Vexillology II

Remember when one time a ways back I talked about flags? And then Michael5000 started making it a regular feature on his blog and did it so much better and everything because he's a blogging wunderkind. But here is another flag post anyway because I'm staying away from social updates for now. Maybe next Saturday it'll be a meme! Or some more thoughts on randomly selected songs! Or I'll have quit blogging again!

Anyway. Without further ado, three flags chosen at random.

The Philippines












White triangle, field of dark blue, field of scarlet. On the triangle is a sun with eight rays, representing the original eight provinces of Philippines, and three small stars that represent the three major island groups. Nice colors, very good visuals, almost aerodynamic (the eye is gently directed from hoist to fly), and richly symbolic. Grade: A

Morocco












Ugh! Maybe it looks better in real life:












It's not as visually unappealing up there on the flagpole, but it's still pretty blah. I'll admit that the interlacing green pentangle is an interesting design, but all by itself on that field of red it loses something, and it seems as though most Moroccan flags just use a solid line for the star instead of the over-and-under motif seen above. When that's the case, this flag has very little going for it other than in-your-face starkness. But haven't they ever heard of opposing colors? Grade: C+

Peru










Zzzzzz. Actually this, though it is the official national flag, seems to be a template of sorts, upon which various defacements can be be placed. So it seems as though most government establishments fly this, the national ensign, marked with the Peruvian coat of arms:











The coat of arms depicts a vicuna, the quinine tree, and a cornucopia, all in a shield surrounded by a wreath, crested by a smaller wreath. All of which is mighty impressive --- first, the pride in the national resources, and second, having the chutzpah to stick wreaths pretty much wherever the fancy takes you. Grade: D for the national flag, B+ for the ensign.

Vexillology

I've always been interested in flags (though I'd probably do pretty poorly in a Flag Bee, if such a thing existed). Hence:

Five Cool Flags

Wales













Look! It's got a red dragon on it! How can it not be cool? The flag dates back to the '50s, but the red dragon has been a Welsh symbol since Roman times. This is simply the coolest flag in history.

Cornwall













I like the stark simplicity of it. Known as Saint Piran's flag, it is said to represent molten tin and black ore. The tin trade was big in Roman times. I've visited my uncle in Cornwall a few times. I don't think you've really experienced southern England until you've walked its beautiful, haunting moors.

Barbados













This flag was adopted in 1966. The broken trident is supposed to represent the breaking of Barbados' colonial ties. me, I just like tridents, I guess. Also, black on yellow is a powerful color combination.

Kenya












"My pockets so empty I can feel my testicles / 'Cause I spent all my money on some plastic African necklaces / And I still don't know what the colors mean / Red, black and green." Black is the Kenyan people, red is the blood spilled in the fight for independence, and green represents the countryside. And in keeping with the proud Maasai tradition, two spears and shield are front and center.

Iran













At the risk of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy," which seems to be a rather common theme these days, Iran's flag is pretty well-designed. You've got a red tulip-sword in the middle and some beautiful stylized Arabic writing along the edges. This article contains in-depth and probably accurate explications of the details, and has a larger image as well.

Runners-up: Prince Edward Island, the Gadsden flag, Sri Lanka, Bhutan (the other dragon flag; still not as good as Wales tho).

Three Lame Flags

Rwanda (prior to 2001)













Before they changed it to a rather bland thing with a sun on it, Rwanda had The World's Dumbest Flag. Hey, Rwanda! Someone vandalized your flag! they put a big stupid black "R" in the middle! ...What? That's supposed to be there? It helps you remember how to spell Rwanda? Oh. well, I guess it's hard to put your attention to designing flags when you're busy planning the genocide of your friends and neighbors, eh?

The Isle of Man













Proving that not every British people have a cool flag, the Isle of Man's flag is one of those designs that's so stupid it makes that 180 degree into cool, but then because it's stupid keeps going and makes it 360 degrees back to stupid again. Attention Manxmen: your flag has three armored legs attached at the groin area and running! Are you aware of this?

Libya













Now, see, a flag is your chance to put anything you want on there for the whole world to see, Libya. I know you love the Islam (green apparently represents Islam somehow), but look at all the other Muslim countries. They have Arabic writing and pillars and crescents and stars and, oh, all sorts of things on their flags. Don't you want to be just a little bit creative, too, Libya? No? Fine. Your flag is boring.

See also: Poland (needs more stripes), Ukraine (needs more stripes, and colors that don't clash).

In a category by itself is the flag of Cataño, Puerto Rico (a design which, while startlingly original, may induce motion sickness).