The Original American Fun Zone - Willow Grove Park, PA

Willow Grove Park Pennant

One of the original leisure parks of America stems from Willow Grove Park, Pennsylvania. Willow Grove is about 15 minutes away from Philadelphia in Montgomery County.

But Montgomery County's maiden name is Philadelphia. What I mean is, before Montgomery County was given its own independent name it was originally a part of Philadelphia County - until the beginning of the American Revolution.



Some time after the Civil War - John Phillip Sousa adopted it as his stage for patriotic band music. After a brief stint in the circus - Sousa became the military penultimate music man in the Marines.

Willow Grove during its Victorian Heyday was like something of the 'chalk park' in Marry Poppins, dotted with a few rides and stages for performances.









It was about the time when out of control spoiled teens took over America, that amusement parks went less than friendly. But that only partly explains why Willow Grove was converted into a Shopping Mall. Unfortunately hordes of spoiled teens - usually caused by poor parenting or exhausted parents who work too much - often make venues like Willow Grove less than family friendly, as spoiled teens have a tendency for cursing, necking, smoking and obnoxious shouting.



Also back in the day when things were black and white - pennants were the it flag of fun and showmanship. If you were male and grew up before colour TV - chances are your room was decorated with these triangular vexilloids.

Wave Your Flag Song

A great song for Vexillologists around the world. The chorus involves the chant, "WAVE YOUR FLAG."

Catesby Jones California Republic Heritage Flag

The Bear Flag Revolt lives on as an epic chapter in California History. But a few years before the Mexican-American War of 1846 there was the Commodore Catesby Jones Incident at Monterrey, California. And this is when the first US flag was officially hoisted over California Soil by a government official as captured territory.

Catesby Jones 1842 California Republic Heritage Flag

In 1842 Texas was still a semi-independent renegade republic with limited diplomatic recognition as are Northern Cyprus, Palestine, and Transnistria today in 2012.

There were wild rumors of war in Mexico and the United States. It was sure to manifest but the commander of the US Pacific Squadron - Catseby Jones accidentally invaded and occupied California at Monterrey Bay three years prior to the Bear Flag Revolt.

Commodore Catesby Jones received intelligence that war with Mexico was imminent and inaccurate news was reported that the UK purchased California and rumors of war had already started were abundant. Also note the US was at great tension with Canada over territorial claims in Oregon-Columbia country.

Russia also evacuated California at Ft. Ross, all powers in the area were edgy due to the political vacuum left by Russia. Was somebody going to step up and fill the void? Were Canada, Mexico, and Russia conspiring to split up the West Coast and keep the USA boxed in, on the Atlantic Ocean?

US with 26 Stars - Hoisted Over California in 1842
Four years before the Bear Flag Revolt

In October the pre-game season of the Mexican-American War started on October 19, 1842. Catesby Jones sailed into Mexican Waters with the United States and Cyane. The Americans later captured the Mexican brig Joven Guipuzcoana - the first prize of war in the US-Mexican conflict. The next day on October 20, 1842 over one hundred and fifty US sailors and US marines landed at Monterrey, California. The Mexican Flag was lowered and the 26 starred American Flag was raised. At this time the youngest state in the Union was Michigan. Fort Monterrey was then renamed after a Virginian - as Fort Catesby.

The next day on October 21, 1842 Commodore Catesby Jones truly discovered that Mexico was not at war with the United States. Catesby Jones then lowered the American Flag and restored Monterrey to Mexican control with a 13 gun honor salute to the Mexican Colours.

Jones' action was horribly embarrassing and the United States made a formal apology to Mexico, but four years later the American Hope of expanding in to California was manifested, at least the northern half of it.

Please note that the Catesby Jones 1842 California Republic Flag is a new convention that combines the modern flag of California with elements of history. The bear on the Catesby Jones 1842 California Republic Flag is laying down in a cave and foggy eyed from hibernation.

Bears sometimes awoke too early, before the winter has ended. They would then go back to sleep. Likewise the United States did so with California with the Commodore Catesby Jones Incident, which was a too early 'winter' advance on California. But like the bears who wake up too early, before the winter thaw, the United States went to back sleep and awoke four years later to 're-take' California in 1846 and fly the stars and stripes on her coastline.
















Imagine if Mexico and America went to war in 1842? This is one alternate thread of history yet to be written.

Flag of Helium from John Carter of Mars film 2012

Nation of Helium
John Carter of Mars 2012 Film

The flag of Helium uses several shades of blue. It is a divided horizontally in the middle. Off center nearer the fly is a large disc counter shaded to the background which represents Mars.

On the upper half are two smaller discs that represent the dwarf moons of Mars - Diemos and Phobos.

Flags from the Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars - 1998

 The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars- 1998 is the cosmic sequel to the original Brave Little Toaster.  In this wonderland of imagination house hold appliances are give a measure of love usually reserved for cars and dolls.

In this movie a brave little toaster travels to Mars to rescue his human master.  Along the journey love, loyalty, and questions about mankind's attachment to non-biological entities are gleaned.

After arriving on Mars, the household appliances are surprised to that the planet has already been colonized by machines who seek to reek revenge on the humans that inhabit earth.  However a courageous little toaster reminds the machines that there is spark of joy in the human heart.

Two distinct 'Martian' flags made by the machines appear in this film.

US Flag Shorts on Mars as the Flag - Rocketman 1997

Rocketman 1997 stars Harland Williams as a gifted computer programmer who travels to Mars to plant the first American, sort of.  But Fred Randall is an ill coordinated goofball who looses the flag in a canyon and uses his American Flag shorts in its place. 

Rocketman is you classic silly beans American movie, made for the delight of kids in elementary school.  It it filled with slapstick, farts, and monkey hijinx. It is so stupid it is actually funny. 

The Flag in the Mars Attacks - Card #49 The Earthmen Charge

Long before the Garbage Pail kids there was a bubble gum trading card series known as Mars Attacks from 1962 - the year the United States launched a man into orbit one year after the Soviet Union.

Earthmen Tank Flag - Mars Attacks 1962

On card number 49 a small flag can be seen on the counter attack of humans upon the Martian home world. The flag is barely noticeable on the Earthmen Tank. It is a red and black horizontal tri-bar pennant - with black in the middle.

The artwork is a mix of war time WWII meshed to the early space age 1960s.


The Back Side of the Card

Here is the other side of the card with story explanation. This unique format of a 'book' revealed by trading cards made it like an archeological game where bits and pieces of the story came to the readers in a non-linear fashion. This type of 'trading card book' with a strong focus on art is a rare type of media. Considered not a comic book but yet a cherished media that stirred the imaginations of many a American Children.

Wondrously it is attached to Solarian Heritage. Solarian is an all inclusive politically correct term for beings native the 'Terran/Sun' system.' Thus persons from the Moon, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Deimos, Phobos or Mercury are all considered 'Solarian' yet differ by native planet such as Lunatic (considered an insult on Earth), Earthling, Martain, Cerisian, Deimonite, Phobo or Mercurite.

This series of cards will certainly become priceless artifacts of 'Martian Heritage' when 'humans/cyborgs' from earth successfully colonize Mars in the next 200 years - maybe in the year 2222. Certainly in the next 50 years people will have 'cell phones' directly implanted in their skulls.

Marvin the Martian Flag - MARS WEEK 2012

Marvin the Martian with native Mars Flag

One of Marvin the Martian's flag is similar to the Japanese flag. The difference is that the central disc is of center towards the hoist and the background is pink.









Marvin the Martian Flag
In the Duck Dogers Episode - 1953

Mars Week 2012 - the most popular Mars flag in 2012

Mars Flag

This is perhaps the most popular flag for Mars at the moment. It is distinguished and does not intuitively resemble any Earth based nation

Vowels Distinguished for the International Maritime Code of Signal Flags

Since the International Maritime Code is supposed to International - here are some additional flags to represent the short vowels. Reason being that this code is based upon the tragically irrational language of English - nearly every letter has multiple ways of reading it. Mastering the rules of English could take a lifetime. So to help alleviate some of the confusing English rules of spelling here a few new short vowel flags. They are based upon the regular vowel flags except for U. Since that pattern is used already. Thus the regular version is a standard long version.


The Short A
cat - bat - man - at - map

OFFICIAL BASIC STANDARD
LONG VOWEL VERSION

THE LONG A

The Short E
set - pet - let - red - pep

THE LONG E

The Short I
hip - it - writ - lit - ship

THE LONG I

The Short O
cot - mop - hot - fought

THE LONG O

The Short U
cut - nut - shut - up

THE LONG U

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These are mashed up international maritime flags - academically known as a diphthong, which sounds like some kind of sexy bathing suit.


The OI Flag
oil - toil - boy - noid

This flag combines the official letter 'I' with 'O' to make the 'OI' flag.

The OO Flag
look - book - shook - took

Can you see the two letter 'O' flags?








The OU flag
our - now - ouch

A small element of the official 'O' combined with a bit of 'A' and 'O.'

Expansion of the International Maritime Code for the 'Missing' letters

The International Maritime Code is based upon the English Language. Subsequently there are several 'letters' absent because of the Anglo-Roman Alphabet adaptation of Sound-to-Flag. So in an effort to truly Internationalize the Maritime Code, here are additional signal letter flags that fill in the sound gaps that English misses with One-Letter/Sound-to-One-Flag.

The Spanish 'Jota'
CALL = JESUS
"REMOTELY CONTROLLED"

English speakers don't use this sound but can easily make it. This sound is popular in Spanish and sounds like a cat hissing while making the letter 'H' sound. The Spanish 'J' can be found in the Spanish words:

Jugar (play)
Juan (John)
Jesus (Hey-Zeus with a cat hiss on 'H' in Hey)



'Enye' or the Spanish N with a tilda on it
CALL = PINATA
"PARTY SOON"

This sound is used in English but ignored as a separate sound. Think of the word 'Manual.' The 'n' in 'Manual' dose not sound like a regular 'n.' Perhaps the most popular word in Spanish recognizable to world is 'MANANA.' The first 'N' of 'MANANA' uses this flag - manana means tomorrow. As you can see this flag is based on the international maritime code for 'N' but with red and black.




The Soft TH
CALL = THIMBLE
"REQUESTING POLICE PROTECTION"

The 'TH' sound in English can be difficult for a foreigner to master. It is so strange that even English speakers don't notice the complexities of it.There are actually two TH sounds - a hard and soft. In Arabic they make a distinction with different letters, but in English we don't.

Link to Soft Arabic TH or Hard Arabic TH letter, and this video illustrates the differences.

This 'TH' is the soft one as can be found in thing, thick, or at the end as in sloth. This flag is based upon the international maritime code for the letter 'T.' The next flag illustrates the hard or rather vibrating 'TH' sound.


The Hard TH sound
CALL = THAT-CAT
"IMMEDIATE AIRLIFT NEEDED"

Again it is based on the international maritime code for the vertical tri-bar for the letter 'T' yet it represents the hard 'TH' sound with a vibration like: The, Those, That, and Then. The two 'TH' sounds are like the difference between 'F' and 'V.'

'F' and 'V' are very similar. The hard 'TH' has the 'V' vibration while the soft 'TH' is like 'F' without a vibration.



The hard back throat K or Hebew Khet
like your going to hock a looger
CALL = CHUTZPAH
"TAKING ON WATER/SINKING"

Remember that thing at the back of your throat that apparently has no purpose? It may have no use in English, but other languages sometimes use it.

The uvula helps make the hocking 'K' vibration-sound. Most linguists call it a guttural sound. But it dose not involve the gut - the stuff below the esophagus. Rather it involves the back of the throat. These sounds are used in Hebrew, Arabic, Dutch, Scottish, and French. English rarely uses it, but we can easily make that sound. Click this link to see it in action.

The rolled rr of Spanish
CALL = ARROZ
"TERRORISTS IN CONTROL"
Most English speakers have the tables finally turned on them - and making this sound is a bit of a challenge.

The design of the flag is based on a flag for 'R' - reversed by colours and doubled in crosses. Graciously it has the colours of Spain already on it.

If you liked making sound effects when you were younger, then mastering it should be no problem. Click this link on youtube to learn how to get the rolled Spanish R.

The CH sound
CALL = CHIPPER
"REQUESTING UNDERWATER SCUBA/SUB DOCKING TEAM"

This flag is based upon the international maritime code for the letter 'C' - but facing horizontal. The architects of the English Language apparently thought it'd be easier to combine two letters rather than invent a new letter - like they did in Russian.  The 'Scuba Docking' flag is a sordid combo of the diver down flag of 'Alpha' and the 'US-North American' flags. 




The Jacques Cousteau Sound
or Russian Zhe - looks like an Asterisk
CALL = JACQUES-COUSTEAU
"EXOTIC ANIMALS ON BOARD"
This sound is used in English, but not distinguished. In Russian and French they use this sound much more like a consonant. You can hear this sound in the name George, if you hold out the vibrating 'G' sound or better yet in 'treasure' with the letter 'S.'







The SH sound Flag
CALL = SUGAR
 "PRISONERS IN CARGO"

Again this flag represents the 'SH' sound which has its own letter in Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, and even the mother language of all - Egyptian. Some how the Romans decided that the 'SH' sound didn't deserve its own letter.

Rather the 'S' and 'H' were married to make this sound, but sometimes 'C' can interlope with 'H' to make the 'shh' sound on occasions.

Also note 'S' by itself can sometimes make the 'SH' sound as in 'SUGAR.' We don't say 'SUE-GAR' rather we say 'SHUGER,' yet we spell it 'sugar.' See how nutty English really is!?

The NG flag
CALL =NGOW or COWTOWING
"NEED LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR"

This sound is commonly found in South East Asian languages and sounds like a mashed up 'N' and 'G.' Oddly, this sound is commonly in English, but only at the end and middle. You'd think we'd have no problem using it the beginning or have it appear a few times in a leading role?

With a little bit of practice native English Speakers can master it, since we already use it, quite a lot.

Click this link to see this 'consonant' in leading roles - as found in Thailand, China, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Malaysian, Tagalog, and Indonesian.

The throat clicks
CALL - QIKQIOk or Q-BERT
"TOURIST VESSEL"
This sound used is some African Languages. This is a sound little kids like to make when playing around. In the linked video it is the last click.








Backwards Tsi or Psi, The C-Click
CALL =CXACXAGABOR or ZSA ZSA GABOR
"U.F.O."

This click is sort of like a backwards psi or tsi. It is used in Central Southern Africa and in Native Mayan Languages. To make this sound click the link - it's the same video for QikQiok.







The Side Click
CALL = QIOSA - CLICK CLOCK
"U.F.I" - Unknown Floating Item

This click is best known as the horse click or something like that. To hear it and perhaps practice it follow the link above. This flag is unique in design an like a backwards "ALPHA." The tree sounds originate from the Xhosa Language.






The PSI or TSI flag
CALL = PSYCHIC
"A.I. IN CONTROL"

This flag is based upon the international maritime flag for 'S.' The PSI sound originally had its own letter in Greek - which looks like a pitchfork. But the Romans must have decided that it was a stupid looking letter. Such a shame, since the pitchfork letter is cool looking.

We English speakers use this sound a lot but it's ignored - examples of the sound can be found at the end of words like lets, pets, lips and psst. Psychic is pronounced 'TSYE-KICK.'

The Japanese R/L
CALL = LOTERRIA
"CYBORGS IN CHARGE"

In Japan there is an 'R/L' sound. It seems to be a hybrid of the 'L' and 'R' sounds. You'd then think the Japanese would have no problem distinguishing between an 'R' and 'L' sound? Wrong!

But going the other way - as a native English speaker to learn the Japanese 'R' is much easier. Much easier than rolling the Spanish RR.

The Japanese "Ra-Ri-Ru-Re-Ro" sound (click for a youtube viedo link). But going the other way - for native Japanese speakers to learn the English 'R' or 'L' is difficult. Finally note that LOTTERIA is fast food chain founded by an Japanese National who was ethnically Korean.

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When the English tried to adapt a Latin Roman Alphabet to a Germanic Language their was a wee bit of confusion on how to make it all work. To this day English Speakers oddly take pride on themselves when they master this insanely irrational language. If you have not noticed there are no Spelling Bees in Spain for good reason - the language matches up mostly with the way its supposed to sound and how it's written. This is the reason why substitute teachers and native English speakers can't read new foreign names or odd foreign words. One has to stumble many times before getting the system right - it's a cursed language.

A similar thing happened on the other side of the world in Japan. The Japanese took mainland Chinese Languages from different regions and at different times - then cluster schmucked it to their own Tungus like tongue. The result is a complex and challenging language. Subsequently native Japanese speakers like English Speakers take extreme pride on those who master their 'linguistic symbols.'

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If you have any ideas for sounds/letters from foreign alphabets that English misses post it here.

Chukotka US-Russian Heritage Flag

Chukotka American-Rusian Heritage Flag

There is a supersize footnote that the Russians once colonized part of the United States.

Most know that Alaska was originally a Russian Colony and some know that California was host to the Russians near Sonoma County by San Francisco Bay.

But did you know that the United States also had colonies in Russia? Very short lived expeditions, yet longer than a year.


This is the Chukotka United States-Russian Heritage Flag. It is dedicated to America's short lived stint in Alaska's proverbial half brother - Chukotka. It follows the overall pattern of Chukotka's modern flag. However this shade of blue - navy blue - is taken after Alaska's flag with the yellow north star of Alaska. Instead of the federal colours of Russia in the yellow ring there are thirteen stripes reflective of the American flag - six red and seven white. Finally the white triangle is on the opposite side to indicate America's point of view.

Official Chukotka Flag in Russia
Chukotka is Russia's Alaska
or rather Alaska is America's Chukotka?

Perhaps the meekest of US-Russian colonies to fall into the cracks of history took place at the western end of Russia in Chukotka on Wrangel Island. Wrangel island is a small Asian Isle in the Arctic Ocean. It was long known to 'Inuit' peoples but the first written reference to this Arctic Ocean Island belongs to a Russian Cossak - Steven Andreyev in 1764.

The first US landing on the island took place on August 12, 1881 with the USRC Corwin. The USRC stands for United States Revenue Cutter Service which is the 'maiden' name of the US Coast Guard. The leader of the US expedition was Calivin L. Hooper who subsequently claimed the island for the United States and christened it - 'New Columbia.' Additionally famed first American Naturalist John Muir was a part of the expedition.

Original illustration by John Muir
with the modern 2012 Chukotka Flag added

In 1911 the Russian Government laid claim to the island, but in 1921 a joint US-Canadian team of colonists landed. By 1924 only one American and 13 Inuit were living in Chukotka and an Inuit anchor baby. But in 1924 American hopes on holding this frozen wonderland were dashed by the Soviet Union who evicted the 'American Colonist and US Wards.'

Afterwards the US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughs made an overture for an American Reindeer CEO, Carl J. Lomen, to "go and hold it." But this American Enterprise only made as far as Herald Island, where a 48 starred US flag was raised and they later went home, gravely short of the intended target.


















Just as some lord over that Alaska was once Russian, the counter punch is that some of Russia - in this case Chukota - was in a juxtaposition semi-formally a part of the United States. Geographically speaking as Alaska is Russia's forlorn tundra of the USA, or rather parts of Chukota are America's forlorn icebox of Russia.