Wiki

effect · set_cosmetic_tag

Definition

  • Supported scope:COUNTRY
  • Supported target:none

Description

Sets country cosmetic tag.
Example: INS = { set_cosmetic_tag = IN1 }

Hands-On Notes

Hands-on notes are AI-generated and checked against the vanilla command vocabulary — treat them as a starting point, not authoritative reference. The definition above is the game's own documentation.

Hands-On Usage

set_cosmetic_tag is commonly used for visual changes to a nation such as renaming, flag changes, national anthems, and similar cosmetic modifications. For example, after a civil war ends, the victorious faction can switch to a specific cosmetic tag, or after pursuing a certain focus tree, the nation can appear under a different name and flag without altering its actual TAG (leaving underlying data like treaties and diplomatic relations unaffected).

# After focus completion, the Soviet Union switches to the "Soviet Empire" cosmetic appearance
focus = {
    id = SOV_soviet_empire
    ...
    completion_reward = {
        set_cosmetic_tag = SOV_EMPIRE
    }
}

Synergy

  • [drop_cosmetic_tag](/wiki/effect/drop_cosmetic_tag) — The counterpart effect that removes the current cosmetic tag and restores the default appearance; commonly used in tandem when certain conditions expire or during civil war resets.
  • [has_cosmetic_tag](/wiki/trigger/has_cosmetic_tag) — A trigger to check if a nation currently has a specific cosmetic tag, preventing duplicate assignments or enabling conditional branching logic.
  • [add_ideas](/wiki/effect/add_ideas) — Cosmetic tag switches are typically accompanied by ideological or policy shifts; pairing both effects ensures visual and mechanical changes happen in sync.
  • [complete_national_focus](/wiki/effect/complete_national_focus) — Some mods simultaneously call set_cosmetic_tag when scripting focus completion to keep appearance consistent with narrative progression.

Common Pitfalls

  1. The cosmetic tag must be predefined in common/cosmetic_tags/ beforehand, otherwise the game will silently ignore it or throw an error — beginners often write a non-existent tag name directly, resulting in no visual change with no warning message.
  2. Repeated calls do not "stack"; each subsequent call overwrites the previous one. If multiple event chains can modify the same nation's cosmetic tag, use [has_cosmetic_tag](/wiki/trigger/has_cosmetic_tag) to prevent accidental overwrites of the intended appearance.