Country and Flag Origins - Part U

Welcome to the latest blog about flags and names. This time we are looking at the countries that start with U. There are seven in total, a little better than the eleven in the last blog. That was a long blog to write, and it probably seemed longer to read. I wouldn't blame you if you skipped a bit!

The thumbnail to this edition is an album cover, the album is called U, if anyone knows the band, and where they come from, without searching Google, then kudos to you. Try and guess in the comments, if no-one gets it in a day or so, I'll add a sticky comment with the answer.

Anyway, I'll keep the introduction short and sweet this time, mainly because, once again, I can't think of what to write. On to the countries....

The flag of Uganda was adopted in 1962, when the nation became independent from the British Empire. The flag was based on the flag of the Uganda People's Congress, the first party to be elected after independence. The three colours on the flag represent native ethnic groups of Africa (the black colour), Africa's sunshine (the yellow colour), and African brotherhood (the red colour symbolising the blood that connects all Africans). The bird in the centre is the grey crowned crane, a symbol of Uganda and a common bird that can be found around the many lakes and rivers in the country. The raised leg symbolises the forward movement of the nation.

The name of Uganda derives from the name of the dominant tribe of the area, the Baganda people. Their region was called Buganda, and this is still the largest division of Uganda. The Baganda name derives from the word ganda meaning "brotherhood" or "unity", and in turn comes from obuganda meaning "bundles of stalks tied together".

UGANDA = BUNDLES OF STALKS TIED TOGETHER

Ukraine's flag was first adopted in 1918, then reinstated in 1992 after the break-up of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence. The blue and yellow colours together date back to Kievan Rus', an Eastern European empire that was operational from the 9th to 13th centuries. It is thought that the blue colour represents the clear skies over Ukraine, and the yellow symbolises the vast wheat fields of the country.

The name Ukraine derives from the Slavic word krajina meaning "edge" or "border" and probably refers to Ukraine's location at the edge of Europe. Other theories are that Ukraine means "region" or "country"

UKRAINE = BORDER REGION

The U.A.E. flag contains the Pan-Arab colours of red, green, white, and black. It was designed in 1971 by Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, following a national competition. The green colour symbolises the Plains of the Emirates, the white colour represents the Acts of the Emirates. The black colour stands for the Battles and Dark Times of the Emirates, and the red colour is for the Emirati swords.

The first of the entries that are "United", the U.A.E. was born out of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States. The seven sheikhs of these states formed a council called the Trucial States Council which was disbanded when the United Arab Emirates came into being after the British decided they could no longer afford to administer and protect the Trucial States.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES = A UNITED COALITION OF SEVEN ARAB EMIRATES

The design of the British flag dates back to the Act of Union of 1801, which united the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The flag consists of the flags of the patron saints of Scotland, England and Ireland.

The three flags above where incorporated into the Union Flag as it is known. Wales isn't represented by the flag of St. David, the patron saint of Wales, because at the time of the design, Wales was part of the Kingdom of England. There have been calls in parliament for a new design taking into account the country of Wales. Two designs were put forward, one with a red dragon in the centre, and the other with the yellow cross of the St. David flag.

The name of the United Kingdom also dates back to the Acts of Union, although this time, the ones from 1707, when it was declared that the Kingdom of England would join the Kingdom of Scotland and be "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The later, aforementioned Acts then formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the independence of Ireland in 1922, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", which is the official name today. This name is obviously shortened to the United Kingdom.

UNITED KINGDOM = KINGDOMS THAT ARE UNITED

The current fifty star flag was first used in 1960 when an extra star was added when Hawaii became a state. Originally the colours had no meaning, but in 1782 one of the Founding Fathers, Charles Thomson, proposed the design for the US Seal, and stated "The colours are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice". The fifty stars represent the fifty states of the US, and the thirteen stripes symbolise the thirteen British colonies that won independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.

The entire continent of North and South America is known as "the Americas". The United States is a statement that the fifty individual states are united under a federal government. The nation is often referred to as the United States of America, the USA, the United States, the States, the US, or simply America. All are correct except possibly the last one, as this could refer to the continent.

UNITED STATES = STATES THAT ARE UNITED

As well as standing for peace and honesty (white colour) and truth and loyalty (blue colour) the stripes on the flag of Uruguay represent the nine original regions of the nation. The "Sun of May" in the corner of the flag symbolises the Sun God, Inti, mythological founder of the Incan Empire. It is also a representation of the May Revolution that ultimately led to the country's independence from Spain.

The country of Uruguay takes it's name from the Rio Uruguay river that flows through it's territory. The origin of the name Uruguay has several interpretations. Some of these are very similar, they relate to the Charruan word urú which is the name for a small bird similar to quail. Although, the same word does refer to any wild fowl. This has manifested into the name meaning "bird-river". There is also a train of thought that it comes from the name of a snail that is indigenous to the area, a uruguá. One popular interpretation is by a Uruguayan poet, and suggests the name means "river of painted birds" however, the origin is dubious despite passing it into folklore.

URUGUAY = BIRD RIVER

The Uzbek flag was adopted in 1991 to replace the Soviet flag of Uzbek S.S.R. at the fall of the Soviet Union. The blue colour represents the Turkic people, the sky, and water. The white colour is the traditional Uzbek colour of peace and good luck. The green colour symbolises nature, new life, and a good harvest. The narrow red stripes represent the power of life. The crescent moon shape represents the birth of a new nation as well as being an Uzbek historical symbol. The stars stand for spirituality and divinity, and also the pursuit of perfection and happiness amongst the people.

As mentioned previously, the -stan suffix stands for "land of". The Uzbeki part is disputed, however it could mean free or independent or own master, derived from the Turkic uz meaning "own" and beg meaning "leader". Another theory is that it derives from Oghuz Beg, a legendary leader of the Turkic people. All of the theories have one thing in common, the use of the root beg meaning "leader"

UZBEKISTAN = LAND OF THE LEADERS or LAND OF THE INDEPENDENT

What do U think? (See what I did there?) Never mind, I'll get on with it. 
All of the U countries done and dusted, that just leaves V,Y, and Z. There's only seven countries left to do, I could put them all in one blog and name it Part VYZ, but that just seem right to me. Each letter will get it's own blog. I'm not doing W and X because I think that anything I do would lessen the proper countries somehow. I don't know how, but in my mind they do, so I'm keeping the blogs clean. At least to me anyway. 
So what of the future, I hear you ask? Well, I've already mentioned some more Five Islands blogs, and possibly a few stand-alone blogs, similar to the ones I did during the Islands series, there were blogs about roundabouts, road signs, ferries and trucking if I remember right. Maybe a couple in that sort of vein would be acceptable. Obviously not the same subject, that would be daft, although easy to just copy and paste. I would never do that, unless it's a quote from someone. So that's it for now, if anyone has any ideas they would like me to pursue, then please add it to the comments and I'll take a look. 
Oh, don't forget the competition, big prizes up for grabs, well not really, just fame for a few minutes, if you can identify the group whose album cover I used for the thumbnail. Answer will be put in a sticky in about 48 hours. 
So, anyway, in the words of Shrek, "That'll do , Donkey"