Retro Todd's California Republic Flag - Photo from 1890

The flag for the State of California is the kind of flag an artist can have fun with.  On this blog numerous bears from pop-culture have replaced the bear on the official state flag.  Most of the time, it was done here first, and later, other blogs would follow in the wake to catch up and copy.  The flags done with Q*Bert were the original sun-mods that were later followed.  Likewise, this blog was first to put up Science Bear for the Element of Californium.

However this California flag is a Retro-Trutro type of flag that takes the original bear from the Bear Flag Revolt and uses it as the bear.

Likewise, you have to take the other side into account so we have Retro-Redo of the original flag with a the modern official bear.  Enjoy!

Medusa - Clash of the Titans 1981: Dont Tread on Me Flag

One of the grandest effects of movie making was stop animation.  Perhaps the King of Stop Animation was Ray Harryhausen, a true Golden State Warrior from Los Angeles California, who was born about 100 years ago, on June 29, 1920.  Harryhausen added that American charm in cinema and became of Key Note of the classic 1950s sci-fi.  His last major project as the lead imagineer in Hollywood was in 1981 with Clash of the Titans.  His animated Medusa was from another world and would haunt the imaginations of Generation-X.

In honor of this masterful sculptor, we have the Medusa Gadsden flag.  There is also a Greeklish translation that which you can find here reads Όχι Πάτημα Επί Μου which you can find here.

The Mark of the Beast - A Rainbow from the 1980s?

The rainbow is a powerful and naturally awe inspiring natural phenomenon.  But depending on the context they can have several connotations.  In the world of video games it became of polarizing symbol during the 1980s.  Two software (app makers) companies used the rainbow in the 1980s and created a full spectrum of emotions that can be associated with this natural icon as it was in the 1980s video games: from boredom, anger, revulsion, frustration, mild amusement, nostalgia, joy, and love. 

First with the Atari entertainment system, ACTIVISION used the rainbow in their original logo.  It was a straight rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue fimbrated with white lines between the colours. Whenever one saw the ACTIVISION rainbow, it was sign of trust, and chances were you were getting a quality game worth every dime.  However in the latter 1980s another company chose this lovely symbol — Ljn.  Within the context of Ljn, the rainbow became a repugnant symbol and laughing stock of the 1980s.  Chances are you were getting a second rate, disconnected, low quality experience.  The Ljn rainbow was curved, but it was a backwards, the upper rainbow—the top band was violet and the lower was red—without the fimbration.

The quality of work between Ljn and ACTIVISION is tied to their origin stories.  ACTIVISION was formed by maverick Atari programmers who were sick and tired of corporate bean counters running the show, who knew little of game design or tapped into the core joy of the product and treated the staff like disposable pieces of trash.  Rather these talented code writers, took the big risk of running their own company.  The result was a slew of game changers that rocked the market. The foremost example being Pitfall!  that generated the most original and iconic hero of the Atari Age, Pitfall Harry.  Pitfall Harry was the literal forerunner to Mario and Luigi.   Nine times out of ten, when you unpacked an ACTIVISION game that straight rainbow became a testament of these justly righteous souls.

After the Atari Age ended, the Nintendo Age took over.  The idea of adapting popular movies to videogames was still something Hollywood suits still couldn't wrap their head around.  A video game based upon Jim Henson's 1986 Labyrith?  Who would want such a thing?   There were so many action movies that missed out on a video game tie through the 1980s and 1990s.  However one snarky salesman from Ljn. was able to gobble up all the movie rights and turn a quick profit of the short sighted design.  His motto seemed to be Kids are Stupid and will buy anything with the "subject logo."  

Ljn. was able to snap up the rights for video games and make a quick profit.  Instead of employing talented game designers to make awesome games, Ljn created less than inspiring games that ran on name recognition.   Subsequently Nintedo's Back to the Future, the X-Men, and Bill and Ted were destined to have way, not cool, mis-adventures into waste-o-timeland.  Back then, there was no internet to rate games, and the magazines that did were all shill five 'n dime outfits that had to give good reviews to maintain insider access.  However, Hollywood could not yet see the big picture and saw video games as.... kids stuff.  But today, any suit will recognize that video games haul in more cold hard cash that most movies, nowadays.   Back then, the studios sold out to Ljn just because of the Ljn's short sighted businessen plan.

Imagine if Hollywood would have sold the rights to Back to Future to Konami or Capcom?  The extra schwag and rights generated from those games today could still be turning a profit. No doubt a Bill and Ted 1980s Nintedo Game by Konami would have been beyond awesome, and not to mention very profitable.

But no, the suits went with what they knew and they all seemed to know Ljn because some joker of slick salesman made quick promises and had a safe established track record. Getting input from the fans is always wise idea, but history loves to repeat itself.  And big corporations often get a big ego and end up with expert group think, that thinks they know better.  Perhaps the middle road if the best.  Listen to the experts and listen to the people.

Thus today, if you lived through the Ljn and Atari periods those rainbows conjure up two different feelings.  The Ljn rainbow is the bane of Nintendo, that fills the soul of why!?  Why God? How do these turds of such missed potential rise to the surface.  On the other hand, Activision conjures up lovely sparkles of memory that carry on today.  Even deeper, it is a blessing that Ljn was able to create such crappy games, consequently this electrion manure became the fodder that allowed the AVGN to bloom and create content of wisdom.  Thus with any curse they is a silver lining, which is only visible years afterwards. 

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #9—Code "Kokono" 最初の9の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「ここの」

The Japanese Maritime Flag for the Number Nine composed of three colours: blue, white, and red.  A white diagonal tilted from the bottom to the top, near the hoist to fly is white.  This white bottom-top diagonal separates a blue triangular field on the hoist and red triangular field on the fly.

 This is page taken from a Japanese Signal flag book.  Japanese Auxiliary Number Flags were used in combination with International Maritime Flags.

The codes with Kokono are highlighted.

 Below is an image of the Signal Flag Cache from the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces.

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #8—Code "Hachi" 最初の8の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「はち」

The Japanese Maritime Flag for Eight is basically an inverse of Foxtrot.  The center square diamond is white instead of red, and the corners are red instead of white.

Many Americans will recognize the word 'Hachi' from Hachi a Dog's Tale 2009 that starred Richard Gere.  Hachi the dog is based upon a true story in Japan, but in this film it has been adapted for American Audiences.  Hachi means eight in Japanese.

In this story, a dog shows it unending devotion for its master who passes a away.  People were so inspired that it has generated a movie.  In weird way Hachi the dog is a Reverse Old Yeller story from Japan.  With the story of Hachi, it is the human that passes, and the orphaned dog becomes a beacon of love and loyalty.


Neat coincidence (or mark of Providence) is that Hachi (the number eight) is lucky-magic number in the East: that includes Japan, China, and Tibet.  The number 8 (HACHI) is associated with Buddhism due to 8 Fold Noble Path as decreed by the Original Buddha from India.  In the West there is the 10 Commandments, but in the East there is the 8 Fold Noble Path.

As was fated, Richard Gere is a Buddhist who was lucky enough to meet the Dali Lama and later make a film based in Japan, which is primarily Buddhist.

Eight is doubly important in Folk Mysticism of Ancient China, with the Legendary Eight Immortal Spirits who transcend time. 

No small wonder since 8 is the reflective of the Infinite Power of Consciousness-Universe, from a certain point of view; when you tilt your head.  Bottom line is, the Power of Love is Infinite....

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #7—Code "Nana" 最初の7の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「なな」

The Japanese Maritime Flag for Seven has two diagonals and two triangular ends and consists of three colours: red, yellow, and blue.  In the upper hoist corner is the red triangle and in the lower fly is a yellow triangle.  In between these corners are two stripes is a yellow then blue stripe.  All the divisions follow a dexter bend, with the blue bend separating the two yellow parts.

The Japanese do not have short or odd vowels, so when saying words in 'English-Latin' script the letters are pronounced phonetically.  Forexample, the word Nana なな both Na's are the same.  English has tendency to make each vowels sound different as in the word Banana (as the middle a has a different a sound, unless you area Minion from Dreamworks).

 Several days after scouring the internet  a real flag of the unique Japanese Auxiliary Naval signal number flag was found.  After going to Yahoo! instead of Google, was I able to find this artifact.  And it is for sale; apparently it was used in combat during WWII.

Here is a close up of the tag, that indicates it is indeed an Imperial Japanese Navy Signal flag. There is red ink that has Japanese Kanji upon it with other symbols that are hard to decipher.


Source of Image
http://www.wwiidaggers.com/33997.htm






    

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #6—Code "Roku" 最初の6の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「ろく」

The Roku or ろく is the Japanese Maritime Flag for the Number Six.  It has a white field with red dexter bend.

The Number 6 Auxiliary Japanese Naval flag is visible with the cover art of this model, Yamato model ship.  It is the flag in between Juliette and Golf. 

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #5—Code "Go" 最初の5の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「ご」

The Japanese Maritime Flag for the Number 5 is the inverse of Romeo.  It has yellow field with red cross.

Note that IJN #5 Aux Flag is the inverse of the Romeo-R ICS flag.

You can see the Go flag in use with IJN Coded Signals.  The Imperial Japanese Navy Auxiliary Number flags were used International Maritime Flags in the Japanese Navy.

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #4—Code "Yon" 最初の4の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「よん」

The Japanese Maritime four flag has four blue dots, which any civilization can recognizes as a good representation of the number four.















The Imperial Naval Signal flags are a rarity of a flags.  They mostly live on in the memory of history books. 

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #3—Code "San" 最初の3の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「さん」

The Japanese number 3 three is basically an echo of the Kanji - Chinese Character - for the number three.  The Kanji for three consists of three horizontal stripes.

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #2—Code "Futa" 最初の2の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「ふた」

The Japanese Naval signal flag for the number 2 is called Futa ふた.  The design of the flag has a blue field with two yellow rectangles along in the middle of the flag near the fly and hoist.

 The unique Japanese auxiliary number flags were used with international maritime flags.  Recently in an Anime series about female sailors, the Aux #2 flag has appeared leading with X-Ray and India for a code of 2XI.

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #1—Code "Hito" 最初の1の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「ひと」

There are several types of maritime flags to represent the number one.  Most famously the International Maritime standard uses a flag that looks like the national flag of Japan.  However it is a pennant and the red disc is off center towards the hoist.

NATO has number one flag that looks like the of Spain; because it is a horizontal tribar of red, yellow, red.  Thus its nickname is 'UNO'.

Russia oddly uses the International Maritime flag in a different way for its numbers.  The Alpha flag is the number one flag for Russian allied fleets.  Luckily Alpha is also the first letter of the alphabet, so it makes sense.

But the Japanese Navy has created unique flags.  Their flags have an International Maritime feel, but they are unique to Japan.

The Number 1 flag of Japanese Naval forces has a white background with blue diagonal stripe from the lower hoist to the upper fly (a dexter bend).  In a what the Japanese flag is very effective since the single blue line is a unique flag even among national flags and reflects the single line of one, as it is used in Western and Chinese symbols.  The Indo-Arabic-Western number for one in a single vertical line, while the Eastern symbol for one is single horizontal line.

Japanese Naval Signal Flag #0—Code "Rei" 最初の0の日本の海軍艦隊信号-名前「れい」

The Japanese Maritime Zero Flag uses the colours blue and white.  It has the pattern of the Zulu flag but in the hoist and fly triangles is blue, while on the chief and compartment triangles it is white.

The Japanese Auxiliary Zero Flag make intuitive sense, more so than the International Maritime Flag.  Firstly, the empty hourglass shape indicates that time is up—it has reached the zero hour.  You can imagine that the blue triangles on the hoist and fly are ocean or sky.  Likewise Zero Flag follows the shape-pattern of the Zulu flag.  Thus Zero and Zulu combine for a unique flag.

 You can see the Zulu and Zero flag with Lima in the first upper left hand column.  On the right page you can see the codes that all begin with Rei.

数の日本の自衛隊海軍旗 - Japanese Naval Flags for Numbers 0 to 9

Flag being represented by numbers is common property of modern navies.  Famously there is the International Maritime Code, but several nations have their own kinds of flags for numbers.  NATO has them, as does Russia, and so do the Japanese.

Here are the unique flags of Japanese Navies that utilize unique designs for the numbers 0 to 9.

You can still purchase these unique Japanese Number flags with model kits.  Note the Movement flags have been deleted in this image.  The flags are like stickers that fold up on the miniature flag poles.

SOURCE
http://dreadnoughtproject.org/friends/dickson/Complete_Signal_Book_version_2.pdf

Japanese π Flag - Using Japanese Signal Flags for 3.14

The Fun Japanese π Flag is based upon the unique maritime signals flags of the Japanese Naval Self Defense Forces.  In this case the flag for 3 is the main component, the flag for 1is the blue diagnoal with white fimbration, and finally the flag for 4 is the circle with four blue dots.

This flag is for fans of Japanese culture and who love math, especially that enchanting number of pi: 3.14.

--------------

Better Version 2.0 added August 18, 2021 --令和三

No Man's Land Flag - Conquering the Furies of Internet

 Flags in video games are nothing new.  The story of the Hero's journey is behind the making of this game.  Upon the release, it failed miserably.  However the game developers did not surrender.  Eventually a fix was released called Foundation Update and it featured flags flying. The flags are long rectangular fields with blue, white and red patterns. 

The story of No Man's Land is a true story from hyped hero to zero back to a true hero.  The Internet Historian can better explain...

Basically the programmers at Hello Games perilously summoned the Vengeful Furies of the Internet.  However they would eventually overcome.  It was with grit, patience, self-reflection,  that they were able to calm the savage nature of the Internet.  It is the modern tale of the ultimate come back, with grace, the rise of the Phoenix. 

Yankee and Zulu - Internatoinal Maritime Flag Concordance

Yankee and Zulu are the last pair of conceptual international flag partners.  They align as tribal people-groups.  Yankees are considered to be a certain group of North Americans, while Zulus are a certain group of people in South Africa.  Both labels refer to fierce warrior groups.

Yankee was originally an negative stereotype for low born American colonists who were acted above their station.  They were the first upwardly mobile class of peoples, the first yuppies so to speak.  In fact people who rise above their class to a well-to-do are known as yuppies.  However people who fall from out of the rat race are known as hippies or beat nicks, a kind of downwardly mobile folk.  But getting back to Yankees, this was originally applies to the freemen of the 13 English colonies.

Later it became a regional pejorative for Americans from the Northern states who supported the outcome of the fair and legal election of 1860 and were charged with putting down the army that attacked a US military base in South Carolina on 4/15.  

Currently within the USA, Yankee is associated with people a professional baseball team, the NY Yankees, who go through stages of Winning, Winning, Winning every so often.  But outside of the USA to the dismay of Southerners, all US Citizens are referred to as Yankees.   Perhaps a remedy would is to have Montgomery Alabama host a baseball team called the Rebels.  How does it sound: the Mobile Rebels.  Thus when they play a game against the NY Yankees, we can all watch the Rebs and Yanks swing it out. 

Instead of the baseball bat and glove, the Zulu has a spear and shield. In a way the baseball bat is like weapon of offense while the glove is like a weapon of defense.  This analogy works for cricket as well. 




yankee
https://womenofageridinghorses.com/training/features/yankee-doodle-doofus/

zulu
https://womenofageridinghorses.com/training/features/yankee-doodle-doofus/

Gadsden Purchase Heritage Flag

The Gadsden Purchase Heritage flag is based upon the Gadsden flag.  However, there are a few differences.  Instead of a rattlesnake, there is a black scorpion.  Also the patch of grass has become a rocky outcrop with Mexican prickly pear cactus.  There are four flowers on the cactus that represent the four states connected to the Gadsden Purchase: Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua, and Sonora. The two flowers are separated by the rock since they represent two different nations.  The lower flowers with the root stem towards the fly represent Mexico's Sonora and Chihuahua, while the upper flowers towards the hoist represent the US states of Arizona and New Mexico.

The expression Don't Tread on Me is replaced with a Spanish as ¡No Hay Huellas En Me!  which is akin to No Footprints on Me!  This flag commemorates the spirit of the Gadsden flag but with a Latino twist that pays homage to Mexican and American Heritages.  The Mexican heritage is duly noted with the prickly pair cactus that can be found on the official Mexican flag.  Likewise the Spanish text honors Spanish heritage in the region.  On the other hand, the scorpion is reflective of the American rattlesnake of the Gadsden flag, and of course, the colours and overall pattern is like the Gadsden flag.


This flag can be flown over any area of the Gadsden Purchase.  It is also an fun educational flag to help bring this minor fact of US history alive.  The Gadsden Purchase took place in 1853-1854, during the Franklin Pierce Administration.  Perhaps the most famous cities to become 'American' were Yuma and Tucson.  New Mexico was able to get her distinguished Chihuahua Boot Heel in the South West.  Finally Tombstone, Arizona is a part of the Gadsden Purchase legacy, subsequently we now have Tombstone frozen pizza.

Another fun coincidence is that both Mr. Gadsdens were from South Carolina, and the area of the Gadsden Purchase is nearly the same land area of South Carolina.  When you round them out they both equal 30,000 km².

Funny thing is, this purchase was made by a man named James Gadsden from South Carolina, born the year the US Government went on line, with the Constitution of 1788.  Jimbo Gadsden was born May 15, 1788.  Within a fortnight, South Carolina would ratify the Constitution on May 24, 1788.   As fate would have, Jimmy G. was indeed the grandson of Christopher Gadsden, whom the original Gadsden flag was named after, go figure?  Sometimes the Fates often leave little love notes like this, to remind us that higher powers are working.  If you try usin' your rational sphere of your mind, you'll never understand.  Likewise, usin' your emotional side of mind to solve a college level bio-calculus problem with your heart and feelings...just wont work.   As of yet you can not feel your way through calculus problems, just as you can not rationalize divine manifestations.  And the cherry on top, is that General Santa Anna negotiated the purchase, to the dismay of Mexican Government; he almost sold Baja California in the original deal.  Imagine that!?

And speaking of the Fates and Destiny...perhaps the most renowned love letter from Destiny was the simultaneous death of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on America's Year of Jubilee—July 4, 1826.

Scorpion Drawing
https://www.drawingtutorials101.com/how-to-draw-an-emperor-scorpion

November and Mayday - Internatoinal Maritime Flag Concordance

The flag for the Letter N and Emergency match up as conceptual congruent partners, within the naming framework of International Maritime Flag Signals.  Upon close inspection of their names, you should notice that both are named after months.  The letter N is called November, and the Emergency Pennant can be used as a Mayday symbol.  Seems like an odd connection, but this connection of concepts is apparent with all the International Maritime flags.  Previous examples on this blog include: Alpha-Delta, Foxtrot-Tango, Romeo-Juliet, Papa-Uncle, Charlie-Mike, Quebec-India, and Oscar-Victor. 

Fatefully both the N flag and Mayday flag have checker patterns.  November has blue checkers on a square or rectangular field, while Mayday-Emergency has red checkers on a pennant-triangular field.

Additionally, they are like opposites of the seasons.  November marks the heart of Fall and Mayday is within the heart of Spring.  November is 100% month of Fall, while May is 100% month of Spring, that is assuming you live in the Northern Hemisphere within a temperate climate. 
 



Mayday
https://www.amazon.com/Mayday-Asking-Help-Times-Need-ebook/dp/B005M0CZOM

Hotel and Unit - Internatoinal Maritime Flag Concordance

There is Romeo & Juliet, Tango & Foxtrot, Delta & Alpha.  Do you see the pattern with the names of the signal flags?  It like a yin and yang thing.  More done to earth examples would be: salt & pepper, ketchup & mustard, or peas & carrots.  Hotel matches up with Unit, officially.  However, off the record, people often like to use igloo to I.   

The letter H has had many names.  Initially in 1913 it was called Have, then Hypo from 1927, then How during WWII, and finally Hotel in 1957. The letter U initially called Unit in 1913, then Uncle during WWII, and finally Uniform in 1957.

Regardless of all the name changes, Hotels are made up of several Units.  Without the each Unit there is no Hotel. 

 Hotel
 https://backpackerverse.com/hollywood-roosevelt-hotel/

Unit

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g635749-d1116738-i164990379-Club_Mahindra_Mahabaleshwar_Sherwood-Mahabaleshwar_Satara_District_Mahar.html

Echo and X-Ray - International Maritime Signal Flag Concordance

The letter X and letter E, are called X-Ray and Echo.  In the modern day, Echo location and X-ray vision are important tools in science and military technologies.  When you take an X-ray picture, you are basically looking at an Echo of high frequency radiation.

The queer thing is that the names for the flags for Echo and X-Ray create a concordance, as a names of the flags pair up like salt n' pepper, Romeo n' Juliet.





Image X-ray
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/x-rays

Image echo
https://www.yousigma.com/interestingfacts/whatisecho.html

Uniform Option - International Maritime Flag Concordance

There are times to be in Uniform and times to take in the Options.

But oddly the names of the International Maritime flags match up in a quirky way.  Uniform is name for U and Option was the name for O.  Option became Oscar in 1957, but it original name in 1913 was Oboe.  Option was the name for O for 30 years from 1927 until 1957.

U was first called Unit in 1913, but changed to Unit in 1927, then changed again to Uniform in 1957.  Maybe they will change U again?

Nonetheless, Uniform matches with Option, as options disturb a uniform process or structure.  Too many options leads can disrupt the power being in Uniform, be dress, attitude, look, or state of mind.


Uniform Image
https://medium.com/@abhishekvpaul/slaves-in-suits-b22ed13ed418

Options Image
https://www.stockinvestor.com/37098/long-call-vs-short-call-option-trading-strategies/

Five Night's at Freddy's Republic - A Fun California Flag

A video game that captures the feels of the 20-teens, or rather a game that enveloped the tweens of the 20-teens.  The big hits of the 20-teens include the Hungry Games and Minecraft.  Just for fun the 20-ohs were Harry Potter's Decade.  But the first generation born after 9/11 would get their first taste of anxiety and fear from a retro-90s look video game based upon a dystopian Chucky Cheese restaurant video game: Five Nights at Freddy's.

In the game you must monitor and keep an eye on frightening semi-sentient deadly animatronic robots gone haywire. So addictive like an interactive scary movie, when the youth of the 20-teens attains formal command of the movie making films, the lauded Five Night's at Freddy's movie will deliver an epic dose of nostalgia sometime in the 2030s.

The lead animatronic is Fazbar Freddy.  Since we have a bear, it makes a wonderful sub in for the California flag.

Also if you like jump scares and pattern puzzles, this is the game for you!

Bravo Love - International Flag Maritime Concordance

The names of the international flags match up in meaning, in a quirky kind of way.  The letter B flag matches with older letter L flag: Bravo and Love.  L is currently called Lima while Bravo used to be called Baker, but was originally called Boy.

Communication vets from WWI, WWII, and the Korean Wars may have referred to L as Love.  Thus there some troops were fighting and killing with Love, literally.  It was not until 1957 that Love lost out to Lima.  Likewise Baker lost out to Bravo in 57'.

 When people yell 'BRAVO' they are sending Love, to the performer.  Likewise to perform well you need to be Brave and full of passion or Love.  Bravo and Love are two words connected to each other.





Bravo Image
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vectors/clapping-applause-bravo-vectors

The California Crystal Castle Republic Flag - Atari's 1983 Arcade Classic Meets Makes California History Today

Here we have another fun California flag that is based upon Atari's 1983 arcade classic Crystal Castle.  In this fairy tale like adventure, which has yet to make a Shrek appearance, you use a trackball "TARK-BALL" to move Bentley Bear across the screen to collect crystals.

Basically an evolved version of Pac-Man, instead of dots, crystals are the McGuffin.  Likewise a magic hat give you revenge power on the enemies for a limited time.  However you can jump, and get the centipede like gem eaters if they are in the process of eating the crystals.  The only thing it was missing was animated cut scenes of Bentley Bear fussing with the trees, bees, witches, and giant crystal eating centipedes.