Friday, 7 October 2016

By Alex Clark


Myanmar came out of nowhere only to find itself on a path to oblivion. It has a storied past, rich and exalted, has survived battles that both scarred and informed its character, and today is building a future that will surely rival its past. The ethnic origins of modern Myanmar (known historically as Burma) are a mixture of Indo-Aryans, who began pushing into the area around 700 B.C. , and the Mongolian invaders under Kublai Khan who penetrated the region in the 13th century. Anawrahta (1044-1077) was the first great unifier of Myanmar.

Myanmar is also known as Burma, although it is officially referred to as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. It is a country in the Southeast Asia bounded on the northeast side by China, on the southeast flank by Thailand, on the east side by Laos, on the west edge by Bangladesh, on the northwest border with India, and on the southwest bank by the bay of Bengal. Its southern limit is demarcated by the Andaman Sea. Geographically Burma is a coastal nation as almost one-third of the land is bounded by the sea.

The flag of Myanmar was recently adopted on October 21, 2010, in order to replace the socialist flag. The changes were made because of the constitution amended in 2008 including the name of the country.

The flag of Myanmar, formerly Burma, consists of a red background with a blue square in the top left corner. Inside the square is a white emblem. The emblem consists of a cog wheel and a paddy ear surrounded with 14, five-pointed stars.

The former flag, used from 1974 to 2010, was red with a small dark blue rectangle in the top left corner overlaid by a gear/pinion of 14 cogs, a grain paddy and a circle of stars, all in white. The number 14 signified the seven states and seven divisions of the Union of Myanmar, the gear, industry and the paddy, agriculture. The State Seal also has a 14-cog pinion. It has a map of Myanmar in its center, surrounded by ears of grain, and floral designs, flanked by two watchful lions.

This order of the colors is reflected in the flag of the State of Burma that was used at the time of the Japanese Occupation and has a green peacock at the middle. The new design of the flag can be regarded as a combination of this old flag with the white star and remove the green peacock. The white star represents the Union of Burma. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Myanmar flag for the future.




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By Liza Collins


The history of Nepal began in, and centers on, the Kathmandu Valley. Over the centuries Nepal's boundaries have extended to include huge tracts of neighboring India and contracted to little more than the Kathmandu Valley and a handful of nearby city-states. Though it has ancient roots, the modern state of Nepal emerged only in the 18th century.

The most prominent geographical aspect of the country is its mountain regions in the northern part including the eight highest peaks in the world, Mount Everest which is 20,000 feet above sea level and comprises of 240 peaks.

In Dec. 2007, Parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and become a federal democratic republic. The transition to a republic was completed in May 2008, when the Constituent Assembly voted to dissolve the monarchy. The current Nepalese flag was adopted on December 12, 1962. The individual flags that make up the national flag had been used during the past two centuries and the double flag has been in use since the 19th century.

The flag of Nepal consists of a crimson/red base that is outlined in blue. The top triangle of Nepal's flag has a white emblem of the moon and the bottom triangle has a white emblem of the sun.

These two symbols are associated with different dynasties and also express the hope that the country may have the same longevity as the sun and moon. Originally, there were facial features represented in red on both the sun and the moon.

Before the year 1962, the sun and moon emblems have human faces but the flag was revised when it was modernized. The flag has elements with Hindu origins in the design. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Nepal Flag for the future.




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Thursday, 29 September 2016

By Brian Scott


Montserrat, known as the Caribbean's own Emerald Isle, shares much in common with Ireland. The Arawak and Carib were Montserrat's first residents before Christopher Columbus discovered the island and named it after Catalonia's Monastery of Montserrat in 1493.

Between 1871 and 1956 the island was administered as part of the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands. In 1958 Montserrat joined the Federation of the West Indies, remaining a member until that organization's dissolution in 1962. Unlike most other British West Indies possessions, Montserrat, with its weak economy, has not vigorously sought independence.

The Soufrière Hills volcano began erupting in 1995, and the situation continued to worsen through 1998, with the capital, Plymouth, destroyed and the southern and central parts of the British colony having been evacuated. Thousands had moved to nearby Antigua, Britain, or other parts of the Caribbean.

One of the most intriguing flags of the world, the flag of Montserrat has on the blue surface two different symbols standing for two countries: Great Britain and Montserrat coat of arms with Irish symbols.

The flag of Montserrat consists of a dark blue base with a British Union Jack in the top left quarter. The country's coat of arms is centered on the right-hand half of the Montserrat flag. The coat of arms consists of a woman with a harp, embracing a passion cross.

The Union Jack speaks of Montserrat's binds to Britain, as the nation is an Overseas Dependent Territory of Britain. The escutcheon on the Montserrat banner portrays Erin. A considerable lot of the Montserrat Island's inhabitants talk with an Irish brogue as countless individuals were sent to Montserrat Island by Oliver Cromwell in the seventeenth century. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Montserrat flag for the future.




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By Christine Adams


Morocco has been the home of the Berbers since the second millennium B.C. In A.D. 46, Morocco was annexed by Rome as part of the province of Mauritania until the Vandals overran this portion of the declining empire in the 5th century. The Arabs invaded circa 685, bringing Islam. The Berbers joined them in invading Spain in 711, but then they revolted against the Arabs. In 1086, Berbers took control of large areas of Moorish Spain until they were expelled in the 13th century.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Morocco was one of the Barbary States, the headquarters of pirates who pillaged Mediterranean traders. European powers showed interest in colonizing the country beginning in 1840, and there were frequent clashes with the French and Spanish. Finally, in 1904, France and Spain concluded a secret agreement that divided Morocco into zones of French and Spanish influence, with France controlling almost all of Morocco and Spain controlling the small southwest portion, which became known as Spanish Sahara.

Starting in the 17th century, at the time when Morocco was still under the rule of the Alaouite Dynasty, the Moroccan flags were mostly in red color with no markings. It was only until Mulay Yusuf ruled Morocco in 1915 that the green laced pentagon-shaped star was placed at the center of the flag. The pentagon-shaped star was generally used by occults for centuries. It is said that the “Seal of Solomon” was used in the flag in order to distinguish the flag from the other flags of Islamic nations with the similar red background.

Moroccan flag was adopted on November 17, 1915. Morocco gained independence from France on March 2, 1956. The 'Seal of Solomon' was added to the red flag, previously used by the reigning Moroccan dynasty since the 17th century, to differentiate Morocco's flag from similar red flags of other nations.

According to old traditions, there is symbolism involved in the colors of the flag. For the Moroccan flag, red stands for courage, bravery, strength and force. The red interlaced also represents love, joy, and hope. Green is also a significant color under Muslim faith.

The pentagram is a five-pointed star, drawn with five straight lines, which intersect to create the outline of a star. This style of a star has long been used as a symbol of religions as the star of Solomon, and the green is also often associated with religion. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Morocco flag for the future.




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Wednesday, 28 September 2016

By Albert Derrick


Bantu speakers migrated to Mozambique in the first millennium, and Arab and Swahili traders settled the region thereafter. It was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and first colonized by Portugal in 1505. By 1510, the Portuguese had control of all of the former Arab sultanates on the east African coast. Portuguese colonial rule was repressive.

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach current-day Mozambique. When he arrived in 1498, the Maravi kingdom of the Mwene Matapa was in control of the central Zambezi Basin. Da Gama first landed in the Muslim island town of Moçambique, and by 1510 the Portuguese controlled trading from Sofala in present-day Mozambique north to Mogadishu in what is now Somalia.

One of the early leaders in the struggle for independence from Portuguese rule was the Democratic National Union of Mozambique (Udenamo), whose flag was adopted in November 1961. It had a diagonally divided field of green (for the country’s forested mountains and plains) and black (for the majority population). Its white central disk suggested the rivers and the Indian Ocean, and its central red star indicated the common blood of all struggling for liberation.

After independence from Portugal the flag of the main revolutionary army, the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO), was adopted as the flag of the new country for an interim period until the flag that is seen today was decided on.

For a short period after September 1974, the Frelimo flag flew side by side with the flag of Portugal throughout Mozambique. At the time of independence on June 25, 1975, a new flag was hoisted. This was, in turn, replaced in April 1983 by a modified version of the Frelimo party flag.

The flag of Mozambique is the only one in the world to feature a rifle, as it has an AK47 on it. A contest was held to design a new flag of Mozambique in September 1999 and 119 entries were received. A winner was picked, but a new Mozambique flag has never materialized. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Mozambique flag for the future.




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Monday, 19 September 2016

By Ned Stevens


Until 1918, the flag of Montenegro looks like a classic red-white-blue tricolor, which was located in the center of the national emblem. During the German occupation of the country in Montenegro army used military flag adopted until 1918, on a red field, which depicts an eagle and a lion.

Socialist Montenegro as a part of Yugoslavia again received as an official symbol of the tricolor, which caught fire on the red five-pointed star. At independence, Montenegro has chosen as a flag in 1993 tricolor with red, blue and white horizontal stripes. Then the policy of separation of Montenegro from Yugoslavia led to the fact that the leader of the country Djukanovic decided to change and official paraphernalia. Old flag served as a reminder of the union with Serbia, and therefore approved a new in 2004.

After World War I, free Montenegro alongside a few other Balkan nations turned out to be a piece of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and had no banner of its own. Yugoslavia was disintegrated by the Axis powers amid World War II; Montenegro, ostensibly free, was possessed by Italy and again flew the red-blue-white tricolor from July 1941 to November 1943.

One of the state symbols of the country, the flag of Montenegro, together with the anthem and the coat of arms was approved after the formation of a sovereign state. His field is made red, the entire perimeter is a gold rim. In the center of Montenegro's flag, a country coat is applied.

On July 13, 2004, Montenegro adopted a distinctive flag. Based on an old royal banner, the new flag of Montenegro was red bordered with yellow. At its center was a yellow double-headed eagle displaying a shield with a lionâ€"the dynastic arms of the NjegoÅ¡ dynasty that once ruled Montenegro.

In 2006 a mainstream submission in Montenegro supported its severance from the alliance, and freedom was broadcasted on June 3; the banner of 2004 turned into Montenegro's national banner on that day. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Montenegro Flag for the future.




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Sunday, 18 September 2016

By James Kelly


Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China to the south. An empire arose in the steppes of Mongolia in the thirteenth century that forever changed the map of the world, opened intercontinental trade, spawned new nations, changed the course of leadership in two religions, and impacted history indirectly in a myriad of other ways. At its height, the Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in history, stretching from the Sea of Japan to the Carpathian Mountains. Although its impact on Eurasia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was enormous, the Mongol Empire's influence on the rest of the worldâ€"particularly its legacyâ€"should not be ignored.

The name Mongol comes from a small tribe whose leader, Ghengis Khan, began a conquest that would eventually encompass an enormous empire stretching from Asia to Europe, as far west as the Black Sea and as far south as India and the Himalayas. But by the 14th century, the kingdom was in serious decline, with invasions from a resurgent China and internecine warfare.

The current flag of Mongolia was adopted on January 12, 1992, when Mongolia became a democracy. Before this, Mongolia was the Mongolian People's Republic from 1940 until 1992, and the flag was the same, but with the addition of a socialist star at the top of the column of the soyombo. From 1911 to 1921, a version of the flag was used that featured the soyombo centered on a red flag with a yellow border, and other variations have also been used.

Blue is a traditional Mongolian color and it represents the sky. The red stripes initially represented Mongolia's socialist beliefs, but a modern interpretation means liberty and progress. The soyombo is a national emblem which contains individual symbolism within it. The fire at the top of it represents prosperity, contentment and regeneration. The three flames represent the past, present and future.

The soyombo is made up of many symbols. At the top of the symbol, there is a flame, representing growth and wealth, each tongue of the flame symbolizes time, one for the past, present, and future. Below the flame is the sun over a crescent moon, representing Mongolia's eternal existence. Two triangles pointing down next to rectangular bands represent spears, defeating enemies.

The national emblem is a combination of geometric depictions of the sun, moon, earth, water and the Taijitu (also known as the yin-yang) fashioned in a pillar composition. This flag was used beginning on February 12, 1992. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Mongolian flag for the future.




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