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The History Of Some Of The Worlds Flags
by George Pascatt
http://www.flagfx.com
For centuries discoverers have been planting flags to
signal that their claim a new land. Now every country in
the world has its own design. Flags originated as
vexilloids, which were decorated staffs that soldiers
carried into battle. Early ones were decorated with symbols
to identify the groups the soldiers represented, and set
them apart from the others. Over time silk and other
fabrics were added to these staffs, thus the birth of flags
as we know them.
It wasn't until the eighteenth century that flags began to
represent whole countries. Early on they stood for ideas,
civilizations, groups, and nations. Today's flags carry
symbolism that is only meaningful to the citizen of the
particular countries they stand for.
The stars and stripes, the national flag of the United
states of America reached its current form in 1960 when
Hawaii joined the USA. The flag was conceived in 1777 and
since then has seen various transformations. The stripes
symbolize the first 13 states that made up the USA and each
state is represented by a star, thus showing 50 stars on the
flag. This symbolizes the unity of all states.
The flag of United Kingdom or Great Britain is also known as
the Union Jack. The flag which has been the official symbol
since 1801, symbolizes the three unification of three
different countries; England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Currently, the Union Jack represents Northern Ireland, as
the rest of Ireland became its own state in 1920. A novel
observation is that the Union Jack itself forms a part of
the flag of some nations - Australia for one.
The flag of Canada is a red maple leaf flanked by stripes of
red. This flag design was officially adopted in 1965,
although the maple leaf was a Canadian symbol for many years
before that. The two stripes are said to represent the
Pacific and Atlantic oceans which flank the country.
The flag of Barbados is an interesting one. It is
represented by two stripes of blue on either side which
represent the ocean and the sky, and the center which is
yellow represents Barbados' beaches. The interesting part is
the trident in the center, which represents Neptune. The
trident is broken, which symbolizes Barbados' split from
Britain in 1966 when the flag was made official.
Jewish values are prominently displayed to the world on the
flag of Israel. The flag that became official in 1948, has
blue and white stripes which represent a type of Jewish
shawl used for prayers. The flag also has the Star of David
in the center.
Flags all over the world express their values through
symbolism and sometimes religion. Often they carry
religious sayings or symbols that tell the world about
their countries. As territories change hands throughout the
world, or two nations become one, new flags are designed.
Two of the most recent and recognizable are the flags
representing the United Nations and the European Union.
Flags are important to the people that live in each nation,
to them it is a symbol of who they are and what is important
to their nation. Flags have been used for centuries as a
type of identification and shall for many years to come.
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