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Monday, October 17, 2011

A Series of Unfortunate Events Flag or Eye Spy Pennant

The Baudelaire Children in the boat
with the special Eye Spy Pennant

The movie A Series of Unfortunate Events 2004 was a movie based upon the stories written by Mr. Handler, Dan or rather Lemony Snicket. The theme running though the movies deals with the mysterious paradox of misfortune that can with time and distance oddly become good fortune.

The story centers on the three talented orphans of the well to do Baudelaire family - Violet, Claus, and Sunny. Violet is the oldest with a mechanical penchant like MacGyver. Claus the middle son is like a walking encyclopedia like Eddie Morra from Limitless. And Sunny is an insightful little girl with a powerful bite like Jaws from the James Bond movie the Spy Who Loved Me.

The Snicket or Eye Spy Pennant

In the ending credits a flag is featured on the animated boat. Here is a reconstruction based upon the flag. The colours are black and white. It is a swallowtail pennant with another hidden double swallowtail at the ends of the bigger swallowtail.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Flag of the most western isle of Asia - Aspronisi

Flag of the most Western Isle of Asia
Aspronisi - the uninhabited island in the sky

This is the flag of the most Western Island of Asia - Aspronisi. Aspronisi is an island in the Mediterranean Sea in between Turkey and Greece. Officially it's a part of Greece, but closer to Turkey. And it is uninhabited.

The colours are red, yellow and white. The red disc near the fly represents the Sun and the East, while the white crescent represents the Moon and the West.

This flag has elements of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, and even Israel. But this flag reflects mostly the flags of Ottoman and Chinese Empires. They were the last of the 'Middle Age Empires' to fall under the influence of the modern Western nation state political world.




The yellow triangle, or pile, is pointing westward denoting that this is the most wholly western island completely and geographically closer to Asia.

The three six pointed stars represent the three great Asian faiths that have been adopted and made into their own by Europe, Africa and the Americas - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is a reminder that the great 'Western' Religions originate from Asia, and that the majority of the Holy Lands are in Asia.

Aspronisi formed after the Minoan Eruption (also called the Thera Eruption or Santorini Eruption) that occurred sometime in the 2nd Millennium BC. It is thought that this cataclysmic volcanic episode was responsible for the legend of Atlantis. Such an explosion would have darkened the skies over the region and possibly Egypt.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011

In Session UK Parliament Flag, ICV 24 at the George Washington Masonic Memorial, Alexandria VA

UK in session Parliament Flag

The following flag was presented to vexillology at the 24 International Congress of Vexillology, that was held at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia.

Ever since Parliament changed its policy of permanently flying the UK Union flag over Parliament, it has lost its communicative purpose - to signal that British Law makers were in session.

The Parliament Flag would only
fly when law makers are in session

The purpose of this flag is to reestablish the signaling purpose of a flag over Parliament.

Its design is modeled after the typical design of a British Ensign. It has a white background and a badge. The badge is a union of the two symbols - the legendary knights of the round table and the coat of arms of Simon de Montfort who is responsible for England's first directly elected Parliament in 1265.

Not only does this flag restore the communicative aspect of the flag over Parliament but it serves as a reminder of history. We often take democracy for granted and democracies all across the world can appreciate these first of baby steps to the diverse democratic systems of government that rule most nations.

Finally this flag links the legendary era with authentic history unto the modern moment.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Flag of the Lord's Resistance Army and NPR

Flag of the Lord's Resistance Army
in Central Africa - Uganda

Founded in 1987 this rebel army based from Uganda has fought against the government along a fundamentalist mix of native religion and English protestantism. The goal of this Army is to establish a government based on the 10 commandments. Currently this group is listed as terrorist organization for human rights abuses and using children in the military.

NPR as a flag

Coincidentally the colours of n.p.r. or National Public Radio in the United States use a similar colours - red, black, and blue. However NPR espouses completely opposite values versus the Lord's Resistance Army.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Rocky with the Battle of Bennington Flag

Rocky with Bennington Flag

America is made up of myths like the semi-legendary tale of King Aurthur. But a uniquely American myth is the story of Rocky Balboa - the Itallian Stallion.

In the picture to the right we see Rocky waving the flag with a young kid. The Bennington Flag like Rocky Balboa may not have been true, but their story nonetheless tells of the reality of the human spirit.

Timing is everything, and Rocky came at a perfect time for America. It seemed that the US was down for the count in the Cold War after being knocked out of Vietnam. The nation was reeling with the racial issues of the 1960s. It seemed that patriotism was running on fumes. But when times are dark, it seems that heroes can arise in the most unlikely of places. In this case an American legend was born under the guidance of Sylvester Stallone.

American Flag

The quinteseential unknown underdog versus the big show heavy weight champ. The issues of white and black America are played out in Hollywood. Both boxers are rich three dimensional characters with faults and loveable charms. Later in Rocky IV the tensions between the Soviet Union and US would play out in a similar manner.