Two red horizontal bands encase a wide white band in a 1:2:1 ratio; centered on the white band is a 0.43m diameter disk with a blue and white wave pattern depicting the sea on the lower half and a gold and white ray pattern depicting the sun on the upper half; a Polynesian canoe rides on the wave pattern; the canoe has a crew of five represented by five stars that symbolize the five island groups; red and white are traditional Polynesian colors.
The Regional flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Chinese: 中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區區旗; Portuguese: Bandeira regional da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China) is light green with a lotus flower above the stylised Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five golden five-pointed stars: one large star in the center of the arc with two smaller stars on each side of the large star.
The flag of Yukon was officially adopted on March 1, 1968. The flag was chosen from a territory-wide competition as part of Canada’s Centennial celebrations of 1967. The competition was sponsored by the Whitehorse branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. A C$100 prize was offered to the winning design. There were a total of 137 submissions with the winning design coming from Yukon College graduate Lynn Lambert. Lambert submitted 10 designs of which one made the final three designs as selected by a committee, with his eventually being named the winner. A prototype design was sent to Ottawa for suitable heraldic description. An expert in Ottawa sent back an amended version of the submitted flag design. The committee in Whitehorse however kept with the original design. The flag was adopted by the ‘Flag Act’ on December 1, 1967.
The provincial flag of Saskatchewan features the armorial bearings (coat of arms) in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the western red lily (Lilium philadelphicum), in the fly. The upper green half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the gold lower half symbolizes the southern, prairie wheat-fields.
The current flag of Saskatchewan was adopted on September 22, 1969, the result of a province-wide competition that drew over four thousand entries. The winning entry was designed by Anthony Drake of Hodgeville, Saskatchewan.
The flag of the modern Canadian province, a blue saltire on a white field (background), is a simple figure-ground reversal of the flag of Scotland (a white saltire, Saint Andrew’s cross, on a blue field), charged with an inescutcheon bearing the royal arms of Scotland, a gold shield with a red lion rampant surrounded by a loyal double tressure (a double border decorated with fleurs de lis).
The top white bar represents the snow which colours the culture and lifestyle of Labradorians like no other element. The bottom blue bar represents the waters of Labrador which serve as the highway and sustainer of the people of Labrador. The centre green bar represents the nurturing land. It is thinner than the other two, as the northern climes of Labrador have short summers.
The twig is in two year-growths to represent the past and future of Labrador. The shorter growth of the inner twigs represents the hardships of the past, while the outer twigs are longer as a representation of the hope Labradorians have for the future. The three branches represent the three founding nations of Labrador; the Innu, the Inuit, and the European settlers. The three branches emerging from a single stalk represents the unity of the distinct peoples in the brotherhood of all mankind, thus representing people of these and all backgrounds in Labrador. Since the black spruce, a member of the pine family of trees is the official tree of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador it also serves as a reminder that Labrador is part of that larger entity.
The flag design is that of Beothuk and Innu decorative pendants worn hung from a cord around the neck. Pratt viewed these at the Provincial Museum. With the blue, red and white colours applied the design has an intentional overall resemblance to the Union Jack, as a reminder of British Isles heritage and historic connections. The two red triangles represent the two areas of the province, the continental region (Labrador) and the island region (Newfoundland). The gold arrow, according to Pratt, points towards a “brighter future”; the arrow becomes a sword, honouring the sacrifices of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in military service when the flag is displayed as a vertical banner. The red triangles and the gold arrow form a trident, symbolizing the province’s association with the fisheries and other resources of and under the sea.
The national flag of Benin is a flag consisting of two horizontal yellow and red bands on the fly side and a green vertical band at the hoist. Adopted in 1959 to replace the French Tricolour, it was the flag of the Republic of Dahomey until 1975, when the People’s Republic of Benin was established. The new regime renamed the country and changed the flag to a green field with a red star in the canton. This version was utilized until the regime collapsed in 1990, coinciding with the Revolutions of 1989. The new government promptly restored the original pre-1975 flag.
Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, especially since the end of the civil war; however, the standard of living remains low for most of the population, and life expectancy in Angola is among the lowest in the world, while infant mortality is among the highest. Angola’s economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation’s wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small sector of the population.
