The flag of Italy consists of three equal sized vertical stripes - the left stripe is green; the middle one is white; and the right stripe is red.

The Italian flag is based on the design of the French flag. There are different accounts explaining the meaning and history of the green, white and red colors. One account states that the colors of the Italian flag may have been based on military uniforms from Milan. Another one suggests Napoleon Bonaparte replaced the blue of the French flag with green because he liked the color.

The flag of Pakistan consists of a dark green background with a white vertical stripe on the left side of it. In the center of the green base lie a white crescent and a five-pointed white star.

Green is a traditional Islamic color and the crescent and star are also Islamic symbols.
The white stripe represents the non-Muslim, minority, religious groups in Pakistan. According to modern meaning, the green represents prosperity; white symbolizes peace; the white crescent represents progress; and the white star represents light and knowledge.

​This week's Hero Highlight goes to Real Estate Coach, Mentor & Motivational Speaker Brian Buffini. Brian has trained over 3 million business professionals to reach their full potential, but we think he is a hero for the work he and his company have done in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Buffini and Company created Hands of Hope to rebuild several homes in Baton Rouge starting after Hurricane Katrina. They continue to "bring hope and homes to families in need."

Brian and his wife Beverly are raising their 6 children in Carlsbad, CA. "My greatest achievement?" mulls Brian, "You’re looking at it".

The flag of Tonga consists of a red base with a white square in the upper left corner. There is a red cross centered on the white square.

The red cross represents the country's belief in Christianity. The white stands for purity and the red represents the blood Jesus shed at his crucifixion and reminds Tonga's people that they owe their salvation to him.

The Tongan flag originated in the 1860s and was adopted on November 4, 1875, making it one of the world's oldest flags. The constitution of 1875 stated that the Tongan flag should never be changed.

Which flag would you like to learn about next week?

This week's Hero Highlight features 13-year-old Nora Keegan from Calgary, Canada. Nora noticed when she used bathroom hand dryers at age nine her ears would sometimes ring, and wondered if the sound could damage kids' hearing. She spent 3 years researching decibel levels and heights and confirmed that yes, electric hand dryers in most bathrooms can affect children's ears - especially because their ears are so close to the source. She presented her findings at a Calgary Youth Science Fair this year. As a result, Dyson has announced they will have an acoustics engineer do further research and Nora's research was also recently published in the Journal of Pediatrics & Child Health, Kudos, Nora!

The Temples of Bagan sit within central Burma (Myanmar) and was built as the capital of ancient Myanmar. The temples are the largest concentration of Buddhist temples, most of which dating back to the 12th and 11th centuries.


Where in the world should we visit next week?