Wake Island - the first part of the USA to awaken!

Official Flag of Wake Island
Where the day begins in the USA

Wake Island is the first part of the United States to start each new day, and bring in the New Year! 2012 had come and already began for this small slice of 'America' while much of the nation was not yet...awake.

American Wakers celebrate the New Year at the same time as their southern Kiwi cousins down under in New Zealand. Wake Island is due north of Resolution Island, New Zealand. But by latitude Wake Island's climate is on par with Northern Vietnam or Veracruz, Mexico.

Compare to Wake Island
Texas and North Carolina are fraternal twins

The flag of Wake Island takes after Texas or rather North Carolina. Unlike these two 'Southern Brothers' Wake Island is parted like a sideways 'Y' rather than sideways 'T.' The red, white and blue pattern mirror's that of Texas. However the blue hoist portion is more like North Carolina since it has yellow stars and scribbles like North Carolina's yella' ribbons and yeller' state initials.

Wake Island is a 99er so to speak since it was annexed in 1899. During WWII the Japanese attacked it the same day as Pearl Harbor and captured it three weeks later. The island was retaken by American forces on September 4, 1945.

Coincidentally the name of the island reflects its point as America's Land of the Rising Sun - since America awakens to each new day or new year at Wake Island.

Happy New Year 2012!


PS. JK.
This is why we say "WAKE UP" instead of "MAINE UP"

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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

To all my friends and family who helped, in small steps is where the miracles happen!

The Colors or Livery of Rydell High - from Grease 1978

Animated Rydell School Pennant in Rizzo's Room

The fictional school in Grease is Rydell High. It is the primary setting for one of the classic and epic musicals about the 1950s - Grease. During the movie the colors or rather livery of the school are displayed - red and white.

Grease was originally produced as a play in 1971, and it is one of the few Broadway productions to successfully cross over in Hollywood in 1978.

The real Rydell High School Pennant
in Rizzo's Room minus Rizzo

During a Pink Ladies slumber party at Rizzo's, the school pennant from Rydell High can be seen hanging on the wall behind a paint by number horse and picture of Elvis. It can be seen clearly during the Look at Me, I'm Sandradee song.

The Rydell Rangers Pep Rally - Grease 1978

At a pep rally for the Rydell Rangers the school coach leads the cheerleaders and fans. The American flag with 48 stars can be seen in the background and the stage columns are wrapped in red bunting on a white background to emphasize the school colors.

Principal Mrs. McGee raising
school flag with assistant Blanche

In the Hollywood sequel of Grease 2 - the tacky 80s take on the not so electric boogaloo. This train wreck takes place two years later in 1961, the school flag of Rydell Flag is shown in the beginning. The director couldn't help but sneak so totally not so tubular in 80s hair, music and style. Although marketing forces like to wrap decades and generations into neat little packages like the 50s, 80s, 00s, Generation X, Y, & Z. These are broad and often untrue generalizations, since there parts of the the 1960s that were no different from the 1950s. Likewise each person is their own 'decade' of whatever.

Original Trailer

The Vexillology of Thunderpants

Notice School Emblem

In 2002 a film about a boy with a certain kind of gift was released upon the public Thunderpants.

Because of his propensity to propel pungent puffs of putrid pockets of air from his arse, he has difficulty making friends. However one kid in school who was born without a sense of smell - Alan A. Allen (played by Rupert Grint of the Harry Potter franchise) is able to befriend Patrick.

Human powered flight via farting?

Here the boys enter a contest to create a flying machine with human power. Patrick Thunderpants is able to channel his flatulence into a hover craft that gives him the ability to lift themselves off the ground.

In the background are green flag pennant streamers and a red flag waving near the finish line. Although very improbable, using digestive gases as power source is possible.


Thunder Pants 1
designed to contain toxic emissions

Patrick 'Thunderpants' is able to enjoy some of his childhood when his buddy designs a special pair of pants - Thunderpants 1. This mechanical fancy pants clothing contains and channels the noxious fumes from Pat's derriere into a green tool box, which can later be safely eliminated in a Ghost Buster's like containment apparatus.

Flags Nigeria and Rhodesia - a different shade of green

Flag of Nigeria

At the moment the flag of Nigeria is bonded outside of time to the former nation of Rhodesia. Nations come and go, subsequently flags change - sometimes a little and sometimes a lot.

The flag of Nigeria was in active political alignment with Rhodesia during its relatively short existence from 1965 until 1979. In 1979 Rhodesia under went a name change to Zimbabwe Rhodesia a little later to simply Zimbabwe. But its declaration of independence was not authorized by the UK and was often called in dispute as 'Southern Rhodesia' by the UK and its allies.

Also note there were several other colonies and states that also had Rhodesia in their name - Northern Rhodesia, North-Western Rhodesia, North-Eastern Rhodesia, and the Federation of Rhodesia with Nyasaland.

The flag of 'Rebel Southern Rhodesia' is and or was in harmonious alignment with Nigeria, depending on your point of view. Suffice it to say Rhodesia in the general way was a super African state that was too big for itself with harsh cultural divides - much like Nigeria.

Flag of Southern Rebel Rhodesia

It is only a matter of time for Nigeria to follow its forlorn fraternal twin Rhodesia by ceasing to exist or breaking up into smaller parts. There was already the Nigerian Civil War of from 1967-1970 for the forlorn nation of Biafra.

Like Sudan the religious divide between the Nigerian Islamic North and Christian-Animist South is seething with violence, mixed in with precious petroleum.

exiled colours to be, or not to be?

The vexillology of Tron Legacy

US Flag in front of Kevin Flynn's home

Tron Legacy 2010 was the continuation of Tron 1982. In this movie the cyber-computer world is a virtual universe that like the 'real world' has its heroes and villains who want to control the system. Tron was originally a program designed to keep the system free.

Tron Guard Programs with Vexilloids

The American flag makes a brief appearance in front of Kevin Flynn's place. Once inside the virtual computer universe - several objects are shown that qualify in some regard as a vexilloid. The guards under control of the system have long poles with white tips at the end that are also zapping program prods.


Bar keep light cane vexilloid

Finally the bar keeper at the club has a personal light cane. Seen here, he plays it like an air guitar when a fight breaks out.

Since the rise of the Internet there are voices from the powerful elite and special interests that want to control the Internet, subsequently a rebooted version of Tron in 2010 was harmoniously appropriate. Will the Internet remain a user free paradise or will people let a minority of powerful voices control the environment? Only time will tell.

The Legend of King Arthur - as told by Walt Disney, The Sword in the Stone

Sword in the Stone intro Book
note the three heraldic shields along the bottom

The Sword in the Stone 1963 was Walt Disney's take on the epic semi-legend of King Arthur. The story unfolds on the imaginative humble beginnings of King Arthur, as the unexpected ruler of England.

Flags of all shapes and sizes make an appearance in the movie. The movie makes extravagant use of heraldic designs, but during the supposed time period of King Arthur - heraldry was not yet an institution. Records trace its emergence some 700 years after the life of King Arthur. Nonetheless, Disney's effective and colourful use of heraldry enriches this fanciful tale about the Legend of King Arthur.

Boy King Arthur having just
pulled the sword from the stone

You can see a vexillum in the upper right hand corner. It is a cross shaped pole, the flag is a gonfalon coloured blue, black and two shades of pink. This type of flag was used by the Romans and is the origin of the term Vexillology.

During King Arthur's time the Roman Empire had abandoned the British Isles, but no doubt parts of Roman technology and culture would have remained.