flags of the world

after being introduced recently to an add-on in facebook, i've been obsessed with upping my traveler's IQ. what the hell am i talking about, you say? it's an application offered through TravelPod (you can click on "Try the Traveler's IQ Challenge" at the top of the page). after many rounds of the "Original World Challenge", where you have to click on a world map as closely as possible to the place they're directing you. for example, if you get Washington DC, you have to be able to place where that is in the world. the more accurately and quickly you can place the location, the more points you get. this has singlehandedly improved my geography knowledge from practically nil to fairly decent in no time at all.

anyway, along with placing cities, capitals, and famous places, there are also other challenges, such as Asia, North America, and the one i've taken a particular interest in, Flags of the World.

after playing this flags of the world game several times, i've come to a new conclusion: some countries have some dumb flags. no offense or anything, but seriously. so many flags have similar colors and styles, or even the same colors but in different orders. what kind of symbolism is that? i'm sure those colors must have some particular meaning, but from just looking at it, it's hard to understand what kind of patriotic feelings they must instill in their people.

3 that have been truly making me angry are the following:

can you figure out which is which?...





















answers are: France, then Netherlands, then Russia. to think, horizontal vs. vertical lines make a dramatic difference. and then just the simple swapping of color order makes that drastic of a change. nuts, right?

so this is what my life has been about this past weekend (flags, the traveler's IQ game, and making my Chun-Li outfit). i know talking about flags won't do much to actually change anything, but i just thought i'd express my musings over them.

take a look at belgium and germany:

i dont know about you, but they look pretty similar to me. and to think, again, it's all about vertical vs. horizontal stripes. *sigh*

the one flag that i'm a very big fan of, though, is Cyprus:

it's so brilliant... it has a picture of itself on it!!

i guess what i'm getting at is that i admire flags with symbols on it.. makes them unique. not just bands of color, yanno? even the States has a unique pattern, which makes it so readily distinguishable. i even have to give Canada credit. the maple leaf -- so simple and yet so fitting, no?

another favorite flag would have to be macedonia. very unique pattern:

if i could go back to college and choose a random flag to hang on my wall, it'd hands down have to be macedonia. very bold colors.... maybe i'm just lame, but i find the design inspiring, and i think i'd have liked it hanging over my bed, encouraging me to not give up amidst studying for midterms and finals.

to see every flag of the world, check out this website.

so if you're bored and you feel like freshening up your geography and vexillology, go to facebook (where you kill most of your time anyway =P), and see what your traveler's IQ is!