Mac, again good stuff
having the originating planet determine those thing s is a good idea. And like was discussed before the colors would probably be changed in the ships along with the flag.
As for the new trigger for an empire wide rebellion, ie civil war, another good idea.
And yes all of these would probably need a hardcode change. But I think a lot of us would be willing to pay for an expansion with this feature in it along with others from Category 2. And like you said in your thread, they could make some money off of it in the process.