In
honour of this day, (although it is strictly speaking about airing
your creative ideas rather than being specifically about flags) here
are 10 things you may not know about flags.
- The study of flags is “vexillology”, from the Latin word for flag or banner, vexillum.
- The word “flag” derives from an old Saxon word, fflaken, which means to fly or float in the air.
- Here's a poser for you: where is there a US flag which is never raised, lowered, or saluted? Answer after Flag Fact number 10.
- Libya's flag is unique in that it is plain green with no other colours or designs. Update: at least, it was until 2011 when Libya changed its flag.
- All national flags are rectangular except for three: Switzerland and Vatican City's flags are square, while Nepal's flag is two triangles on top of each other.
- Denmark's flag, designed in the 13th century, is the oldest national flag still in use.
- The correct name for Britain's flag is “Union Flag” rather than the more commonly used name of “Union Jack”. A “jack” was a small flag flown from a ship.
- The Union Flag is incorporated into the designs of flags for several other places: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tuvalu , some Canadian provinces and the US state of Hawaii.
- The tallest free-standing flagpole in the world is the Dushanbe Flagpole in Tajikistan, which is 165m tall. The tallest flagpole in the United Kingdom was in Kew Gardens. It was made from a Canadian Douglas-fir tree and was 68.5m tall. It was taken down, though, because it became unsafe. There isn't a formal record of flagpole heights in Britain in general, so it isn't known which is the tallest now.
Answer
to the poser in Question 3: On the Moon!
No comments:
Post a Comment