Warcraft — Alliance vs Horde

The two faction crests of World of Warcraft, stitched as a pair: the Alliance lion in deep crimson on top, the Horde crest in gold underneath.

The Alliance/Horde rivalry is the spine of the entire Warcraft universe. It traces back to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) — Blizzard’s original real-time strategy game — and has been the defining conflict ever since: Orcs from Draenor came through a dark portal to invade Azeroth, the human kingdoms of the Eastern Kingdoms rallied to push them back, and twenty-plus years and several wars later, every WoW player still picks a side at character creation. The Alliance ended up as humans, dwarves, gnomes, night elves, draenei, and worgen, and adopted the lion of Stormwind as its symbol. The Horde — orcs, trolls, tauren, undead, blood elves, and goblins — kept the original orcish iconography. “For the Alliance!” / “For the Horde!” aren’t just battle cries; they’re how millions of players have introduced themselves to each other for two decades.

Stitched on 18ct black aida — going dark on the fabric meant the red and gold could carry the whole piece without competing with a white background, which suits the banner-on-a-castle-wall feel the chart is going for.

Pattern by Up2XStitch — the original Etsy shop has since closed, but the designer is still active on Instagram. Out of print now.

Finished April 25, 2021.