[Benjamin Meir]

(01-25-2015, 10:46 AM)Alessandro Vercotti Wrote:  Of course, I also thought St. Andre was a Christian saint, as opposed to Bovic (I am not familiar with its tenets). But, I would think it would come out as the "Most Serene Republic of Andrino," with the adjective being "Andrinese." The idea would be to stay away from the name of a single person as the name of the nation, while the city of Port St. Andre would continue the legacy of the man; in this way, we could have the state seem more secular and above ethnicity and still maintaining the core history of the region.

If we want to use a different name for the Republic, I'd prefer to come up with something else and keep the term "Andrino" not as the name of the country as a whole, but the demonym of the people that come from there... I've kind of taken a liking to it. I wouldn't mind calling the whole country for St. Andre, if we're going to break off from the Bovic saint (from which I thought the name St. Andre comes from) then I guess we'll have to find a different name.

(01-25-2015, 03:45 PM)Steven Dore Wrote:  Since there are Christians on Micras already I see no reason to rename Christmas and Easter, to do so would be biased.  And remember, the Bovic population of this Republic is very, very small.  Only one congregation.  So I assume any such celebration of St. Andre's feast day would be treated like St. George's Day, a wider secular population adopting a quaint local custom and taking it beyond any sort of religious context.

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And I have no strong opinion either way on the name, I don't think anyone considers this republic to be anything but secular and multi-ethnic so I personally think it is a non-issue.

Well, the way I've always seen St. Andre is with a majority Haifan population with a sizeable Natopian minority that would adhere to the Bovic church still. The Republic, of course, is secular, but in my mind I still saw more followers of the Bovic faith. I like the idea of St. Andre being simply a local custom to celebrate the country itself rather than the Bovic faith.

[Alessandro Vercotti]

Well, there is nothing to say that the demonym Andrino. The other way is traditional, but not set in stone; indeed, I have no personal preference. Also, I think I overstated the issue secularism, with the issue of culture in general. As has been pointed out, I've gotten the impression that the city is named for a Bovic saint, but most of the population is neither majority Natopian nor Bovic. While not unheard of, the general trend I have seen is for new nations to change its name to something which the cultural majority would tolerate more than a symbol of something which is not well-represented.

I recognize the name isn't a big issue, and I apologize if I make it come off as such. However, it would be interesting to make the name a little more unique. Perhaps Andrino, Andrinos, San Andrino, etc. As well, as I stated before, I would support retaining the name Port St. Andre for the capital, if we were to change the name of the nation.