Tiger Island isn’t really called Tiger Island, it’s called Rapota. It’s one of the Cook Islands. It was named Tiger Island by the producers of Shipwrecked, a UK reality show.
14 months after the 2007 show ended, a former contestant remarked “At heart, I’m definitely a ‘Tiger’ for life”.
That’s remarkable. In a few weeks the Shipwrecked producers created a new nationality with no more than a name, a place, a flag, a few pendants and a rival.
Symbols matter. And they don’t just happen. You create them.
There are times to be passive, to let your community develop and see what happens. This isn’t one of them. This is a time to introduce a flag, introduce your common symbols, carefully decide a name and define your rivals.
This isn’t a democratic process. You can’t let people vote on a flag, it’s too important. 49% of voters wont line up behind symbols they didn’t choose.