange and sharing. The Principality wants everyone to be able to enjoy the Internet without having to worry about the repercussions on their life or for anyone to be able to monitor their activities.
Commitment to respect: the Principality wants each citizen to be equal to another. Thus, the Principality refuses any form of incivility, racism, homophobia as well as other extremisms. Furthermore, if one of the nation's citizens is found to be the source of such behavior, the government could revoke his citizenship certificate.
Commitment in favor of transgender people: the Principality wants everyone to be able to feel their place in this world. To this end, the government officially amended the constitution to ban any notion of gender from official papers
Commitment in favor of asexual / aromatic people: the Principality wishes to protect these often poorly recognized communities.

Culture

The Principality's government largely supports culture. The Prince wants every citizen to have free, free and permanent access to many works.

Journalism

Launched and supported by one of its citizens, the Principality of Vandewal has its own internal micronation newspaper, La Gazette Princière which publishes articles related to the development of the Principality or its citizens. The newspaper is not state-owned and the government cannot interact with the newspaper's publications.
The main journalist of the newspaper is in charge of writing each of the articles and does not hesitate to go to interview various citizens of the principality or to make surveys in order to discover more information relating to the citizens. Sometimes the newspaper includes an advertising page requested by one of the citizens for the same citizen's project.

Sports

The most followed sport in the Principality is mainly E-Sport, all categories combined in the latter. Micronation has not yet made a place in the community but hopes to one day be able to send its citizens to the front of the stage.

Music

Music is a central element of the nation. It is important for the government that each citizen has permanent access to music, in order to benefit from the beneficial effects that it can bring to existence.
The genres of music most played and streamed in the Principality are Pop and rock.

Literature

The government wants every citizen to have access to literature and be able to read freely if they wish. Thus, the principality supports the principle of the public domain.
The prince has published several novels.

Holidays

The Principality has some public holidays, a list of which is given below:

1 January : New Year's Day
1 May : Labor Day
4 May : Star Wars Day
14 May : Vandewal Day (date of creation of the principality)
21 September : Peace Day
1 October : Music Day

Nobility

The Principality recognizes the validity and use in these lands of several titles of nobility. These can also be granted by the Prince if he believes that a citizen has done a service to the nation.

Duke
Count
Baron

All other titles of nobility, granted in other nations but not included in this list, are only considered as honorary in the micronation but will not bring any advantage.

Media Presence

The Principality has its own website.
The Principality has its own news website.
The Principality has an Instagram account.