Lauren Ruhland, 2008 MCPP intern

A British man has declared his tiny home in the Shetland archipelago to be a crown protectorate.   Stuart Hill claims that a historical legal document granted the island of Forvik to the Scottish monarch as part of a wedding dowry in the 15th century.  In her capacity as Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland, the current British monarch is thus the rightful head-of-state and governor of the island, according to Hill’s reasoning.

This is located toward the end of Hill’s Forvik declaration:

There will be no income tax, VAT, council tax, corporation tax, or any of the other taxes instituted by the British government. The only tax is a contribution by every citizen towards the cost of running the state – the old Nordic scat. This will be initially set at a level of one forvik gulde per year – about £55 sterling at current gold values.
Forvik Island will have its own coinage backed by gold, its own stamps, and will register companies in a tax-free environment. Offshore banking and financial services will follow at a later date.

The flag combines elements of the Shetland flag, the Scottish flag, and Norway’s lion symbol (neutered by the removal of his crown).  Beneath is the text ‘Með løgum skal land biggja’– Norwegian for ‘With laws the land will be built.’  The  governmental system seems to be a revival of medieval property-based council government.

Of course, the history of extra-national colonies off Britain is less than promising, and Michigan’s own secessionist movement seems to be weak these days.