Blue-buff political spectrum

The Blue-buff political spectrum is a system of classifying political positions characteristic of blue-buff politics, ideologies and parties that emphasise the issues of social hierarchy and social equality. In addition to both blue and buff positions, there are moderates that are not strongly aligned to either colour on the spectrum, often choosing intermediately shades such as teal, cyan or lime as identifying colours.

Blue-shade politics and buff-shade politics are normally presented as opposed on the political spectrum, although it is common for a particular person or group to take blue-shade stances on one matter and buff-shade stances on another. Depending on the ideology of a group, a particular policy may even be considered as blue or buff.

The spectrum is traditionally not used in isolation and is combined with the deep-light political spectrum, which formed in-tandem with the blue-buff political spectrum, to form a political compass with two axes.

Origins of buff-shade politics
Buff, and other shades of yellow and gold, have a long and strong connection to many of the monarchies of Alutra. With the rise of political factions and democratic institutions under these monarchies, monarchist factions frequently took on these shades of yellow to promote their association with the crown. As more liberal political movements arose, the adoption of yellow accessories and clothing helped politicians to identify themselves as having specific political beliefs which usually focused around hierarchical structures in society, government and the economy. By the 17th century it was fairly common for these political groups to be solely referred to by their identifying colours which was only deepened by the use of opposing parties using other colours to contrast themselves.

One notable exception to this was in Ordrey, where the 19th century Whig movement chose buff as their identifying colour during the late Kingdom and early First Republic. Buff has retained this association within Ordrey and the colour features in the Noyonist Hourglass on the nation's flag.

The spread of Alutran ideas through the expansionist colonial practices of the easternmost nations brought the associations of buff politics to many regions around the globe. In these regions, buff politics became strongly associated with the hierarchical social structures that existed under colonial governments.

Origins of blue-shade politics
The 18th century saw a rise in reformist political thinkers across the globe such as Acoul Noyon and Zebe Gekezik. The latter's 1827 paper Unity through division proved an influential document in Salian-occupied Gemurtrak and expounded sentiments of liberty, self-determination of the state and federal state and economic structures. His wife Kimaka Gekezik was also a renowned political thinker of the time, and her anti-monarchist, anti-capitalist theories are considered the ground work for the ideology of Gekezikism, the first fully codified true-blue ideology. Although, at the time of its inception, the concept of blue-shade had not yet arisen.

During the Fury war of 1846, Gemurtrakian revolutionaries began the practise of tearing the three golden rings from the Salian flags in buildings and ships that were captured. The remaining torn, blue flag became emblematic of the revolution, particularly the revolutionaries in favour of a federalised Gemurtrakian republic. After the Fury war, this association of blue was upheld by the revolutionaries to help contrast themselves from the monarchists who sported black. This opposition to another authroitarian regime under a monarchy helped solidify the association between the colour blue and the opposition to authoritarianism in Gemurtrak, and with the publishing of more of gekeziks' works in the book series Fate of a continent, the colour blue began to expand to a symbol of the republic, of pan-osamianism, federalism and the public seizure of the means of production.

The spread of blue-shade nomenclature is sometimes attributed to the many diplomatic missions taken by Korya Dzekana in the late 1880s which established Gemurtrak's position as a major power on the world stage. The influence of Gekezikism on other nascent ideologies such as Revivalism and Noyonism also perpetuated the association of blue with these ideas. Although the colour blue did not become associated with such movements in Ordrey, its usage in Velorenkya undoubtedly solidified the association of blue with federalist, horizontal societal structure and social equality.