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Corsica

Flags / economy, europe, flags, france, geography, history, islands, Mediterranean, political

The flag of Corsica was adopted by General of the Nation Pasquale Paoli in 1755 and was based on a traditional flag used previously. It portrays a Moor’s head in black wearing a white bandana above his eyes on a white background. Previously, the bandana covered his eyes; Pasquale Paoli wanted the bandana moved to above the eyes to symbolize the liberation of the Corsican people from the Genoese.

It was used by the Corsican Republic and fell out of usage after 1769, when France forced the island’s former masters to sell it to settle the debts contracted by Genoa with France. This was to pay the costs of the French expeditionary corps which should have helped Genoa to secure its control on Corsica; French troops put down the long-standing rebellion on the island. During this period under French rule, 1769–1789, Corsican patriots again used the version of the flag with blindfolded eyes, as a mark of protest.

The unblindfolded version, quartered with the British coat of arms, was used as the official flag during the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom of 1794-1796. It then fell into disuse until 1980, when it was officially re-adopted as the regional flag.

The Moor’s head is also used on the coat of arms of Corsica, the flag of the neighboring Sardinia, the coat of arms of Aragon, and on the crest of Clan Borthwick.

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France

Flags / Atlantic Ocean, caribbean, economy, europe, flags, france, geography, history, political, social, social/political, transportation

Blue and red are the traditional colours of Paris, used on the city’s coat of arms. Blue is identified with Saint Martin, red with Saint Denis]. At the storming of the Bastille in 1789, the Paris militia wore blue and red cockades on their hats. White had long featured prominently on French flags and is described as the “ancient French colour” by Lafayette. White was added to the “revolutionary” colours of the militia cockade to “nationalise” the design, thus creating the cockade of France. Although Lafayette identified the white stripe with the nation, other accounts identify it with the monarchy. Lafayette denied that the flag contains any reference to the red-and-white livery of the Duc d’Orléans. Despite this, Orléanists adopted the tricolour as their own.

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Comoros

Flags / africa, economy, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, indian ocean, islands

The national flag of the Union of the Comoros was designed in 2001 and officially adopted on January 7, 2002. It continues to display the crescent and four stars, which is a motif that has been in use in slightly various forms since 1975 during the independence movement. In its constitution, the government of the Comoros refers to the insignia as l’emblème national, or the “national emblem”, though it is understood to actually represent a flag.

The design consists of a white crescent with four white five-pointed stars inside of a green triangle. The flag has four stripes, representing four islands of the nation: Yellow is for Mohéli, White is for Mayotte (claimed by Comoros but administered by France), Red is for Anjouan, and Blue is for Grande Comore. The four stars on the flag also symbolize the four islands of the Comoros. The star and crescent symbol stands for their main religion, Islam.

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Central African Republic

Flags / africa, economy, flags, france, geography, history

The design consists of four horizontal stripes and one vertical stripe, and a single yellow five-pointed star in the upper left. The colours chosen are intended to be symbolic of France (blue and white) and Africa (green and yellow) with the red vertical stripe connecting them both in unity, and the respect that Europeans and Africans should have for each other. The yellow star is intended to be indicative of independence. The Constitution of the Central African Republic describes the flag as “four equal sized horizontal bands of the colours blue, white, green and yellow, perpendicularly barred in their centre by a red band of equal size and marked in the upper left corner by a yellow five-pointed star.”

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Quebec

Flags / Canada, Canadian Provinces, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, North America, social/political

he flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé (the Lily-flowered) represents the province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleur-de-lis.

It was adopted by the government of Quebec during the administration of Maurice Duplessis (March 9, 1950). It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada, first shown on January 21, 1948, at the Parliament Building of the National Assembly in Quebec City. Quebec’s Flag Day (January 21) commemorates its adoption each year, though for some time it was celebrated in May. At least one parade marked the flag’s 60th anniversary in January 2008.

The Fleurdelisé takes its white cross from the royal flags of the Kingdom of France, namely the French naval flag as well as the French merchant flag.

Its white fleurs-de-lis (symbols of purity) and blue field (symbolizing Heaven) come from a banner honouring the Virgin Mary. One such was reputedly carried by French Canadian militia at General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm’s victory at Carillon.

The flag is blazoned Azure, a cross between four fleurs-de-lis argent. Its horizontal symmetry allows both sides of the flag to show the same image.

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United Nations

Flags / birthright, caribbean, childhood, europe, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, indian ocean, islands, Multi National Organizations, North America, pacific ocean, political, south america, United States

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that was tasked to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international co-operation and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development and upholding international law. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. In 24 October 1945, at the end of World War II, the organization was established with the aim of preventing future wars. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The UN is the successor of the ineffective League of Nations.

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The Mysterious Islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Flags / flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, islands

The official flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, as is true of all of Overseas France, is the French Tricolour. However, there is a local and unofficial flag that is seen in use and that is the flag we were flying today. The unofficial flag was designed in 1982, likely by a local business owner, André Paturel. The flag is based on the Collectivity’s coat of arms. The flag is blue with a yellow ship, said to be Grande Hermine, which brought Jacques Cartier to Saint-Pierre on 15 June 1536. Three square fields placed along the hoist recall the origin of most inhabitants of the islands, from top to bottom, Basques, Bretons, and Normans.

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Half An Island – Saint Martin

Flags / caribbean, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, islands

Interestingly, Saint Martin is the only island thus divided by two colonial powers. Cyprus remains divided but one half of the island is operated as an independent nation. The French and British jointly administered the New Hebrides Islands, now the independent nation of Vanuatu, but there was no boundary line on any island or area, instead the entire island group was jointly, if confusingly, administered by both nations. Saint Martin stands unique in terms of being an island divided into separate overseas territories of European powers.

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Today’s Flag – French Polynesia

Flags / europe, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, islands, pacific ocean

The flag consists of two red horizontal bands which encase a wide white band. The bands are at a fixed width ratio of 1:2:1. In the center of the white band is a blue and white disk with a blue and white wave pattern which depicts the sea on the lower half and a gold and white ray pattern which depicts on the upper half. There is a Polynesian canoe riding on the wave pattern. The canoe has a crew of five, represented by five stars. The five stars are meant to symbolize the five island groups (The Bass Islands are generally grouped with the Austral Islands even though they are geographically distinct and separate from the main Austral archipelago.

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Today’s Flag – French Guiana

Flags / europe, flags, france, french overseas territories, geography, history, south america

But the prison system wasn’t isolated to the three islands of the Isles of Salvation. The main prison camp was along the western border with Dutch Guiana, now known as Suriname. The islands were used to isolate the “worst of the worst” as well as for political prisoners who were housed on Devil’s Island itself. Île Royale was for the general population of the worst criminals of the penal colony to roam about in moderate freedom due to the difficulty of escape from the island. Île Saint-Joseph was for the worst of those criminals to be punished in solitary confinement in silence and for extra punishment in darkness of the worst of the worst criminals of the penal colony. Conditions were so harsh, especially the presence of tropical diseases that would likely go untreated, that of the estimated 56,000 prisoners sent to the islands, only about 10% survived the experience. Those who survived their sentence enjoyed freedom but were never to be allowed to return to metropolitan France, instead being condemned to live the rest of their days on the mainland.

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