Assan Motor Company Banner - Gung Ho 1986

 In 1986 trade tensions between the USA and Japan were are all time highs.  The labor undercutting from East Asia with low cost international transportation saw that many manufacturing jobs in the USA were lost.  In the wake of this process a special gem from Hollywood Land was created Gung Ho 1986.

Here is the logo of the fictional Japanese automobile company.  Notice it has the Japanese disc as found on the Japanese national flag.  Also the name Assan strikes a similar sound with Nissan, which is indeed a real Japanese motor company.

Flag in Collective Soul's Run Video 2011

A flag briefly appears in the video for Run by Collective Soul from the album Dosage 1999.  When the team makes a touchdown fans standing by the end zone wave their flag in a frenzy. The cut scene is taken from the movie Varsity Blues.

Royal Pillow Motto from Genovia - "Totus Corpus Laborat"

 The Princess Dairies 2001 is a zero to hero makeover movie.  Here the motto of the nation can be seen on the Royal Pillow with Cat.  It read's "Totus Corpus Laborat" which like like saying "Total Corporate Labor."

Starring a real life princess, Anne Hathaway, is the Princess of Genovia.  She overcomes her challenges not with magic or fairy dust, but good old fashioned trails and errors, letting the better half of her heart win the day. This is one of the few realistic non-magical Princess Disney movies, yet this princess is not a part of the Disney Princess Doll Collections.

Genovia Livery in food, umbrella, and car flag - The Princess Diaries 2001

A patriotic dish, or rather matriotic cuisine appears for the fictional nation of Genovia, that is supposedly somewhere between France and Spain - kinda' like Andorra.  As with all nations the national dish that has the national colours makes an appearance in the Princess Diaries 2001. 

Here the colours of Genovia can be seen on the car flag: green, white, and blue.  The flag also has a yellow fringe.










The umbrellas reflect the livery of Genovia.  The people have gathered to hear important news from the heir apparent in this could really happen Disney movie about a princess.

US Flag in the Princess Diaries 2001

The US flag with starry canton appears in vivid detail crossed with the flag of the fictional Kingdom of Genovia.  Often times fate steps in and turns a persons world upside down.  In this film a local less than popular girl from San Francisco, becomes the de-facto heir to Genovia when her father unexpectedly passes away.

The US flag makes three appearances in The Princess Diaries 2001.  In the opening sequence at the high school it can be seen on the left side of the screen.  However only the lower stripes appear. 





The US flag also appears during the after school filming of the local cable tv news that only reaches a dozen people.  It appears behind the student camera-woman.

Flags in the Graduate 1967

The US flag appears in the Graduate 1967 when Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, waits by a fountain at Berkley University.  This is the 50 starred modern space age flag.  Note that this film was created at the opening seasons of the 1960s, when this decade was in transition from the 1950s.  Much of the 1960s were exactly like the 1950s, say about til' 1966.

Also note several international flags appear in the film.  Half the flag of South Vietnam is visible, as yet the Vietnam War was just heating up.  Also visible is the flag of Nepal, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Libya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, El Salvador, Australia, Jamaica, Ecuador and two hard to recognize others.

Also note the Anglo-Saxon Cultural revolution was really picking up momentum in the United States and the United Kingdom.  The roles of women and men were shifting personally and in the media.  Likewise the African Americans and African nations were fighting for equity and independence. 

 The most unique flag in the movie belongs to a fraternity - Theta, Delta, Chi.  When Ben runs into the Frat House, the flag can be seen.  It is a tri-bar of navy blue, white, and blue.  On the navy blue hoist part is a white Greek letter Theta.  In the middle white portion is a blue Greek letter Delta.  Finally a Greek letter Chi is on the fly-ward blue part. 

The letter Theta is not visible on the flag, but once inside, there is shot of the Fraternities letters framed in the dining room.

North Face Flag and Ski Gate Marker Vexilloids in Better Off Dead 1985

A North Face Flag appears in the 1980s teenage classic Better Off Dead 1985.  It has the North Face logo in green on a white background.  Another important vexilloid are the skiing gate markers.  In this case our hero Lane, played by John Cusack, is skiing through them.  

Better Off Dead was perfect 1980s cult classic loaded with campy quotable jokes.  It straddled the line of zany 80s comedy yet grounded itself with serious real tough to tackle life issues.  Cusack was not a part of the 1980s brat pack, but he surely carried his own weight living on making movies, up into the modern cell phone I-phone age.