Land of the Setting Sun - Ireland

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2013,

Most people may be recallin' that wee Japan is the land of the Rising Sun?  Part of the reason being that the business of each new day of the Old World begins with this most ancient of island nations.

First ya'been needin' to think of the Old World as being one giant super island or perhaps...a grand ol' Super Continent?   Now don't be forgettin' that at one time all of the Asia, Africa, and Europe were are all connected by land.  Essentially as a sun should rise and fall over an island each day so to does it rise and set over the grand interconnected island like land mass of the Old World.

But if there is a Land of the Rising Sun shouldn't their be Land of the Setting Sun?  Thinks about it for a wee moment....What nation fits into this balanced paradigm?  Perhaps England ye'be thinking? Nay England already has or had th' title of that sun which never sat still on her empire or somethin' of that sort.  Rather Erin fits the bill perfectly.  Ireland like Japan hath no land claim on the continent proper.  Both are positioned at the far ends of the landmass and finally both by all accident have flags with suns on it.

Thus as the Old World gets ready to set their minds on to the dreamin' world, tis' Ireland that gets thee last word on what it was and ta' say goodnight to the day that was for the Old World.

A Western Flag for the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Pig

The Year of the Pig is the final sign of Chinese Astrology, before the cycle repeats it self.  In the West and America the Greco-Roman Zodiac plays a dominant role in newspapers and enthusiasts of things groovy and cosmic, but in the East another Zodiac from China fills the same void.  Like the traditional Western Zodiac the Eastern Zodiac is divided into twelve teams that repeat themselves every twelve years instead of every twelve months.  

The East has already made up symbols to represent Leo, Gemini, Virgo, Cancer, etc...so it's only natural that Western Symbols come to be to represent those signs from the East. In this case a stylized letter 'P' represents the Year of the Pig.  The important part is the curly tip at the bottom that represents a pig tail.  Likewise the colour for the Year of the Pigs background is pink.

The Year of the Pig is six years a way from now, so we will have to wait until 2019 to see how things shape up.  Next up is the natural starting point for the Eastern Zodiac on one of the resourceful, clever, intelligent and maligned inhabitants of the Earth - the rat.  

Just as the year in between the Dragon and Tiger has two forms as the Year of the Cat or Rabbit, so to does the Year of the Pig.  In following the level up rule, the 'magical power up' form for the Pig is the Elephant.  In parts of Thailand they call this they year of the Elephant instead of the Year of the Pig.  

A Western Flag for the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Dog

The year of the dog is five years away from now, which will be in the year 2018.  The world will be so different yet so similar. The flag for the Year of the dog has a blue background with the Western Symbol for the dog. 

A Western Flag for the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Rooster

The flag for the Year of Rooster is composed of a red flag with the black Western symbol for this animal of the Zodiac.  Since China and Japan has adapted symbols for the 'Greco-Roman' Western Zodiac it makes sense that a form a symbols be made for the East.  It's 2013 after all and East is often times meeting West.  So remember you have two zodiacs to keep track of now!

The magical level up form of the Rooster is the Phoenix.
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Photo Credit:  http://ahealthylifeforme.com/?attachment_id=4119

A Western Flag for the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Monkey

The flag for the Chinese Year of the Monkey features a purple flag with a Western symbol.  The Western Monkey Symbol is a crescent moon with a line through it.  The Americas have their own native monkeys that differ from the Old World too!  The great thing about New World Monkeys from America is that American Monkeys can hold on to tree limbs with their tails.  Old world Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, Cambodian and Burmese Monkeys can not.

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Photo Credit--http://www.primaterescue.org/index.php/the-center-blog

Chesapeake Bay Flag Association Meeting - Pi Day 2013

The Chesapeake Bay Flag Association met today at the US Library of Congress in Washington DC. A private background tour was given and the tour featured several congenial speakers.

The Pi Flag on 3/14

The 'Pi' flag combines the international maritime flags of 3, 1 and 4 to represent the estimated vale of 'Pi' at 3.14.  The French looking part represents the number three, the red disc on white represents one, and finally the white cross on the red disc represents four.

The great coincidence is that these maritime numbers nicely fit into each other.  Additionally the flags of France, Japan, and Denmark are accidentally apparent when you united them to make up the symbolic flag for 3.14!

A neat unintended coincidence is that the Pi flag happens to have a circle in it, and looks like is it is a four piece of pizza pie!