Chesapeake Bay Flag Association Meeting - Summer 2018

You can see the CBFA flag flying in Washington DC.  It kinda' looks like the flag of Washington DC, but there is difference, mainly the colours and the number of stars.

Dale Grimes presented some WWI badges and medals.  Notice the Yin/Yang symbol used to represent the US forces as united the Grey and Blue from the Civil War Era.  Back in 1910s, there were many survivors from the Civil War Era still witness to the Great War.  Present at the meeting was Peter Ansoff, Chris Bedwell, Daniel Broh-Kahn, Al Cavalari, Dale Grimes, Dick Libby, Jack Lowe, Chris Maddish, Jon Radel and guest Mattia Chasson—a friendly neighborhood local.  Also present from Philly, was a first time visitor to the CBFA—Arthur Etchells. 

One of the most 'peculuiar' flags in Chris Bedwell's collection was the flag for Peculiuar, Missouri.  The flag has the based tribar of Missouri but with a larger white T-bar with the water tower of the town, with some extra flowers on the blue stripe, very peculiar indeed.

Besides flags the party was witness to nesting doves, who were able to overlook all the flag flapping and yapping. 

Canada-China Flag

The China-Canada was recently used in a video created by Black Pigeon.  It is essentially the China flag with a Canadian Maple left instead the larger big star in the upper hoist corner.  This type of flag is political satire flag, that addresses the issues facing the new Canada under Trudeau.

Canadian Identity used to dominantly tied to British and French heritages, but now the duality of the dominion is embracing the new multicultural Canadian view. Currently about 1 out 5 Canadians were born outside of Canada.

Perhaps in the near future the provincial flags for Ontario and Manitoba will change, since they have an overtly British essence? 

White Anglo-Saxon Dragon Flag - Atari Style

England is associated with the colours red and white.  Some say it is due to the Houses of Lancaster and York which had a red rose and white rose?  However even before then there was the red dragon of wales and white dragon of England.  Coincidence?  Remember the Original United Kingdom was a union of the Welsh and English.

But then again, England is represented by the St. George who killed the Dragon. So in classical English contradictory numdummery (which is why spelling in English is such cluster-jam---the same thing happened in Japanese written language) the English can be represented by a White Dragon or a Dragon Slayer.

Either you love dragons or you want to kill them, but hey, some people do both.  I suppose it is like the frenemy concept.  All friends can be enemies, and sometimes enemies will be friends.  Ergo, dragons are frenemies?

Here is a fun flag for the English, based upon the Atari Adventure dragons by Warren Robinett.

  Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dragon

The Original Seven Kingdoms Flag of Game of Thrones

There are many kingdoms within the Game of Thrones cable television series on HBO.  But note, the dominant religion is held in the Faith of the Seven.  Seven also refers to the Seven Kingdoms, when Westeros was divided into seven kingdoms and then conquered by House Targaryen by the Sir Aegon Targaryen. 

Here is a flag that represents the Original Seven Kingdoms that became united as one under House Targaryen.

Starting the in the upper left hand corner, which is the canton, we have the seven pointed star that is reflective of the Faith of the Seven.  It is analogous to the cross of England that all Kingdoms heed in some fashion.  But for the Religion of Seven, there are seven models that represent humanity in this universe.  

To the right is a blue region that has a circle, a crescent moon and falcon that represents House Arryn which rules over the Kingdom of the Mountain & Vale.

Next over to the right is the Dire wolf's head on white.  This sigil represents the House of Stark which rules the Kingdom of the North.

Further right is the lion of the house Lannister on a field of red.  The Lannister House rules over The Kingdom of the Rock.

Below the Lion of Lannister is a stag on a field of yellow with a crown around its neck.  This sigil represents the House of Durrandon which eventually mixed and became House Baratheon.  This area is the Kingdom of the Stormlands.

To the left is a chained saltire with four different emblems of the House Hoare, which is a House no more.  The four emblems being a longship, grapes, a pine, and a raven.  The ancient Kingdom was the Isle and the Rivers.  This Kingdom is split.  The Isles are under the House Ironborn while the mainland is under House Tully.  House Ironborn has a yellow squid upon black, while House Tully has a trout leaping in the air coloured red above a river. 

Further left is the sigil of a green hand on white that represents the extinct House of Gardener.  Instead of the 'green thumb' they have a green hand to denote farming expertise.  This is the Kingdom of the Reach which is now split.  House Tyrell occupies part and the other half is directly ruled by the Iron Throne, kinda' like Washington DC being under the seat of the King, oops I meant federal government,
better known as the Iron Throne.

Finally in the lower left corner is the sigil of House Martell which as the Sun pierced by a spear.  This is the Kingdom Dorne, usually referred as a Principality, yet a Kingdom nonetheless. 

This great work of fiction takes a lot of hints from the ancient English history when England was divided into Seven Kingdoms.  You can see the flag below crossed with the Iron Throne Kingdoms of HBO.  Starting from the lower left corner the authentic seven kingdoms were: Mercia (yellow X on blue), Northumbria (yellow and red, vertical stripes), Sussex (the six birds on blue), Kent (white horse on red).  Then on the upper part we have: Essex (3 swords on red), East Anglia (3 crowns on blue), Wessex (the yellow dragon on red).  Finally in the canton is the religious symbol and icon for all original seven Kingdoms that became England (red cross on a white field).

Atari Wessex Flag - Ode to Warren Robinett & Wessex

Wessex is represented by a yellow dragon on red.  In this case the dragon from Atari's Adventure is recycled for a fun flag from the Golden Age of Video Game Consoles.  If you didn't know Wessex was one of the 'seven kingdoms' of England.  Today in the Game of Thrones cable TV series on HBO, the fictional seven kingdoms of Westeros were inspired by these authentic seven kingdoms of history. 

Adventure 1979 was a seminal groundbreaking video game, considered the grandfather of all adventure oriented games.  The legacy of its heritage includes Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda.  It was made for the Atari 2600.

The programmer was Warren Robinett.  However in 1979 the establishment at Atari would not give credit nor royalties to these pioneering game designers.  Nonetheless Robinett was able to secretly add a hidden level-message so that people would remember his name.   He did this without authorization, in effect sticking it to man.  Consequently Warren Robinet 1951 is the true to life NEO from 1979—twenty years before the Matrix 1999 movie was released.


Image Source from Robinett's Website:
http://www.warrenrobinett.com/

Fun Moscow Adventure Atari Flag

The Fun Moscow Atari Dragon flag is a silly design that Gen-X gamers and video game historians will enjoy.  The regular Moscow flag has St. George on horseback striking a black dragon.  However with this flag, we have a dead 1979 Adventure dragon.

Quite possibly Atari's best game, no doubt it laid the framework for the Zelda games from Nintendo.

Adventure 1979 was created by Warren Robinett who put the first 'Easter Egg' in a video game.  Back then Atari video game designers were not allowed to get credit nor collect any royalties.  They wanted to keep the workers under the corporate thumb as virtual slaves to a system.  However Robinett left an unauthorized bonus screen. In a way Warren was the very first Neo, long before the rise of Matrix 1999 movie.  Thus to honor to his pioneering move to stick it to the system, here is an Atari homage.  But that is not Keanau Reeves, rather it is supposed to be Warren Robinett.


Apple Schmapple: We want a Robinett Movie!
http://www.warrenrobinett.com/

There is a controversy about the sword in Adventure.  Which end is the blade?  Some believe that the arrow point indicates the tip of the blade, the other half thinks arrow point end is the hilt-handle.  The creator, Warren Robinett, said it really dose not matter.  See the video on the previous post at 49:11 to see for yourself. 

Fun Atari Imperial China Flag

The Fun Atari Imperial Dragon flag is based upon a mash up of Atari art and the ancient flag of China.

To the left is the ancient Chinese flag with its azure dragon.

New Bhutan Flag—The Atari Bhutan Flag Fun

In the Far West dragons on flags bring up memories of Medieval Times.  But in the East and Far East, Dragons also  conjure up that ancient era of the sword and arrow.  In fact, there is still one nation on Earth that has preserved the Medieval sigil of the dragon on their national banner for the modern day—Bhutan.

Likewise once you cross the Indus River, the theme of the Dragons become something more of a good thing than a bad thing.  St. George is a popular national Saint, especially in Russia and the UK, and is often depicted killing a dragon.  However, east of the Urals, the dragon is not a spirit  to be conquered.  Rather it is supposed to be honored.

Official Flag of Bhutan

Bhutan is located high within the natural fortress of the Himalayas.  Amazingly, it was neither absorbed into China or India. You can think of Bhutan as the Chinese Nepal (since China and Bhutan have a Buddhist/East Asian phenotype tilt); thus the counter-change axiom would then make Nepal, the Indian Bhutan (sine India and Nepal have a Hindu/South Asian phenotype tilt)—it's a Yin/Yang thing.

So in honor of dragons on flags and to make people in the West notice this little slice of heaven in the East, Bhutan, we have the Atari-Bhutan Dragon flag.  It has a white Atari dragon on the yellow and orange field of Bhutan.

It's unlikely that anyone in Bhutan was able to play Atari's Adventure video game back in 1979.  But just maybe, one of the super rich Bhutanese in 79' was able to get his hands on this classic American video game?  For now, the Adventure-Bhutan fun flag is an educational amusement for the Far West and a few folks in Japan and South Korea.  Perhaps someday in the future when Bhutan gets on the grid and they are able to create their own video games, they'll understand the humour of the Adventure-Bhutan flag.

Oddly video games have unintended consequences, that being of death and rebirth—reincarnation.  In Adventure 1979, you can die and get stuck in video game purgatory.  All you have to do hit the reset switch (reincarnate) and you can come back and your objects will be where you left them.  But any Dragons you have killed, will also reincarnate and continue to block your path. 

Atari Game of Thrones Dragon Flag Fun

Funny thing is, there are three dragons in the Game of Thrones.  But back in the 1970s the original dragons from Atari were there first.  Coincidentally they even have the same colours of red, yellow, and green.  Is this just a coincidence or should Atari claim some credit for this show?

The red dragon of Atari was Rhindle, which is the Viserion the red dragon in Game of Thrones.  Both red dragons are the most aggressive and fearsome.  The yellow dragon of Atari is Yorgle, who was reborn as Rhaegal, and the green Atari dragon is Grundle, aka Drogon. Coincidence?  Or maybe the creators of Game of Thrones loved the Atari's Adventure?  Who knows?

It all makes sense now, since you basically play as John Snow in the original Atari game.  In 1970s glory the game Adventure could have been called Game of Thrones 1979?  Maybe they'll repackage it?

 

Subsequently the castles all fit into place the White Castle is actually Winterfell.  The Black Castle is the Castle Black—THE WALL.  It all fits into place.  Adventure was indeed, partly, the source material for Game of Thrones.  Those weren't bats!  They were crows!

Game of Thrones Dragons Image Source::  https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1db3/ 
On Dragon: https://www.romper.com/p/will-drogon-die-on-game-of-thrones-he-was-severely-injured-74955

New Rhindle-Wales Flag — Atari Style

Did you know that the Rhindle from Atari's 1979 ground breaking video game of Adventure was a distant relative of the Welsh dragon.  So in honor of that heritage we have the Rhindle-Wales Flag.

To the left is the official heraldic flag of Wales with its proper dragon.  Also note that Wales also has a cross flag like England but the cross is yellow and the background is black.

Here is the lost Welsh flag that us based upon a fusion Atari dragon design with a more comprehensive Welsh Dragon. 

Here is the Welsh War ensign that could be flown at football matches or any other sporting event for Welsh Pride!!!

Henry Plinkett Flag Jacket - RedLetterMedia

Henry Plinkett with USA Flag Jacket? - RedLetterMedia

Henry Plinkett is the ultimate anti-hero in the RedLetterMedia universe.  Plinkett is an over the top crotchety, cranky, vulgar, crass miscreant.  Oddly there are many people across America and Canada who exhibit Plinkett-like behavior, yet never make it to the Big nor television screens.

Nonetheless, RedLetterMedia has captured that essence and presented it in a short skit comedy for movie reviews par on a humorous level, unshackled by politically correct standards.

You can see the American flag jacket of the owner of the trashed-trashy home.  The right sleeve is completely red but the left sleeve has stripes.  On the right next the American flag jacket is Mike Stoklasa.  On the left under the crappified window blinds is Jay Bauman.

Flying the American Jacket Flag

Here, they fly the Henry Plinkett flag while Henry is still wearing his jacket over some bridge in "New Jersey."

It's easy to be critic.  But these guys have filled with void with their own unique and comical schtick.  Often sloppy on purpose, the creator is a master of deadpan humour, and they often capture lightening in a bottle, or rather, they captured a bunch of twinkle-bees in beer bottle.

RedLetterMedia has captured the feels of a generation and demographic that is usually overlooked by entertainment executives.  Rather than having a socially justice driven agenda, they have cooked up a show that demonstrates with art and heart—and the random fart; the real, organic flavors of American Pie missing from modern day movies and television.  They are from Wisconsin, after all.
 


(Episode 23—if you want to see the American Jacket Flag 'Fly' : The Devil Inside and Flyin' Ryan)

Kings of London Leo Flag - A London's Pride

 

Lions are important symbols in heraldic circles.  There are many versions, and they represent nations and royal families of the world.  One of the most famous kingdoms represented by a lion is the UK.  A red lion represents Scotland and three golden lions represent England.

Historically several other heraldic lions were associated with the monarch of the UK.  When England's Mary I married King Philip II of Spain, she was able to use the black lion of Flanders on yellow and the yellow lion on black of Brabant.   And for that brief period, Mary I was connected to the purple lion of Spain.

Later in the late 1600s When William III of Orange ruled London, the yellow lion on blue with billets was tied to the UK.   Likewise the white lion on black of Oliver Cromwell was tied to ruler of London for a brief period.  Most recently during the colonial period of the Americas a blue lion on yellow with red hearts came to represent the British Monarch with George I the Elector of Hanover. 

So in honor of the month of Leo and all the Royal Lions that were tied to London at one time or another, the Grand Leo Pride Flag of London has been created.  This flag is a post historical banner, that connects different moments in London's history when this city was in some kind of union on the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Spain.