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Portland Association Publication 1

Portland Flag Association “Free, and Worth Every Penny!” Issue 22 July 2009

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: King Maximilian Starts His Own ! King Maximilian’s Country 1 By Max Liberman In of precedence: Nicknames of 2 The Kingdom of Æfira is a sover-

Flags from Elsewhere 3 eign of twenty citizens, established in 2007 as an experi- Flags in the News 4 ment in constitutional monarchy. Flag Related Websites 6 Next Meeting Announcement 6 Æfira is governed by its Parlia- July 2009 Flutterings 7 ment, consisting of the Sovereign The Flag Quiz 9 (elected for life; presently His Majesty King Maximilian), the appointed House of Lords and The Royal the elected House of Commons. The government is largely based on the Westminster system and the English common-law tradi- tion, although numerous reforms, including a written constitution, have been made. For the inter- The and (CSW/---) ested, more information may be found at http://aefira.net/.

The following flags were adopted with the passage of the Flags Act 2009 and the Flags and The Royal White (---/--W) Order 2009. They are primarily inspired by the flags and ensigns of the ; the fret was chosen in place of the crosses of SS. George, Andrew “There is no flag large and Patrick as a simple, secular The Ensign enough to cover the and (relatively) unique national (Continued on page 6) shame of killing innocent symbol.

people.”—Howard Zinn, If you wish to compliment the editor, to contribute in the future, contact John Hood American Historian at 503-238-7666 or [email protected]. If you wish to complain, call your mother. 2 Portland Flag Association Publication Nicknames of Flags Banner) of Denmark which leg- more complex and easily flown up- end has going back to 1219 when side-down. But for real complexity, By John Hood Have you ever considered that flags have names? We usually think of flags by the country they represent; e.g., “Is that the French Flag?” “There is the Wallonia Flag.” While browsing through Flags of the World, Dannebrog I found that many ’ flags it fell from the sky to help King the 1844 Union of Sweden and have names or nicknames and that Valdemar defeat the Estonians. A Norway takes the cake (or salad). some are very specific. very young flag is that of The Union Mark or Sillsallaten Our own flag is known by several Greenland. The Erfalasorput (Herring Salad) is a combination of names. Old Glory would probably (Our Flag) was adopted in 1985. the Norwegian and Swedish colors be the most official. That was the and resembles a smörgåsbord salad name William Driver gave the flag of pickled herring, beet roots and presented to him before his round- potatoes. the-world voyage in 1831. That flag is now in the Smithsonian In- stitute. However, The Stars and Stripes is just as popular a name. The Spangled Banner actu- Erfalasorput ally only refers to the flag of 1795 The Faroe Islands also use the to 1818 with fifteen stars and fif- colors of the Dannebrog but teen stripes. have added blue for the Norwe- Union Mark/Sillsallaten gian heritage and call their flag (Herring Salad) Merkið (The Sign/Mark). The has stars in some flags. La Estrella Solitaria (The

Star Spangled Banner Many countries with a three- colored flag refer to it has The Tri- Merkið color, but the French are quite spe- The Basque People have the La Estrella Solitaria Ikurriña (Our Flag), which is Lonely Star) is the name of Cuba’s flag and La Monoestrellada (The Single Star) is from Puerto Rico.

Drapeau Tricolore Ikurriña cific that theirs is the Drapeau Tri- colore. One of the oldest would complex. The United Kingdom has the Union Jack, which is be the Dannebrog (Danish Cloth/ La Monoestrallada

Portland Flag Association Publication 3 Nicknames of Flags Flags from Elsewhere A little further south is These shots were taken on our trip last fall: with The Golden Arrow.

The Golden Arrow

So whether it is the Hinomaru

Independence Day in Casablanca (the whole week, actually) had flags everywhere.

Hinomaru (Sun Disc) of , the Le Coq Hardi (The Bold Cock) of Wal-

More Moroccan Flags

Le Coq Hardi In Cadiz: Cadiz Province, , An- lonia, or the Maple Leaf of Can- dalucía, National Police

Maple Leaf ada, be aware that to the natives it’s not just “the flag” waving in the breeze but it may actually have a On Lanzarote Island: , In Cadiz: Andalucía (civil), Spain, name. Spain, Harí (city) unknown 4 Portland Flag Association Publication Flags in the News The Oregonian, March 10, 2009 There seemed to be a lot of flags in the paper and on television lately. Here are just a few with clean pictures, complements of FOTW, that show WEST LINN — Kim Pearson had no idea the American flag atop her store was upside down until a man stepped inside around lunch hour Fri- day to complain about the apparent sign of disrespect.

"I said, 'Oh, no, not again! We didn't do it!'" said Pearson, owner of Home- town Sports.

The flags atop her business and an- other building in the 1700 block of Willamette Falls Drive have been in- verted twice since August. No one seems to know by whom or why.

"We're in Oregon, so it could be any- one," Pearson said.

Landlord Tim Tofte was not amused.

"I'm very upset by it, and so were the people who called," he said. "Even the policeman who called was upset— he was a veteran."

Flying a flag upside down is a tradi- tional sign of distress, but neither Tofte nor Pearson knows what mes- sage, if any, is behind the prank.

Tofte fixed the flags Sunday morning. Communist Reformation Party of Italy A demonstrator waves a Guatemalan flag in Postville, Iowa to commemo- He wouldn't elaborate on how he rate the immigration raid a year ago. suspects the prankster reached the roofs, but Pearson said it would take at least a 10-foot ladder.

"We recognize that as a country, we're at war, and we have lots of problems," Tofte said. "But we think it's very disrespectful for our troops, and we don't want this done." The flag of The Speaker of the House is too recent to be in FOTW yet. Tamil protest in front —Yuxing Zheng of Brandenburg Gate. (Continued on page 5)

Portland Flag Association Publication 5 Flags in the News

(Continued from page 4) the flags more clearly. Some of the flags could not be identified.

Muslim League without writing.

Supporters of Shahbaz Sharif, president of the Muslim League, waving modified League flags with “Pakistan Muslim League” in Urdu.

Khaksari Flag

A rally by the Khaksar Tehrik, a social movement, waving a variety of flags. Party Jamât-e- (Islamist Party) with shahada.

Pre-revolution Iranian flags in Pre-revolution flags with and without the sun behind the . Southern California 6 Portland Flag Association Publication October Meeting Some Flag Related Web- King Maximilian’s Country (Continued from page 1) The next meeting of the Portland NAVA http://www.nava.org Flag Association will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 15, 2009, at (United Kingdom) Scott Mainwaring’s house, 7144 SW http://www.flaginstitute.org 29th Ave., telephone (503) 977- Flags of the World http:// 3222. See the map below. The www.fotw.net meeting is week later than usual His Majesty’s Government Blue because of the NAVA conference Elmer’s Flag & Banner http:// Ensign (---/-S-) www.elmersflag.com in Charleston, SC. This is tentative since Scott is out of town and can- Darwin, Northern Territory not confirm it. If there is a change, () http:// everyone will be notified. www.nationalflags.com.au

We look forward to seeing those of Flag Society of Australia http:// you that have been otherwise com- www.flagsaustralia.com.au The Merchant Marine (---/C--) mitted, and see some different Flag Research Center http:// flags, and hear some provocative www.flagresearchcenter.com discussion. Any and all flags, books or articles are welcome for Southern African Vexillological “show and tell.” Assoc. http://www.sa-va.org.za meeting, perhaps you can give the The enclosed supplement for local editor something to share with members is meant to stimulate a The our readers. As you can see, snip- discussion on the design of a PFA pets from anywhere can be used flag. Perhaps we can even have a and it gives you an opportunity to vote, or , at least, decide how we add to your curriculum vitae. Editor’s note: My partner Vivian’s will decide. If you can’t get to the niece was involved in a similar project at the University of Minnesota a few years ago, but the only flag her group designed was the National Flag for the Island of Nutopia .

Portland Flag Association Publication 7 July 2009 Flutterings You Need to Know We did not have a big turnout this David Ferriday showed up wearing month as so often happens during a tie! It was only momentary, how- the summer. Between members ever, just until everyone realized it travelling to Alaska, California and had small Swedish flags embroi- Manchuria, there were still enough dered all over it. He then showed people to carry on well into the us a set of sixteen drinking glasses night. of the Heritage Collection Series issued by Coca Cola in 1976. Each Ted Kaye had just come back from Members of JAVA holding their flag. glass has a historical flag, mostly FIAV 23 in Yokohama, Japan and tiles, almost anything that a family from the Revolutionary War, on put on a slide show of the proceed- might want to identify with. He one side and a description on the ings. other. They were in excellent con- dition, having never been through a dishwasher.

The wind displayed the flags beauti- fully, but did cause some problems. An example of Japanese mons. Shown here are the flags of Japan, City An example of the Heritage glasses. of Yokohama, Japanese Vexillological also showed a book of Swiss flags, Association and a special flag dedi- one of Moscow flags and a poster Max Liberman recently participated cated to the late Harry Oswald, a driv- in the 1st Robotic Championships ing force in founding JAVA. of flags of Japanese Higher Schools. A flag he brought back in Georgia and reports that the Flag was rather unusual in that the Police could have issued many ICV attendees agreed it was the Wooden Flag Awards! There were “most-flown-flag in Japan”—it flags from all the participating was seen at every construction countries, but whoever set them up site. The Green Cross of Safety did several upside down. We al- was designed in 1919 (predating most expect the Union Jack to be our symbol for the National wrong and South frequently Safety Council) to promote indus- is in trouble, but Germany? Max Detail of the special flag for Harry trial safety. and a group of young people are Oswald with his picture, Texas Flag, starting their own country, or at JAVA, FIAV 23 and prefecture flags. least the government, named Æfira As is always the case, attendees as a school project. He showed the swap articles back and forth. Ted flags that have been designed and brought home a Japanese book of has written an article about them mons. A is, more or less, the for this issue (see page 1). equivalent of a heraldic and is used on , stationery, roof (Continued on page 8) Green Cross for Safety (Midori-jūji) 8 Portland Flag Association Publication January 2009 Flutterings

(Continued from page 7)

John Hood received the common flag of Cape Breton Island from a friend in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A thirteen star . 46 star family flag. Then there were the usual reviews of the various periodicals John receives from around the world and the FlagInforms from the Flag Research Center. The pro- Common Cape Breton Island Flag posed flag for our group was The official flag is not flown as brought up again so a special sup- A bow to . much but is quite unique. The bald plement for the local members is eagle forms a stylized map of the enclosed with this issue that we Mike Hale bemoaned the fact that island. might purposefully address the the apps for his iphone dealing with subject at the next meeting. flags are not useful since they de- scribe the country and not the flag. Fred Paltridge had a video of a A more scholarly app is needed that news program on Southern Sudan could be linked to flag flying days. which had an unidentified flag flying in the background. The The following had nothing to do image was poorly rendered and with the meeting, but it does have Official Cape Breton Island Flag the flag could not be identified to do with the area. This triple John also had a flag of positively, but Max thought it digit heart has everyone talking so that Ted was able to acquire di- looked a great deal like that of the Vivian is flying that , at rectly from the Territory’s Purchas- President of Botswana—light least, make one think cooler! ing Agent. blue with some sort of white cir- cular device in the center.

David Koski, a graphic artist/ designer by trade, has been having “flashes of design” dealing with the U.S. Flag without stripes. Gibraltar Here are some of the dozen de- The last but not least flag was one signs he showed us: John’s son had sent him. It was a 46 star flag John’s mother had given her grandson so long ago that it had been forgotten. It would have been made sometime between 1908 and 1912 and measures 24” x 33”. Thirteen stars in the .

Portland Flag Association Publication 9 What Was that Flag? Answers to the last quiz What’s that Flag? Canting on the old temp ground— Once again, all of these flags have Canting on the old damp ground— something in common—other than are they puns, amphigories, perhaps the Scandinavian Crosses. What is metaphors. In heraldry, and by ex- it and where are they from? tension vexillology, canting is a vis- ual pun on a name. It was probably initiated in early times when most Kijkduin, ZH, Netherlands people were illiterate and the pic- (kijkduin = watch dune) ture of the leader’s name was nec- This is a proposal made a few years essary for identification. ago but probably has not been ac- cepted. Kijkduin is a beach resort, now included in The Hague. The stork is on the of Das Haag. Any one feel paranoid?

Jagodina, Serbia (jagoda = strawberry)

Anjouan, Comorros Jagodina is a little town in central This island was also known as Serbia and has been known as the Ndzwani which means “hand” in Swahili “Strawberry City” since the 14th Anjouan is located in the Mozam- century. bique Channel and gained its inde- pendence from Comoros in 1997. There is much discussion about the configuration and placement of the hand.

Huslenky, Czech Republic (housle = violin) This village near the Slovakian boarder was first mentioned early Lipetsk (city), in the 16th century but with no rea- (lipo = Lime tree) son for the name. The coat of arms has a tree of some sort instead Lipo can also be translated as a Lin- of the stripes. den tree, but no history is found.