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Flag Fact Friday: Burkina Faso

4/3/2020

The national flag of Burkina Faso (French: drapeau du Burkina Faso) is formed by two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green, with a yellow five-pointed star resting in the center. In Blazon: The flag is colored in the popular Pan-African colors of the Ethiopian flag, reflecting both a break with the country's colonial past and its unity with other African ex-colonies. The red is also said to symbolize the revolution and the green the abundance of agricultural and natural riches. The yellow star placed over the red and green stripes is the guiding light of the revolution. The flag was adopted following the coup of 1983 which brought Thomas Sankara to power.

Flag Fact Friday: Montenegro

3/27/2020

The flag of Montenegro was officially adopted with the Law on the state symbols and the statehood day of Montenegro on 13 July 2004 at the proposal of the government of Montenegro. It was constitutionally sanctioned with the proclamation of the Constitution on 22 October 2007. It is a red banner with broader golden edges all around the red field with the coat of arms of Montenegro in its center. ⠀
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Montenegro's coat of arms consists of a golden, double-headed eagle which represents the unity of church and state. Protecting the eagle is a shield adorned with the Lion of Judah, symbolizing the Biblical theme of resurrection.

Flag Fact Friday: Spain

3/20/2020

The flag of Spain (Spanish: Bandera de España), as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name rojigualda (red-weld). ⠀
The origin of the current flag of Spain is the naval ensign of 1785, Pabellón de la Marina de Guerra under Charles III of Spain. It was chosen by Charles III himself among 12 different flags designed by Antonio Valdés y Bazán (all proposed flags were presented in a drawing which is in the Naval Museum of Madrid). The flag remained marine-focused for much of the next 50 years, flying over coastal fortresses, marine barracks and other naval property. During the Peninsular War the flag could also be found on marine regiments fighting inland. Not until 1820 was the first Spanish land unit (The La Princesa Regiment) provided with one and it was not until 1843 that Queen Isabella II of Spain made the flag official.

Flag Fact Friday: Tuvalu

3/13/2020

The current flag of Tuvalu was instated when the country became independent in 1978, after the separation from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1976. ⠀
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Like many former and current British dependencies, the Tuvaluan flag is a blue ensign based on the Union Flag, which is shown in the upper left canton of the flag; but has a sky blue field rather than the conventional blue. The previous flag (with the Gilberts) was also based on the Union Flag but with the coat of arms created by Sir Arthur Grimble in 1932, the resident commissioner of the British colony. ⠀
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The stars represent the nine islands which comprise Tuvalu; the arrangement is geographically correct, with the east towards the top (i.e. north to the left). ⠀
Tuvalu is officially the smallest Commonwealth realm. It is also the second smallest country by population in the world. Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a tiny little country in the Pacific Ocean. The country consists of three reef islands and six atolls. ⠀
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Recently, Tuvalu has gained significant media attention worldwide because its low-lying land is so susceptible to rising sea levels. The beaches surrounding the atolls are sinking due to erosion caused by waves and this is exacerbated by rising sea levels.

Flag Fact Friday: Zimbabwe

3/6/2020

The national flag of Zimbabwe (Shona: mureza weZimbabwe) consists of seven even horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle containing a red 5-pointed star with a Zimbabwe Bird. The present design was adopted on 18 April 1980, when Zimbabwe won its independence from the United Kingdom. The soapstone bird featured on the flag represents a statuette of a bird found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. The bird symbolizes the history of Zimbabwe; the red star beneath it officially stands for the nation's aspirations but is commonly thought to symbolize socialism, and the revolutionary struggle for freedom and peace. The design is based on the flag of Zimbabwe's ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front.

Flag Fact Friday: Liberia

2/28/2020

The eleven stripes on the Librarian flag symbolize the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, red and white symbolizing courage and moral excellence. The white star represents the first independent western-styled republic in Africa, above the blue square representing the African continent. The Liberian flag is modeled after and resembles the American flag at the time in the 1820s and 1830s, (26 stars / states) because Liberia was founded, colonized, established, and controlled by free people of color and freed African-American and Caribbean / West Indies slaves as settlers from the United States and the Caribbean with the help and support from the American Colonization Society (ACS), which was a private organization that sent free people of color as well as freed slaves as settlers from the United States and the Caribbean. When the settlers from the United States arrived in Liberia in 1822, they identified themselves as "Americo-Liberians" in an effort to separate themselves from the native Africans and other settlers.

February 26th, 2020

2/26/2020

Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile.

The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters, which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.

Flamingos are drawn to the lake thanks to its abundant supply of plankton. Three of the world’s six species of flamingo can be found here: the Chilean, Andean and the James’ Flamingo. That last one is incredibly rare – the species is only found in the high Andean plateaus and was thought to be extinct until a small population was rediscovered in 1956. Curiously, the flamingos are naturally white; they look pink because the red algae stains their feathers.

Flag Fact Friday: Bosnia and Herzegovina

2/21/2020

The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: zastava Bosne i Hercegovine) contains a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow right triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle.

The three points of the triangle stand for the three main ethnic groups (or "constituent peoples") of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. The triangle represents the approximate shape of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The stars, representing Europe, are meant to be infinite in number and thus they continue from top to bottom. The flag features colors often associated with neutrality and peace – white, blue, and yellow. They are also colors traditionally associated with Bosnian culture and history. The blue background is invocative of the flag of Europe.

Where In The World Wednesday: Denali National Park

2/19/2020

Denali National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres (9,446 sq mi; 24,464 km2) which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre (3,354 sq mi; 8,687 km2) Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.

Denali is home to a variety of North American birds and mammals, including an estimated 300-350 grizzly bears on the north side of the Alaska Range (70 bears per 1000 square miles) and an estimated 2,700 black bears (334 per 1,000 square miles). As of 2014, park biologists were monitoring about 51 wolves in 13 packs (7.4 wolves per 1,000 square miles), while surveys estimated 2,230 caribou in 2013, and 1,477 moose in 2011. Dall sheep are often seen on mountainsides. Smaller animals such as coyotes, hoary marmots, shrews, Arctic ground squirrels, beavers, pikas, and snowshoe hares are seen in abundance. Red foxes, martens, lynxes, wolverines also inhabit the park, but are more rarely seen due to their elusive natures.

Many migratory bird species reside in the park during late spring and summer. There are waxwings, Arctic warblers, pine grosbeaks, and wheatears, as well as ptarmigan and the majestic tundra swan. Raptors include a variety of hawks, a variety of owls, and gyrfalcons, as well as the abundant but striking golden eagles.

Flag Fact Friday: Sri Lanka

2/14/2020

The flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag or Sinha Flag, consists of a gold lion holding a kastane sword in its right fore-paw in a maroon background with four gold bo leaves, one in each corner. This is bordered by gold, and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in green and orange, with the orange stripe closest to the lion. The lion and the maroon background represent the Sinhalese, while the saffron border and four Bo leaves represent Buddhism and the four Buddhist concepts of Mettā, Karuṇā, Muditā and Upekshā respectively. The stripes represent the two main minorities: the orange representing the Sri Lankan Tamils and the green representing Sri Lankan Muslims.