Yemen and Egypt

FLAG OF EGYPT
with Eagle of Saladin




Egypt and Yemen are nation states at the 'bookends' of the Red Sea. You can think of the Red Sea as being a narrow version of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The Red Sea is equal latitudes between the the Mississippi Delta to the islands just north of South America, Trinidad and Tabago.

FLAG OF YEMEN

without Eagle of Saladin

Geographically Egypt and Yemen are at the collision points between Africa and Asia. Certainly in the near future a 'Chunnel' will connect Djbouti with Yemen by the year 2044.


Both of these nations states have Islam as their dominant faith. But Egypt is very famous for the Christian Coptic Branch yet Yemen was at one time famous in history for the Hebrew King Dhu Nuwas whose persecution of Christians led to his demise and an invasion from Ethiopia.


Egypt was of the first states liberated from European Hegemony in 1922 while Yemen was a divided nation like Korea (North Yemen and South Yemen) up until 1990. Yemen was the primary Middle Eastern State bitterly divided by the Cold War. But like West and East Germany, North and South Yemen were also united after the fall of the Berlin Wall, albeit less the media blitz and bonanza!

A long, long time ago when the earth was in a different part of the Galaxy far, far away....

.....Old Gods ruled the earth like none such time before. As the original Hebrew Books point out Egypt was a land full of enchanting and strong willed Pharaohs, while the lovely pagan Queen of Sheeba came form Yemen.

Kiribati with Antigua & Barbuda

FLAG OF KIRIBATI: Nation of the first sun
with two extra time zones that reach into
the future. The nation of the 1st New Years


These two nations are on opposite oceans and worlds away yet their flags look similar. Blue and white represents the waters that surround their lands. Antigua & Barbuda are in the Atlantic Ocean, specifically the Caribbean just east of Puerto Rico. While Kiribati is in the South Pacific, south of Hawaii. The flag of A&B has what could be a rising or setting sun. Coincidentally when the sun rises over A&B at 6:01am, tomorrow has already begun in Kiribati, for it is 12:01am the next day.

Kiribati lies in a strange time zone that is actually 25 hours ahead of Alaska. The Eastern Part of Kiribati is officially the first nation to see the new day and the new year!

Flag of Antigua & Barbuda: a rising
sun on her shores indicates a new
day has officially started on earth

Once again the uncanny symmetry of flags reveals itself!

Happy New Year to all, may 2010 be the year where we undo this horrible economic trend!

Fiji and Tuvalu: Polyglot, Polynesian, Polyfaith,

Flag of FIJI

Two nations to first celebrate the new years are Fiji and Tuvalu. Spattered in the South Pacific. Fiji is Yang - larger, loud, and diverse. Fiji's ethnic diversity is due to the UK's Colonial Policy of transporting foreign labor to the island, mostly from India. Thus Islam and Hinduism has found a beach head in the South Pacific.

But Tuvalu is typical Polynesia that is mostly Protestant or Catholic due to British and French influence. Tuvalu is not as renowned, not as loud and more serene. Thus Tuvalu is - Yin. Yin and Yang are the Chinese way of describing balance to the system of ideas. In the West it is sort of like duality and dichotomies.

But just in case you didn't notice, a nation with a UK Union Jack typically means a strong connection England. From one island nation to the other -the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line link up London and Fiji. The Prime Meridian's opposite line - 180 degrees longitude- crosses into Fiji.

Usually when one travels east you go into the future. But for Fiji and Tuvalu -you go into the past of the previous day. And on New Years Day you can travel go into the previous year.

Fiji and Tuvalu demonstrate that time travel is possible. They illustrate that time is simply a construct of the human mind in ideas. Tuvalu and Fiji are nations that sit along the edges of yesterday and tomorrow.

Flag of TUVALU

Both of their flags have a sky blue background and kept the Union Jack as their Canton, thus they share the colours of Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand.

As Tuvalu is Polynesian Fiji is certainly Polyfaithic.

Christmas - Holiday Card 2009

Flag of Maine in Christmas Style

For this year's 2009 Christmas Season, I used the flags of Maine and Wisconsin to illustrate my newly coined 'flag symmetry' concept.

First of all the men are now wearing Santa hats, the star on the crest was brightened, and the shield was modified. The tree was decorated as a Christmas Tree and the moose was given a bright red nose. Finally, it's night with a fresh sprinkling of snow.

Both Wisconsin and Maine have sailors on their flags. The sailor is the supporter on the left for Wisconsin and for Maine, the seaman is on the right. They represent sailors of the salt and fresh waters. Maine has a scenic Atlantic Coast line, while Wisconsin has two Great Lake coast lines: Lake Superior & Lake Michigan. Because of this, both states are littered with beautiful light houses. Famously Maine has Acadia National Park, while in Wisconsin there is Apostles Islands state park.

Holiday flag of Wisconsin

To the right the flag of Wisconsin has been 'North Polarized.' The four quadrants are replaced with spiritual icons that peoples across the world can appreciate. In the lower left corner is a Menorah.

In the lower right corner is a crescent moon with two stars; one for Shiites and the other for Sunnis on a background of Islamic Green. It purposefully makes a smiley face in honor of the occasions when both schools of Islam get along.

In the upper left is a star for anyone of any faith who enjoys Christmas & loves Christmas Cookies. In the upper right is the Taoist (Yin Yang) Icon of Harmony and behind it is the 'Ohmmm' of the Hindu-Buddeic Tradition written in Sanskrit.

Normal Flags of Maine and Wisconsin Seals
compared to North Polarized versions

MAINE & WISCONSIN

The badger has her nose lit with a green light. If you didn't know, female badgers can light up their noses during the winter in various colours. They can sense when a camera is around so don't even try to take a picture if you see it. The sailor is wearing an Elf Hat, and the miner on is actually wearing a Sikh Turban with a glowing jewel that the Ghost of Christmas Past gave him.

Geographically Wisconsin & Maine are similar states full of pine sap and forest critters. The four seasons line pierces them both, at 45 degrees north. This is the midway point between the north pole and equator. Thus on Christmas Night Santa usually takes a reindeer bathroom break in Portland and Milwaukee when he is crisscrossing the earth.

But the most amazing coincidence only found in great fiction and surreal cosmic alignments are two different rivers of the same name that make up their boarders. On Maine's eastern side is the St. Croix River and on Wisconsin's western side is another St. Croix River. They are totally two different St. Croix Rivers.

Paul Bunyan is a legend in both states and rightfully so. Many states claim to be Bunyan's birth place but the Society of Paul Bunyan has declared that Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine and buried near Rib Mountain at Wausau, Wisconsin.

Finally Maine and Wisconsin represent the proverbial union of 'Surf & Turf,' or rather lobster and steak.

Merry Christmas & a Ho Ho Ho!!!

link to X-mas Holiday Card 2010
link to X-mas Holiday Card 2008

Ghana & Ethiopia

Flag of Ghana
The code for red, yellow, and green is perhaps the only universal communication system that the entire world agrees upon. Red means stop, yellow means caution, and green means Go! Nations drive on different sides of the road, use thousands of different languages, and have different measuring systems. But at least with traffic lights we all agree the meaning of each colour. No nation has it backwards, as of yet.

In the United States the pattern of traffic lights positioned vertically matches the flag colours of Ghana, or rather an upside down version of Ethiopia!

Coincidentally by the good fates both of these flags have stars in the central position. Ghana has a black star reflective of night, while Ethiopia has a yellow star on a blue circle reflective of day.

Historically Ghana and Ethiopia are the leading black African nations of the world. Just as the United States has the Mason-Dixon division, Africa has a Arabic-Black division. North Africa is obviously a part of Africa but in the big picture it is Mediterranean in ethnic dimentions.

Flag of Ethiopia

Ethiopia was never completely colonized by Europe, but a good go at it, was attempted by the Italians. In fact Ethiopia gave Europe her first defeat when it ousted the Italian invaders in 1896.

Ghananians are proud to be the first black African nation set free from European Colonialism in 1957 (UK), the same year Eisenhower ordered integration at Little Rock Central High in Arkansas. Just as the United States underwent radical racial integration in the 1960s the world of Africa too underwent a radical reconstruction from European hegemony.

Kenya, Malawai, Madonna, & Kwanza

Flag of MALAWI
The matching pattern of Africa: Malawi and Kenya. Both nations are relatively new nations born out of the British African Empire. They are at the two ends of the Rift Valley. Kenya in the north and Malawi in the south.

Malawi was recently made famous because of Madonna's adoption choices. Perhaps some day in the distant future a famous black pop star from Malawi will adopt an white orphan from Bay City, Michigan?

Flag of KENYA

Kenya and Malawi are both below the horn of Africa & on the east side. They are composed of your typical African admixture of Christians in the majority with Muslims in the minority, with a strong undertow of Native Beliefs and mixed spiritualists combined with Abrahamic faiths.

Kenya and Malawi are rich in resources and diversity. Surely in the next 50 years they will be proverbially totally different nations.

Finally, in 1966 Ron Karenga of Maryland, USA invented a pan African Holiday called Kwanzaa. The lighting of seven candles during December was meant to promote African Unity: 3 red and 3 green with a black candle in the center. So...if you are celebrating Kwanzaa, hanging the flags of Kenya and Malawi in the background would look just smashing!

Yokohama International Congress of Vexillology

ICV Flag 23 Colours of Japan: Red & White



In 2009 Yokohama, Japan hosted the 23rd International Congress of Vexillology. I was honored to speak and be a delegate at Asia's first international vexillological congress. I spoke about the flags of Japan, specifically the sub-national prefectural flags. You can think of prefectures as being the 'states' of Japan. Japan has 47 prefectures, kind of like the 50 US States. In Canada they call their sub-national districts 'provinces' while in Australia they call em' like they do in the USA: states.

My paper focused on the flag symmetry phenomena of Japan. You can watch a video on my Youtube sight that illustrates this point. It also has videos about Canada, Australia, and the USA:

http://www.youtube.com/user/McMaddish#p/u/3/qKDnMNfGoY8



To the right is a mock cover of the book about the flag symmetry phenomena in Japan. Partially visible as a zoomed close up is the Japanese National Flag. In the foreground are several prefectural flags aligned with their partner.

After living in Japan for five years, I traveled to all 47 prefectures. I was a University Student in Osaka and high school teacher of English in Fukuoka Prefecture at Kurume Chikusui High School on the JET Program. The JET Program is a National Japanese Government sponsored public English Education program.

I became very familiar with Osaka and Fukuoka and coincidentally I have aligned them in my book! Osaka and Fukuoka are at the East and Western ends of the Inland Sea of Japan. Thus both have strong reputations for business like acumen, more so for Osaka.


This 'flag symmetry' phenomena takes place in both Eastern and Western Cultures. It is not an isolated event or some kind of 'fluke.'

The ICV 23 congress was hosted by Japans National Vexillological Association. It was held in the prestigious Yokohama Port Memorial Hall. After WWII it was one of the many US-Allied Command centers. Now it's open to the public as community forum.

I gave my lecture at several other smaller community events. They were all amazed that a foreigner knew so much about their country. Most Japanese are totally unaware that their 'state-prefectures' have flags. Civic duty in Japan is less than enthusiastic and most people rarely dare express personal political opinions.