(CNN) – Ever since people knew of their existence, they wanted to visit them Antarctic.
It is the least visited and least populated continent in the world. On the best of days it is extremely difficult to achieve. Still, the attraction of the unknown and the desire to set foot on every continent have encouraged travelers to try their way to the South Pole.
Still, Antarctica is difficult to classify for the world’s obsessed catalogers. It’s not a country, so can you remove it from a bucket list? Who controls it? If it had a capital, where would it be? What would the mother tongue be?
A national flag for a landless place
These were the questions Evan Townsend asked himself when he signed up for the first of two stops at McMurdo Station, the US base in Antarctica.
Townsend, an elementary school teacher in Boston, knew he had a strict baggage limit when he went to Antarctica to work as an auxiliary staff – everyone is limited to 85 pounds, he says, on what clothes, toiletries, medicines, electronics and. must include everything else they might want or need during their stay.
Since one of his jobs was to manage the arts and crafts room on the base, he wanted to bring some decorations but knew he had to keep it light. Townsend chose that Pride flag – it weighed almost nothing, but its meaning was difficult.
One day, Townsend and a few coworkers took the Pride flag outside and snapped photos of themselves to post on social media. The photos became an international story, with many news outlets saying the excursion was Antarctica’s first ever Pride parade.
“That’s when I realized the power of flags,” says Townsend. “On the one hand, I’m completely isolated at the end of the world. And on the other hand, I am part of this global community. “
The Townsend “True South” flag is said to represent Antarctica
Courtesy Evan Townsend / True South
Despite having no background in design, Townsend identified himself as a longtime “flag nerd” and began to toy with the idea of creating a flag that would represent Antarctica.
He went with dark blue for that Southern ocean Water and white for the landscape, with an isosceles triangle in the center to represent the icy peaks of Antarctica.
“I wanted it to be a neutral flag, of course,” says Townsend. “It’s a distinctive design, it’s a unique color to make sure it’s not assigned to a particular group or nationality. I wanted it to have a lot of symbolism, but that was simple enough that people could apply their own perception of Antarctica and their own understanding of the continent to the flag. “
Swedish nurse Johanna Davidsson didn’t make her way to the South Pole to aim for a world record – but she walked away with one anyway.
The name of the True South flag project also has its own meaning.
“’True South’ literally means the direction to the geographic south pole, as opposed to the magnetic south, which would lead to the magnetic south pole,” explains Townsend. “It is supposed to represent the common goals and values by which the Antarctic community can orient itself.”
And Townsend has no plans to trademark or copyright the flag’s design, as he believes it should belong to the whole world.
“The best flags are flags that get their meaning and power from the people who fly them,” he adds.
Who is in charge here anyway?
Townsend is just one of many people around the world who are fascinated by Antarctica, even if they never get to visit and see the place for themselves.
So what continues to fascinate people about the southernmost continent?
In a world that is more connected than ever before, Antarctica remains one of the few places most people don’t know about.
There is no indigenous population in Antarctic, and human activities are still relatively young.
The only permanent facilities are a handful of scientific stations that employ only scientists and their support staff – a term that encompasses everything from cooks to maintenance staff to electricians and airport managers.
It is common for people to multitask. Townsend worked in the hospitality industry, as a bartender and as a craft room manager during his tenure. At its peak, the human population of Antarctica is around 10,000.
In 1959, 12 countries – including Japan, South Africa, France, Great Britain, Argentina and what was then the USSR – signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington, DC
Among other things, they agreed that Antarctica “should only be used for peaceful purposes” and that science should be at the forefront of any development or settlement there. Military members are allowed to attend, but only in supporting roles.
Although only a few people live there, the area of influence of the Antarctic is enormous. Climate change has shrunk the continent. And despite the existence of the treaty, world politics has changed and new power actors – namely China – have emerged in Antarctica.
The True South flag flies alongside the flags of the original 12 signatories of the Antarctic Treaty at the ceremonial South Pole.
Courtesy Lisa Minelli / True South
Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics at the University of London, is the author of several books on the polar regions, most recently “The Arctic: A Very Short Introduction”, published in June 2021.
“Stuff is just kept being taken from Antarctica. Information, ice, resources like seals and whales and fish,” he says. “I think the fragility of Antarctica represents the fragility of the wider world.”
While climate change is having the greatest impact on Antarctica, there is another major factor that will become even more important as the pandemic subsides – tourism.
The future of the seventh continent
About 90% of tourists go to Antarctica come by boat. These trips are expensive, and most travelers spend only a few hours on land before getting back on the ships and turning around.
Currently, the United States is the largest source of Antarctic tourism, but China is rapidly climbing to second place, and Dodds believes it will top the list within a decade.
Some travel destinations, such as the resort of Argentina Ushuaia and Australia Hobart, earn money with these tourists due to their location as the last pre-Antarctic port of call. Dodds predicts that over the next decade, several cruise lines will open their routes in Antarctica and more travel companies will invest in the continent’s infrastructure.
Just as countries vie for power with military bases and political maneuvers, Antarctica has become yet another scene of their rivalries – and fears.
“Nobody can answer the question of who owns Antarctica,” says Dodds.
“I think Antarctica essentially represents not only the idealism that the treaty represents, but it also represents the highest contradicting nature of humanity in general. In addition to all of the things we want to celebrate in Antarctica, there is also the ugliness of humanity. “.”
He points to some great successes: Antarctica was the first continent to be completely free of nuclear weapons. It’s also demilitarized.
Another example of the beauty and unity of the continent? The True South flag that Dodds admires.
“(It) is a well-intentioned reminder that Antarctica is a miracle. Antarctica should represent the very best in all of us.”
