Talk:Švenčionys District Municipality

Hoax?

I noticed that @Cukrakalnis undid @TresForBe's edit stating that the flag of Svencionys was a hoax. @TresForBe, can you please let me know where you found the picture of the flag? @Cukrakalnis, can you please explain in further detail why you think the flag might be a hoax? -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 02:36, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

i found the flag at https://www.fotw.info/flags/lt-vlsvv.html and recreated it. TresForBe (talk) 02:37, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry but I will have to say that the source you posted may not be reliable due to the website being self published. I'll have to wait and see what Cukrakalnis has to say about this though. -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 02:39, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@TresForBe Thanks for at least showing this source, even if it's substandard as already said, because it at least shows that you were not purposefully adding things created through wild imagination...

It's impossible for me to find any good pictures of that flag actually in use. The only thing I could find is this - [1]. It's hard to precisely see the flag's design, but it seems to be the blue/white colours with grey fish.

What do you think, @Shadow of the Starlit Sky? It seems close enough to the user's design, so maybe it should just be allowed? After all, we have a source showing some flag of roughly similar design being used by the institution, so it's a different situation from when I removed due to no sources. Cukrakalnis (talk) 12:52, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Cukrakalnis Hmm.... I will not add the flag for now but I will try to find additional sources about the flag. If the flag is shown in several other verifiable, reliable sources I might add it. Otherwise I can take this to a noticeboard where I can get input form other editors. I just don't want what happened to the flag of Vatican City to happen again. I do have to say, as someone who works a lot in countervandalism and speedy deletions that I take hoax allegations very seriously. -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 14:37, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

That's very reasonable. Considering that I did not find any other sources for this flag despite searching to the best of my abilities, I will say that it's better to not risk it and not re-add the flag. After all, the sources for this flag are very shoddy - a self-published website, a barely seeable flag in front of the municipality building (if the picture had been taken from a better angle, the case would be closed) and that's about it. Hypothetically, there's also the option of just e-mailing the municipality itself and asking them about their flag (if they have one). Cukrakalnis (talk) 14:56, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Cukrakalnis: I've googled "Svencionys" and "Flag of Svencionys" and I can't find any other mentions of this flag. I've also looked through the refs on this article (using Google Translate, of course cause I am lt-0) but unfortunately had no luck on finding any information about the flag. Maybe I can see if ltwiki has an article about this - maybe that might provide me information about the flag. I do have to say the fotw.info website seems to be a wiki-like/self published source and thus may not be reliable. If searching ltwiki gives me no luck I can try to report this to a noticeboard either here or on Commons as that's where the image is hosted. -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 16:08, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

There's nothing about that flag on ltwiki. Considering that we put so much effort into finding sources for this flag and found only insufficient things, it seems like my initial judgment of it being a hoax is validated. So, according to WP:DWHOAX, I think that we have to propose the image for deletion? Cukrakalnis (talk) 18:13, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah.... I'll go start a discussion on Commons about this flag. Also, should I let the people in Wikiproject Lithuania or Wikiproject Heraldry and Vexillology about this? -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 22:02, 25 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like a reasonable suggestion to mention it on these wikiprojects. Cukrakalnis (talk) 13:33, 30 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I informed both wikiprojects about this. Also I noticed you commented on the discussion on Commons as well. -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 21:39, 30 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Well, they certainly have a flag with blue/white colours. See these photos on the official website of Švenčionys municipality: [2]. Another angle here: [3]. You can try to email them and ask if they have a full picture of the flag somewhere. -- Mindaur (talk) 10:57, 31 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Mindaur I'll try to send an email to the Svencionys District Municipality sometime. I might as well withdraw my deletion nomination on Commons after receiving an email from the Svencionys District Municipality regarding the flag.

@Cukrakalnis, what are your thoughts on this? -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 13:42, 31 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

More and more evidence keeps coming in, so the flag might very well be in use. That said, even if initially calling it a hoax might have been inaccurate, it's a forgivable mistake considering how niche the topic of Lithuanian municipality flags is and how little WP:RS there are on this topic. All of what we are doing is still worthwhile to prove it's actually it is not a hoax despite initial misgivings. Cukrakalnis (talk) 12:06, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah..... judging from the sources @Mindaur posted I'm thinking of withdrawing my deletion nomination on Commons. @Cukrakalnis, I can't access Commons right now due to my school's ISP blocking it, so if possible can you try to withdraw my deletion nomination on Commons?

P.S. I sent an email to the district municipality. I hope they respond soon. -- Shadow of the Starlit Sky 12:10, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's permitted for me to withdraw other people's proposals and this is not a burning matter, so if you can only get to it by today's evening, it should not cause too many problems. Cukrakalnis (talk) 13:11, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]