Flag Fridays: An Alternative Rating of the Flags of the World

A couple of years ago, a university philosopher from New Zealand named Josh Parsons put reviews of the world’s flags on his website. This has become a very well-known piece of flag criticism, as such things go. In fact, as far as I can tell Parsons is the ONLY person to have published a comprehensive critique of the world’s flags. (We have, to be sure, done some flag criticism in the past on this blog, but we’ve never tried to be either comprehensive or methodical).

Now, I certainly respect Parsons’ pioneering efforts in vexilocriticism. But should he really get the last word in flag aesthetics? I say, flag aesthetic theory can only be advanced through an exchange of ideas and opinions in a free marketplace! Moreover, I disagree with Parsons on many points, and have a hankering to shoot my mouth off about it! Therefore, I am nominating and electing myself the Gene Siskal to his flaggy Roger Ebert, and commencing my own analysis of the flags of the world.

Methodology

1. Grades. For ease of comparison, I will use Parson’s system (q.v.) of letter grades, which runs basically like so:

A = Excellent; Inspired
B = High Quality Flag with only minor concerns
C = Satisfactory Flag
D = Problematic Flag
F = National Embarassment

2. Criteria. Parsons lays out a number of general principles of good flag design. Let us consider these one by one.

Rule 1: Do not write the name of your country on your flag.

I am generally sympathetic with this point. The whole purpose of a flag is to present a graphic image of a place, and if you have to (to take an example from the gallery of horrors that are the U.S. State flags) actually write “Oregon” on your banner, you have clearly committed a vexology fail.

Rule 2: Do not put a map of your country on your flag.

In principle, I see no problem with cartographic flags. A map is, after all, a graphic representation, and is therefore not inherently out of place on a symbolic representation. I will also concede, though, that maps are often a dodgy design element in actual practice. We’ll have to take this one on a case-by-case basis.

Rule 2a: Do not put a picture of anything on your flag.

I generally agree with this rule. At anything but the broadest level of abstraction, pictures are too detailed to be immediately recognizable, and thus counter-flaggy. Too, one feels that a flag ought to be something that could be put together by the local Betsy-Ross figure out of, literally, whole cloth. A fussy image that requires custom-printed fabric is vaguely undemocratic, and sacrifices the clean, bold aesthetic of solid blocks of color.

Rule 3: Do not use a tricolour unless you are in Europe.

I disagree wholeheartedly with Parsons on this point. Tricolors are the very epitome of classic flag design, simple, bold, and immediately identifiable. European countries use them for the reason that they have strong use value, and triumphed over all other possible national signifiers through a historical process of evolution. To tell the younger countries of the world that they can’t use this design because it’s already been done is essentially to tell them that their flags shouldn’t look like flags. (Parsons particularly singles out “that red yellow green thing” of many African countries, which is a bit unsporting in that it ignores both the symbolic importance of those colors and the process by which many African countries gained their independence.)

In my own critiques, I will certainly applaud successful attempts at innovation in flag design. However, I also approve of the enduring appeal of simple blocks of color, and am unlikely to give any tricolor a grade below a “B” unless there is a singular problem of color choice.

Schedule: Flags will be reviewed in alphabetical order, six at a time, on “Flag Fridays,” a day selected for euphony and euphony alone. The first batch will come next week. Unless these prove to be especially popular posts – which frankly I have a hard time imagining – I’ll try to throw in something with more universal appeal to tide you over the weekend. You know, like boring postcards or something.

L&T M5K Flag Fridays Index:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda

Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize

Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia

Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil


Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi



The L&TM5K Awards for Flag Merit

Thoughts on the Flag(s) of Angola

Flag Colors of the World

Thoughts on U.S. State Flags

The Wednesday Quiz II:1

Canadian and Australian Flags Quiz

The Monday Quiz IL


Other Flaggy Thoughts:

What is Written on the National Flags

The Library Sale CD Trove VIII

Reviewing my CD finds from half-price day at the Friends of the Multnomah County Library Annual Booksale.

Guitar Pieces by Granados, Rodrigo, Asencio, Barrios, Coste, and Henze.

Jeffrey McFadden, Guitar


I started writing my review of this CD in my head before I even got it out of the case. For have I not often quipped that it is good to have an album of classical guitar music, but superfluous to have two? I've got a small handful of classical guitar CDs, and even a few surviving classical guitar tapes(!), each of which are perfectly pleasant and each of which I listen to somewhat less often than yearly.

Once the CD began playing, however, I was immediately impressed by a more energetic and distinctly more Iberian edge than I expected. And in truth, I know so little about the classical guitar repertoire that I couldn't tell you whether this is due to the program of compositions, or the talent of Jeffrey McFadden, or even the recording quality. Certainly, the Naxos label always does a good job on these "recital" CDs of kicking off with an especially compelling number -- a "rocker," if you will -- and of ending on a high note as well, which is a good strategy when you are selling unfamiliar material. It helps.

I might have to do some comparative relistening, but I think this might become my go-to classical guitar disc.

Prognosis: Maybe it could become your go-to classical guitar disc, too!

The Wednesday Quiz I:6 -- Judge a Book By Its Cover

The Wednesday Quiz -- Season I -- Quiz 6

Judge a Book by its Cover

The Wednesday Quiz is a test of knowledge and intuition. Looking up answers or asking your buddy is morally indefensible. Questions about the rules are answered here.

This week's Quiz is a fill-in-the blanks game. For each image,

Name the Author and Title

The number and length of the underlines are not necessarily indicative. Oh, and there are twelve items this week worth, um, 8 1/3 points apiece.

1:



2:

3:


4:


5:


6:


7:


8:


9:


10:


11.


12.

Submit your answers in the comments!

January's Element of the Month: Tantalum!

January's Element of the Month:
Tantalum!
Ta
73

Atomic Mass: 180.9479 amu
Melting Point: 3017 °C
Boiling Point: 5458 °C

Don't feel bad that you don't know much about Tantalum; it took the world's chemists more than half a century to figure out what was up with this rare metal. The problem was that it only occurs naturally along with its sister element, Niobium, and people had a hell of a time deciding whether they were both the same thing, or different, or if there were three or even four different elements present in their mineral forms. It wasn't until the time of the U.S. Civil War that it all got sorted out, and chemists who had made their reputations by discovering Columbium and Ilmenium presumably slunk off humiliated into the footnotes when it became awkwardly clear that these elements didn't exist after all.

The Centerfold!

With our fancy modern technology, it's actually pretty easy to isolate Tantalum, which is very hard but ductile, highly conductive to both heat and electricity, and acid-resistant. As you might guess from that list of characteristics, brainy engineering types have found myriad ways to put this stuff to use! It's used in alloys for jet engine and other aerospace parts, in surgical implants and instruments, and for corrosion-resistant pipes and vessels. On its own, it is used a lot in electronic components and sees occasional duty in such life-enhancing applications as armor-piercing explosive charges and excessively fancy watches.

Want some? As only the 52nd most common element here on the crust of the Earth, where the L&TM5K is written, it's can be hard to come by. Fortunately, the good people of Brazil and Canada, countries where it is mined, are willing to sell some on the international commodities market. It will put you back about eighty bucks a kilogram, roughly the same price as uranium, pure iodine, high-quality crab, or Minki whale meat.

Gifts That Arrive in the Mail

I was delighted to find a cigar box full of boring postcards under the Christmas tree this year!

Mrs.5000 understands me.

Note that they are framed. This is, if I'm not mistaken, an invitation to establish a Great Hall of Boring Postcards. But where?!?

Postcards don't get much more boring than this.

Why, here's the lovely campus of Oregon State University!


And check out this three-engine Continental 727! One of the small sadnesses in my life is that I was born too late for airline postcards....

Meanwhile...

The katenben/Ben/Morgan family decided they don't need their postcards anymore, and laid THIS on me. I haven't even taken a peek at the actual postcards yet, but the box alone ("Flash Filing -- Fresno, California") is teh awesome. Thanks, katenben/Ben/Morgan family!!!

More boring postcards coming atcha next weekend!

Picking Out the Wright Gift

This was my flagship Christmas present for Mrs.5000 this year.

I was a little afraid she might find it "silly" or "trivial" or "childish," but I shouldn't have worried about a woman who, after all, married me.

Did YOU get anything cool?


But we can't compete with this guy...

New Blog Year 2010!

Uh-oh, it's New Year's Day! Time to look over the crumbling ruins of our hopes and dreams for the year past, and grimly resolve to carry on as best we can through whatever the new year brings.

Last year, I made five blog resolutions:

1. Stick with the Bible Blog, and try to finish off the Old Testament this year.

Honestly, I stuck with the Bible Blog and stuck with it damned well, but finishing the OT was a weirdly ambitious goal. I must have thought I could be more skimmy.

2. Keep the Quilt Blog, but don't sweat it.

I was really better about not sweating the quilt blog than keeping it.

3. Do a Great Movies post three or four times a month.

Ka-pow! I was a Great Movies MACHINE this year! Forty-two reviews, for a perfect 3.5 posts per month!

4. Do ten Reading List posts.

If you include Jane Eyre, which kind of glommed itself on to the list, and count the Harry Potters seperately, I scored a whopping Thirteen (13) Reading List posts! [little victory dance]

5. Don't forget to have fun with the thing.

Oh yes.

But that's all ancient history now! So, looking forward -- considering the current state of my interest in my various enthusiasms, considering the kinds of posts that people have been interested in, and considering the, um, potential impact of exogenously imposed lifestyle changes in the 5000 Household -- I hereby resolve:

the 2010 goals for the michael5000 blog empire:

1. Stick with the Bible Blog, and try to finish off the Old Testament this year.

Still kind of ambitious, so no promises.

2. Mothball the Quilt Blog.

That's not to say I'll mothball quilting, but I don't forsee it being an ESPECIALLY quilting-intensive year and, in particular, I'm a little out of touch with the quilting community. For the small volume of things I have to say about the craft, I can post 'em here on the Life & Times.

3. Get cracking on the Shakespeare Blog.

...although, there's no rush on this one, especially while the Bible project, the Reading List project, and the Great Movies project are all three still active. I think reading three Shakespeare plays and maybe another Shakespeare-peer play, and trying to catch a few live performances, is a reasonable goal for the year.

4. Finish the Great Movies Project.

Hell, there's only like sixteen left.

5. Do ten Reading List posts.

I loves my Reading List. And I'm halfway through The Moral Animal already. Preview: It's awesome.

6. Incorporate other projects.

The whole idea of this blog is that it's supposed motivate and shape my various hobbies and enthusiasms. Two of these that blossomed this year are the international chess and the geohashing, and you might have noticed that I've recently made space for them on the sidebar. If and when I'm able to run again, there might be a sidebar about that, too. Also, you can "look forward to" (I use the phrase lightly) more posts this year about Castle5000 improvement and landscaping. The michael5000 Kitchen may or may not happen much.

7. Hammer on the specialties.

Fair warning: there are going to be a lot of flag and postcard posts this year. And I might get mappy on y'all, too. And don't think for a second that "Element of the Month" is going anywhere. In the fullness of time, the Imaginary Lands are going to swing through for another pass, too. Forewarned is forearmed.

8. Review Things That Don't Need Reviewed

I'm going to keep hammering away on the Library Sale CDs, and there were 14 of those I think. After that, I'm going to take a tour of the Mahler symphonies, just because I've always wanted to take a closer listen to 'em. You can't say I'm pandering to a mass market.

Also:

Should I also be resolving to follow YOUR blog religiously? If so, tell me in the comments. I'm very suggestible.