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FLAGS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (MBA)

ASIAPeople's Republic of China

 The flag of the People's Republic of China is a red

field charged in the canton (upper corner nearest

the flagpole) with five golden stars. The design

features one large star, with four smaller stars in

a semicircle set off towards the fly (the side

furthest from the flag pole). The red represents

revolution; the five stars and their relationship

represent the unity of the Chinese people under

the leadership of the Communist Party of China 

(CPC). The orientation of the stars shows that the

unity should go around a center. In the original description of the flag, the larger

star symbolizes the Communist Party of China, and the four smaller stars thatsurround the big star symbolize the four social classes (the working class, the

peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie) of Chinese

people. Sometimes, the flag is referred to as the "Five Star Red Flag".1

INDONASIA

  The national flag of  Indonesia, which is

known as Sang Saka Merah-Putih ("The

Sacred Red-and-White") or Bendera Merah-Putih ("The Red-and-White Flag") or simply

Merah-Putih ("The Red-and-White") in

Indonesian, is based on the banner of the

13th century Majapahit Empire in East Java.

 The flag itself was introduced and hoisted in

public at the Indonesian Independence Day 

ceremony, on 17 August 1945. The design

of the flag has remained the same ever

since.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  People's Republic of China

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FLAGS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (MBA)

 The red stands for courage, while the white stands for purity. The red represents

human's body or physical life, while white represents human's soul or spiritual life.

 Together they stand for a complete human being. 2

EUROPEENGLAND

Flag of England is Red Cross on White ground. The Red Cross appeared as an

emblem of England during the Middle Ages 

and the Crusades and is one of the earliest

known emblems representing England. It

also represents the official arms of the Most 

Noble Order of the Garter, and it achieved

status as the national flag of England

during the sixteenth century. The Flag of 

England is the St George's Cross (heraldicblazon: Argent, a cross gules). Saint George 

was the patron saint of England in the

thirteenth century.3

FRANCE

 The national flag of France (known in French 

as drapeau tricolore, drapeau français, and

in military parlance, les couleurs) is a

tricolour featuring three vertical bands

coloured royal blue (hoist side), white, andred. It is known to English speakers as the

French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. Blue

and red are the traditional colours of Paris,

used on the city's coat of arms. Blue is

identified with Saint Martin, red with Saint Denis. At the storming of the Bastille in

1789, the Paris militia wore blue and red cockades on their hats. White had long

featured prominently on French flags and is described as the "ancient French

colour" by Lafayette. White was added to the "revolutionary" colors of the militia

cockade to "nationalise" the design, thus creating the tricolour cockade. Although

Lafayette identified the white stripe with the nation, other accounts identify it withthe monarchy. Lafayette denied that the flag contains any reference to the red-and-

white livery of the Duc d'Orleans. However, this myth did allow Orleanists to adopt

the tricolour as their own.

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_ Indonasia

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  England 

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FLAGS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (MBA)

Blue and red are associated with the Virgin Mary the patron saint of France, and

were the colours of Charlemagne's ensign and war cry, "Montjoie". The colours of 

the French flag may also represent the three main estates of the Ancien Régime 

(the clergy: white, the nobility: red and the bourgeoisie: blue). Blue, as the symbol

of the bourgeois class, comes first and red, representing the nobility, comes last.

Both extreme colours are situated on each side of white referring to a superiororder. 4

NORTH AMERICACANADA

 The National Flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and l'Unifolié (French 

for "the one-leafed"), is a red flag with a white

square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-

pointed red maple leaf . Its adoption in 1965

marked the first time a national flag had beenofficially adopted in Canada to replace the Union

Flag. The maple leaf has served as a symbol

celebrating the nature and environment of what

is now Canada since the 18th century. The

number of points on the leaf has no significance

on the flag; they do not, for instance, represent the ten provinces plus one point for

the territories, such as the Australian Commonwealth Star denotes. The number

and arrangement of the points of the maple leaf were chosen after wind tunnel

tests showed the current design to be the least blurry of the various designs when

tested under high wind conditions. The image of the maple leaf used on the flagwas designed by Jacques Saint-Cyr. In 1921, King George V proclaimed the official

colors of Canada as red, from Saint George's Cross, and white, from the French 

royal emblem since King Charles VII. 5

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 The national flag of the United States of America 

(the "American flag") consists of thirteen equal

horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom)

alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the

canton (referred to specifically as the "union")bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars 

arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars

(top and bottom) alternating with rows of five

stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  France

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  Canada

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FLAGS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (MBA)

states and the 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled

against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames

for the flag include the "Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory," and "The Star-Spangled

Banner" (also the name of the national anthem).6

SOUTH AMERICABRAZIL

  The national flag of Brazil (Portuguese:

Bandeira do Brasil) is a blue disc depicting a

starry sky spanned by a curved band inscribed

with the national motto, within a yellow

rhombus, on a green field. Brazil officially

adopted this design for its national flag on

November 19, 1889, replacing the flag of the

second Empire of Brazil.

 The green field and the yellow rhombus from

the previous imperial flag were preserved –

the green and yellow colors representing the Braganza-Habsburg  dynasty. A blue

circle with 27 white five-pointed stars replaced the arms of the Empire of Brazil. The

stars, whose position in the flag reflect the sky over Rio de Janeiro on November 15,

1889, represent the union's federated units – each star representing a specific

state. The motto "Ordem e Progresso" ("Order and Progress") is inspired by Auguste 

Comte's motto of positivism: "L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès

pour but" ("Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal").

Professor Paulo Araújo Duarte of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, bears this

out, saying "In truth, the creators of our republican flag intended to represent the

stars in the sky at Rio de Janeiro at 8:30 in the morning on 15 November 1889, the

moment at which the constellation of the Southern Cross was on the meridian of Rio

de Janeiro and the longer arm [of the cross] was vertical." 7

 ARGENTINA

  The national flag of  Argentina is a

triband, composed of three equally wide

horizontal bands coloured light blue,white and light blue. There are multiple

interpretations on the reasons for those

colors. The flag was created by Manuel

Belgrano, in line with the recent creation

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_ United-states-of-america

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  brazil

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of the Cockade of Argentina, and was first raised at the city of Rosario on February

27, 1812, during the Argentine War of Independence. Popular belief attributes the

colors to those of the sky, clouds and the sun; some anthems to the flag like

"Aurora" or "Salute to the flag" state so as well. However, historians usually

disregard such idea, and attribute them to either the devotion of  Virgin Mary or

loyalty to the House of Bourbon.

Virgin Mary is usually represented dressed in white and with a light blue piece of 

cloth. She was the patron of the Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires, directed by

Manuel Belgrano, and it is thought that the Consulate used a white and light blue

flag. Belgrano himself had strong Catholic beliefs. The soldiers of  Juan Martín de 

Pueyrredón may have also used white and light blue ribbons for self-identification

during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, which were taken from the

sanctuary of the Virgin of Luján.8

AFRICAEGYPT 

The flag of  Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: مل ع

) is aصر  tricolour consisting of the three

equal horizontal red, white, and black

bands of the Arab Liberation flag dating

back to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

 The flag bears Egypt's national emblem,

the Eagle of Saladin centered in the white

band. The flag's current form was

adopted on October 4, 1984.

 The Free Officers who toppled King 

Farouk in the Revolution of 1952 assigned specific symbolism to each of the three

bands of the Arab Liberation flag. The red band symbolizes the period before the

Revolution, a time characterized by the struggle against the monarchy, and the

British occupation of the country. The white band symbolizes the bloodless nature

of the Revolution itself. The black band symbolizes the end of the oppression of the

Egyptian people at the hands of the monarchy, and foreign imperialism. Egypt's use

of the Arab Liberation flag inspired its adoption by a number of other Arab states.

 The same horizontal tricolour is used by Iraq, Syria, and  Yemen (and formerlyLibya), the only difference being the presence (or absence) of distinguishing

national emblems in the white band.9

8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_   Argentina

9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  Egypt 

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FLAGS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (MBA)

CAMEROON

 The national flag of Cameroon was

adopted in its present form on 20 May

1975 after Cameroon became a

unitary state. It is a vertical tricolor of green, red and yellow, defaced with a

five-pointed star in its center. There is

a wide variation in the size of the

central star, although it is always

contained within the inside stripe.The

color scheme uses the traditional Pan-

African colors (Cameroon becoming the second state to do so), and the tricolor 

design is adapted from the flag of France. The center stripe is thought to stand for

unity: red is the color of unity, and the star is referred to as "the star of unity". The

yellow stands for the sun, and also the savannas in the northern part of the country,

while the green is for the forests in the southern part of Cameroon.10

10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_  Cameroon