flags

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part Five

Posted on August 11, 2024 by pauldelancey

In Part One, we saw how geometry haters tyrannized lovers of triangles. We also discovered how geometry made better living possible. In Part Two, we learned of the terrible rivalry between circles and triangles. When, oh when, will trianglistas ever bask in the sunshine that is peace and security? In Part Four, we uncovered the unintended side benefits that accrue to lands that incorporate triangles into its flag. Here in Part Five, we learn about dynasties, golf, and weight gain.

And now, the:

ROLL CALL OF FREEDOM

17. Jordan

Each stripe symbolizes a significant dynasty. The black stripe represents the domino-loving Abass dynasty from Baghdad. The middle white stripe is a sign of the Umayyads from Damascus and represent confectioners’ sugar. The best powdered doughnuts really can be found in Damascus. The green stripe refers to the dynasty of the Moroccan Fatimids and symbolized Morocco’s putting greens. The country may be mostly arrid, but the ruling elite really loves golf. The red wedge stands for the Jordanian Hashim dynasty. and recalls a decadades-ago event when the dynasitc laundry woman put red scarves in the clothes washer. The red ran and all the leaders’ robes turned red. The elite made a virtue out of necessity and adopted red as their dynasty’s color. The white star is white.

The Marshall Islands is home to one of the densest concentrations of trianglistas in the world. This devotion to the trianglism –Yes, that is a now a legitimate word–way of life shows everywhere, including in sandwich shops. The levels of government bureacracy remain riddled with wisely governing trianglistas. Such devotion to the charming triangle shows up in the land’s flag which has seven! triangles. Can you find them all? (Three of the triangles are formed from two-or-three individual triangles.)

The orangle color of, well, the orangle triangle stands for the nation’s wealth. The white triangle represents hope. Well, why not? The two blue triangles recall the Pacific Ocean which laps the shores of this island nation. The differing sizes of the triangles represent the land’s ongoing commitment to diversity. The thick and thin sizes evoke humanity’s ever-present struggle from being overweight and the commitment to a leaner, healthier lifestyle. The pointy star is not a ninja death star. Rather it stands for islands’ administrative districts, Christian traditon, and the nation’s four largest cities. A busy star, you bet.

19. Mozambique

Arlo Guthrie’s great song “Mozambique” came about when a friend decided to make as many rhymes as they could with Mozambique. Again, I feel like point that the song “Mozambique” came after the nation was named and not vice versa.

Portugal’s flag has no triangles. Mozambique was a Portugese colony. The triangle-loving Mozambicans wanted independence and the right to determine the geometric shapes of the land. The small red refers to narrow margin of victory in their struggle for independence. The red color represents the bloody struggle to control their own destiny or red meat. (Portugal and Mozambique share a lot of culinary traditions.) The Kalashikov represents the armed conflict. Pow! Pow!

The color green harkens to the land’s fertile fields and to the cloth felt found on pool tables. If you visit Mozambique, take your cue stick. The book shows how much the Mozabicans love my novels and cookbooks. Thank you, Mozambique. The hoe depicts the imprortance of farming. Yellow stands for mineral wealth. The thin white arose from a shortage of green, black, and gold dyes.

20. Namibia

Namibia is proud of the two triangles in its flag, as what country would not? The red stripe stands for the blood that’s pumped through our body. By extension, the stripe also represents the people teeming and flowing through this happy land. The green symbolizes the country’s vibrant parsley industry. Blue means that the sky above Namibia is blue. The flag also sports the yellow sun, which can be seen nearly every day. White stands for the country’s few clouds.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: flags, international | Tags: agriculture, aorta, Arlo Guthrie, blood, clouds, conflict, flags of the world.Jordan, independence, Marshall Islands, Mozambique, Namibia, Pacific Ocean, pool, sky, triangles | Leave a comment

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part Two

Posted on June 30, 2024 by pauldelancey

In Part One, we saw how geometry haters tyrannized lovers of triangles. We also discovered how geometry made better living possible.

Alas, harmony doesn’t reign freely in geometry land. Lovers of circles and squares infected our English language with phrases using the words “circles” and “squares.” Let’s see what they are:

phrases using CIRCLE

Circle Of Life (Elton John song)
circle of friends
circle of influence
circle the wagons
come full circle
drum circle (A circle of people playing drums)
full circle
literary circle
silver circle
virtuous circle
winner’s circle

Hey! All these phrases carry positive meanings.

Maybe it will be different with square

phrases using SQUARE

fair and square
square deal
square meal
square shooter
square off
square up

Zounds! These phrases all denote good things.

Well, let’s look at phrases including the word triangle.

Bermuda Triangle
Love Triangle

What the actual heck! Just two phrases with triangle in them. And they’re both bad.

We can glean three conclusions from the above phrases.

1) The geometric tribe is a fractious one. Circle lovers and squares despire the fans of the square.

2) The circle and square sects absolutely lord it over the triangle adherents.

3) Conflict does not limit itself to: politics, gender, sexual orientation and other traditional divisions.

And yet, and yet, courageous citizens from various nations defy global oppression and raise triangular-themed flags of liberty.

ROLL CALL OF FREEDOM

5. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hooray for Bosnia and Herzegovia, defenders of the Golden Triangle. Triangulistas in this land have allied themselves with the Rhombus lovers. Together, two generally downtrodden geomtery sects have pusedh the square almost off the map. Well done.

6. Brunei

Triangle powerful Brunei proudly includes two triangles in its flag. The squares possess no power in this land.The crescent represents Islam. The umbrella stands for monarchy and dignity. The four-feathered wings guard peace and integrity. Way cool, Brunei.

7. Comoros

The flag of Comoros puts its sole triangle at the left, a place of honor. Notice the absence of both the square and the circle. The crescent and the stars represent Islam. The colors of the four stripes stand for the main islands in this small, but wonderful country.

8. Republic of the Congo

This mighty republic drove out its oppressive geometrical shapes long ago. Huzzah! The colors show the three favorite colors of the populace.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

Categories: flags | Tags: Bosnia, Brunei, circles, Comoros, Congo, Herzegovina, integrity, islands, monarchy, oppression, peace, Republic of the Congo, square shooter, squares, triangles | Leave a comment

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part One

Posted on June 23, 2024 by pauldelancey

Few conflicts are as external as the conflict between lovers of geometry and its haters. A few other spats come close: wars of aggression, sibling rivalries, lutefisk vendors and people, spam callers and call blockers, and road repair and activity.

Geometry lovers wax rhapsodic over the ability to determine the height of a distant building without every going near it. Wow! All you need to have is a tree between you and the building and a few distances. What can be more beneficial to humanity than calculating that?

Alas, evil people, geometry haters stalk the land, people fell asleep during geometry class, people who snap after being asked to prove the Pythagorean Theorem one time too many. These people are the reason we can’t nice things. These folk constitute the hard-core unemployed. All those jobs that requiring calculating building heights, remain forever shut to them. Indeed these people find no jobs at all in the construction industry. Would you trust erecting a skyscraper to a ne’er do well who won’t measure angles? I didn’t think so.

It’s hard to spot a feral geometry hater on the street. You need to make repeated visits to people’s homes or diners. A geometry lover, GL, will often cut his cheese sandwich into two pieces diagonally. A geometry hater, GH, never.

Over the centuries, GHs took control of most countries and eliminated all traces of triangles in their nation’s flags. In these lands, GHs relentlessly persecute geometry lovers. The coup d’état remains the only way for GLs to assert their freedom. You can tell these plucky lands by the triangles in their flags.

And now, the roll call of FREEDOM

1) American Samoa

American Samoa remains firmly in the grasp of the Order of the Triangle, OT, or Overtimers as the underground resistance calls them. This wondrous land features nested triangles with a heavily armed and rather pissed-off bald eagle ever ready to defend geometric freedom.

2) Antigua and Barbuda

Oh Antigua! Oh Barbuda! How the Sun blesses your happy shores! Indeed, contentment here runs riot to such an extent, that this Eden proclaims its joy with five flags, five! (See if you can find them all.) The poly-coloric–Yes, that is now a word, by decree–triangles reflects the two islands’ committment to diversity and to the land’s influential painters. community.

3) Bahamas

The colors of the Bahamian flag represent the three main groups of the island chain: black-haired people, golden-haired people, and, of course, the teal-haired people. (You really should visit and see all the wonderful ‘dos.) Anyway, the black triangle also stands for the graphite pencils and black-ink pens favored by the GLs. Although diverse in geometric sentiment, Bahamas is no mathematics tyranny. The dominant GLs freely share power with the GHs. If only we could all be like the Bahamas.

4) Bhutan

Such a happy land! It loves triangles. The Bhutanese don’t see things in black and white; they view the world in yellow and orange! How wonderful is that? The joy of the land often erupts in games of Four Ball. (The dragon in the flag below holds a ball in each of its four claws.) In Four Ball, the side that collects and then defends four balls, wins. But it’s a friendly game; the winners treat the losers to triangular scoops of lemon and orange sherbets.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

Categories: flags | Tags: American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bhutan, diversity, eagle, flags, freedom, geometry, happy, mathematics, sherbets, spam, triangles, wars | Leave a comment

Flags of the World – Blue and White

Posted on February 28, 2024 by pauldelancey

How many times has this happened to you? You’ve been scrupulously minding your own business when suddenly you acquire a country, a province, or a city. How did you end up with such an expanse of land and the people, economies, and possibly nuclear weapons that go along with it?

Perhaps you inherited it. Did you think to ask your parents, “Will you be leaving me a country?” I suggest you do so.

Perhaps you won it on Let’s Make a Deal(tm). Two of the doors had a garter snake behind them and the other door had a document giving you ownership of a country whose flag is blue and white. You picked door #1. Monte Hall shows you door #3 with the garter snake. He then asks you if you stay with the door you had originally picked or will you know pick door #2. You switch your pick, because you now know the chance of winning a country will be 2/3, whereas if you stay with the first door your odds of winning will only be 1/3. And ha,ha, you are rewarded with your very own country.

Perhaps you earned the little land with your frequent-flyer miles? You flew a lot, didn’t you?

Perhaps you simply saw the deed to the country on a sidewalk and picked it up.

So, there you have it. You’ve yourself a new country. But won’t the once old country be angry at you? You betcha! Won’t they be chomping at the bit to regaing their independence? Absolutely. Can they do it? Yes, if they ally with some powerful nation, or huge hedge fund, and attack you.

That is the nightmare scenario. The only way to stop this coalition from forming against you is to fool the world into thinking your country isn’t new; that it’s really part of either an old and peaceful nation or portfolio. How do you do this?

Simple, pick a flag that looks like the one from another country, province, or city. How do you do that?

May I suggest limiting the colors of your new flag to comforting blue and white? There are, as of presstime, seven wonderful countries, and one entire world!, that use only blue and white in their banners. Here are my favorite blue-and-white flags in order of coolness and power. And you know the saying, “Comforting and powerful flags, comforting and powerful lands.”

1. The United Nations

The United Nations has flag sports a map of the world surrounded by two olive branches that symbolize peace . The world and the olive branches are both encompassed by a lot of blue. This blue represented the world’s sky, the world’s oceans, or blueberries; I’m not sure. The white color for the lands refer to the white blood cells, that we all have and that crush invading illnesses.

You really can’t go wrong with owning the entire world. You could do anything you wanted, like going to the head of all the lines of Disneyland(tm). Because you possess nuclear weapons and stuff.

2. Martinique

Martinique’s flag is by far the coolest of the blue-and-whites. It has four whites snakes on it, each enclosed in a pool of blue water. These are your body guards. People will never give you any guff, when they know can you release your snakes at the snap of a finger. And wouldn’t you like to live in a guff-free world.

3. Micronesia

Micronesia’s is wonderful in its simplicity. The four stars stand for its four big islands. The blue background represents the Pacific Ocean that connects that or my blueberries. The four stars also invoke the image of a baseball diamond. If you crave simplicity, island paradises, blue oceans lapping at your beach, and blueberries, then this is the country for you.

4. Honduras

Honduras went for the ever popular three horizontal bar theme. A country that makes a safe choice for its flag will be a safe nation to rule. The two blue bars represent the equals sign. Honduras chose the equals sign because they hold everyone to be equal and because the country is simply mathematics mad. The five stars refer to the answer to word problem 14.

5. Finland

Finland plonked down for the blue cross on a white background. The cross refers to the land’s christian heritage. All other Scandanavian countries did the same. Finland picked last, that’s why it picked blue. The white background represents the snow that covers much of the country much of the time. The intersecting blue bars also refer to road intersections. Finland is justly proud of its intersections. If you desire to drive your car in the snow, then, by all means, rule Finland.

6. Shetland

Look at the above flag for Finland. Shetland’s flag is the photo negative of Finland. Culinary flagologists tell us the Shetlanders have to do everything the exact opposite of the Finnish. And vice versa. Except for blueberries, the people of both nations love blueberries. Hence the use of blue in their flags

7. Israel

The star in the middle is the Star of David, a Jewish symbol since the Middle Ages. The two blue horizontal stripes on a white background derive from the traditional Jewish prayer shawl. The color blue represents blueberries and the small blue tassels that male Jews should carry.

8. Greece

Greece’s flag combines the three most popular flag ingredients: the cross, bars, and a love of blueberries. It has it all.

9. Somalia

The theme of Somalia is simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. One white star to represent a white star and a blue background to represent the ocean and blueberries.

Now you know the world’s blue flags. Maybe someday you’ll visit the nations their represent.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

Categories: flags | Tags: blue, blueberries, cross, Finland, flags, Greece, hedge fund, Honduras, Israel, Let's Make a Deal, Martinique, Micronesia, ocean, Shetland, Somalia, United Nations, white | Leave a comment

Flags of the World – Green and White

Posted on November 10, 2022 by pauldelancey

Perhaps you inherited it. Did you think to ask your parents, “Will you be leaving me a country?” I suggest people do so.

Perhaps you own stock in a large corporation, like Amazon(tm), for example. Amazon is growing by leaps and bounds all the time, so it’s plausible to assume that they might buy a small country or parts thereof, to help lower distribution costs.

Perhaps you simply saw the deed to the country on a sidewalk and picked it up.

So, there you have it. You’ve yourself a new country. But won’t the once old country be angry at you? You betcha! Won’t they be chomping at the bit to diversify your retirement portfolio be regainging their independence? Absolutely. Can they do it? Yes, if they ally with some powerful nation, or huge hedge fund, and attack you.

Simple, pick a flag that looks like the one from another country, province, or city. How do you do that?

May I suggest limiting the colors of your new flag to calming green and white? There are simply scads of wonderful countries that use only green and white in their banners. Here are my favorite green-and-white flags in order of coolness and usefulness. And you know the saying, “Cool flags, cool people.”

1. North Caucasian Emirate

The North Causian Emirate had flag sported a white happy face on a green background. It was the coolest green-and-white flag ever.*

Was.

Unfortunately this Islamic stated existed for less than a year during the Russian Revolution of 1919 to 1921. Then communists forcibly absobed the North Causian Emirate into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with their boring-hammer-and-sickle-on-an-endless-red-background flag. Friggin’ commies.

2. Pakistan

Pakistan has a green and white flags in the world. It possesses nuclear weapons. So if you acquire Pakistan, from playing poker perhaps, you also get its thermonuclear capability. That would come in handy when confronting medical insurers who refuse to bill you correctly. Oh, and bothersome neighbors.

3. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia flag also uses a green-and-white flag. The Arabic inscription says, “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” The sword at the bottom will deter people coming to your house to sell a tree-trimming service. And what kind of monster comes unannounced to your front door, anyway?

4. Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island’s flag causes excitement wherever flaps in the wind. (Pretty much just on Norfolk Island.) You just can’t get around ithe green tree in the middle of its flag. They could have put a spoon, a bug, or an advertisement in the middle, but they didn’t. Well done, Norfolk. Your neighbors will never doubt your commitment to Go Green when you run this flag up your flagpole.

5.Nigeria

The Nigerian flag is the same as Norfolk Island’s, but with no beautiful tree in the middle. The theme of “simplicity, simplictity won out in the nationwide competiton.

6. Rotterdam

The city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands has its own flag. It is the Nigerian flag rotated 90 degrees.

7. Siberia

Siberia’s green-and-white flag boldly dispensed with the boring rectangles prevalent in so many of the world’s flags. Yes, it had two triangles, which I like to think pay hommage to the Pythagorean Theorem. The green triangle represents Siberia’s vast forest. The green triangle stands for the White Russians who fought for the Tsar’s and against the Communists. I prefer to think it stands for the snow that blankets Siberia. At any rate, the green-hating Communists, Philistines everyone of them, threw this flag away in favor of their dreary red banner.

8. The regions of the regions of Saxony, Andalusia, Antioquia, and Esmeralda

The down-to-Earth inhabitants hailing from these lands went with simple white rectangle on top of a green one and left it at that. Unpretentious, you bet.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

Categories: flags | Tags: Andalusia, Antioquia, apocalyptic, Chef Paul, communists, cookbook, De Lancey, Esmeralda, flags, good food, green, green and white, hammer and sickle, idependence, Lutheran, murders, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, North Caucasian Emirate, nuclear weapons, Pakistan, Paul De Lancey, Paul R. De Lancey, portfolio, Pythagorean theorem, recipes, retirement, Rotterdam, Saudi Arabia, Saxony, Siberia, thriller, USSR, white, White Russians, world | Leave a comment

flags

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part Five

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part Two

Flags of the World – Triangles, Part One