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Legal and wise are not the same thing. Legally I believe you're in the clear. There is no trademark on government symbols. But if you use the actual symbols from the USSR, you are writing yourse...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42675 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42675 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
**_Legal_ and _wise_ are not the same thing.** **Legally I believe you're in the clear.** There is no trademark on government symbols. But if you use the actual symbols from the USSR, you are writing yourself into a corner. Readers who recognize them will expect that your country is in fact the USSR, even if it has a different name. **You are better off making a few changes.** It will be obvious to most readers that your novel is about two superpowers similar to superpowers of the recent past. And that's okay. You have more freedom though if you break away from the absolutes. Use a different animal where one country uses animals. Or use a plant or natural formation instead of an animal. Change up the colors. Change the number of stripes, or make stripes into concentric circles.