Showing posts with label flag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flag. Show all posts

June 15 - Valdemar's Day in Denmark

   Posted on June 15, 2022     


This is an update of my post published on June 15, 2011:




The legend says that the Danish flag fell from the sky on this day in 1219. King Valdemar II the Victorious was crusading about at the time, and he was embattled in Estonia, about to give up, when the flag supposedly fell from heaven. Seen as a sign of God's favor for the Danes, it is said, the Danes took heart, surged forward to re-engage the Estonians, and won the battle.


The Danish flag falling from heaven.
Do you think this really happened?

Apparently, this story didn't arise until 1500, long after the battle.

Because of this legend, June 15 became a flag day in Denmark, and little flags are bought and sold and seem to sprout up everywhere. I was interested to read that every year there are 33 flag days in Denmark, when the Danish flag, called Dannebrog, is flown in celebration!




Go Dane for a day!

Here are some Danish foods to try.

And here are facts about Denmark, and some Danish craft ideas.



Do the LEGO thing!




LEGO bricks started in Denmark, and the first LEGOland was in Denmark, too. Get out all your LEGOs and build a cool construction today. Or visit the official LEGO website. 







Plan ahead:


Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

June 20 - Flag Day in Argentina

Posted on June 20, 2020


The date chosen for Flag Day of a nation might be the anniversary of the flag's design, or of its formal adoption as the flag. It might be the nation's independence day, or the anniversary of first day the flag was flown - even if, on that day, the "nation" was still a colony struggling to gain independence.

I don't think I've ever before read about a flag day that commemorates the day that the flag's designer died! Until now:

The Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader Manuel Belgrano is credited with being one of the main liberators of Argentina, and with creating the flag of Argentina.

Talk about a "founding father"!


Belgrano helped declare and then win Argentina's independence. He favored setting up a constitutional monarchy with a ruler who was descended from the Inca, but most delegates in the government rejected that idea. But they did adopt his flag design.

This flag is a triband in blue-white-blue, and it was first raised on February 27, 1812, during the Argentine War of Independence. In 1818 the emblem of Argentina, a Sun of May, was added in the center of the flag. But some uses of the Argentine flag are the simple triband, without the sun. 


Manuel Belgrano died of dropsy on June 20, 1820 - and that is why Flag Day is celebrated on June 20, in his honor.


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

April 17 - Flag Day in American Samoa

Posted on April 17, 2020


On this date in 1900, American Samoa became...American!

There are quite a few Samoan Islands located in the South Pacific. Samoa-the-independent-nation is made up of two main islands and four smaller isles; altogether, it is quite a little bit smaller than Rhode Island. (My own state, California, is almost 150 times larger than Samoa!)

American Samoa, which lies to the east of Samoa, is made up of five main islands and two coral atolls - but its main islands are probably the size of Samoa's small islands, because American Samoa is only close to half the size of Samoa. (California is about 280 times larger!)

Notice that although American Samoa is south of the Equator
(unlike the rest of the U.S.), it is to the east of 180 degrees
longitude (also known as the International Date Line).

This is good, because it means that American Samoans
share the same date as the rest of Americans - although
it is a day behind folks who live in the nation of Samoa!
American Samoa became a territory of the U.S. on April 17, 1900. Most of the governing of the island happens right there on the island, and American Samoans (like residents of other U.S. territories) don't have much sway in the government of the United States. They are considered U.S. nationals, not U.S. citizens, and they elect a nonvoting member of the House of Representatives (and have no representation in the Senate). They can vote in U.S. presidential primaries but cannot vote for a presidential candidate in the general election.

But they do get to see this when they look out their windows:




American Samoans are almost all fluent in English and Samoan. The Polynesian culture of American Samoa has to some extent been Americanized (whereas Samoa's Polynesian culture has to some extent been "British-ized," because it was once part of New Zealand; for example, American Samoans drive on the right side of the street in American Samoa, like folks in the U.S., but Samoans drive on the left, like folks in Britain and New Zealand).

Here is the flag of American Samoa:


The colors and the eagle represent American Samoa's ties to the U.S., and the war club and fly whisk in the eagle's talons are symbols of Samoan chiefs. 




Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)