nPosted on May 14, 2019
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Key Points
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nTomorrow is often listed as Paraguay’s Independence Day, but May 14 is the actual anniversary of the South American nation’s independence from Spain, in 1811. It’s such a big deal – the start of a new nation! – that Paraguayans celebrate for two days!
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nParaguay’s flag is different from every other flag in the world – because there is something different on the two different sides!
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nThe obverse displays the national coat of arms, and the reverse displays the seal of the treasury.
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nI read that Paraguayans chose red, white, and blue stripes, inspired by either the Dutch flag or the French flag (or both?). The colors are said to stand for independence and liberty.
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nIt occurred to me that there are a LOT of flags that are red, white, and blue:
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| Play a quiz game to identify the nations. Plus, there are a few more red, white, and blue flags – but they have yellow stars, or green details, or some other teensy bit of color in some detail: Fiji, Serbia, Slovenia. Plus other red-white-and-blue flags that have yellow suns, stars, or crescent moons include Malaysia and the Philippines. |
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| Flag of the Netherlands |
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nThe Netherlands was surely an influence for some other flags, color-wise, because it was adopted much earlier than most current flags. Many nations have used the sort of horizontal-striped tricolor of the Netherlands, and many other nations have used the sort of vertical-striped tricolor of France.
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| Flag of France |
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nMany nations, like Paraguay, have tricolor horizontal-striped flags with something in the center:
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nNiger
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nIndia
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nSyria
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nIraq
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nEgypt
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nTajikistan
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nAzerbaijan
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nMyanmar
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nLesotho
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nGhana
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nBolivia
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nEthiopia
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nLibya
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nBut, as I mentioned above, ONLY Paraguay has two different things in the center!
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nAlso on this date:
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nAnniversary of William Close playing his Earth Harp on TV
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nNational Dance Like a Chicken Day
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nMovie producer George Lucas’s birthday
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nUnderground America Day
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nBotanist Mikhail Tsvett’s birthday
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nMathematician John C. Fields’s birthday
Flag Day in the United States
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nKing Louis XIV’s birthday
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nBirthday of painter Thomas Gainsborough
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nBirthday of painter Robert Bechtle
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nMay holidays
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nMay birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in May
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJune holidays
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nJune birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in June
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