Country and Flag Origins - Part Y

Welcome to the penultimate blog in this series. The more astute amongst you may have noticed a gap in the proceedings. The absence of countries beginning with W and X have necessitated an intermission in the series. Maybe in the future, another nation will emerge giving me reason to add another blog to the series. If Western Sahara decides to get it's act together and gain independence, or maybe Western Australia hold a military coup against the government and go their own way in the world. Perhaps an independent state of West Bengal or even Xanadu emerging from the ashes of the Yuan Dynasty then it will be a different story.  I could go on, but as you know, I don't like to waffle on.

So currently, there are no blogs for W and X. Sorry for the disappointment.

In an effort to pad out the blog, I shall do what every Brit does when the conversation hits a natural low, I shall talk about the weather. No not really, I wouldn't want to subject you to the banalities of English life. I shall though, comment on the thumbnail picture, This is a village called Y. Yes it does exist, but in which country? This should be easy for anyone that uses Geoguessr, the roadsign will be a dead giveaway. Once again, if no answer is forthcoming, I shall add a sticky comment in 48 hours.

Let's start the long list of Y countries.....

The flag of Yemen was adopted in 1990, on the day of the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen. The red colour represents the blood shed by martyrs in the struggle for independence. The white colour symbolises a bright future and the black colour stands for the dark days of the past. The flag is almost identical to the Arab Liberation Flag and of the National Liberation Front, a political party active in South Yemen.

One source claims that the name of Yemen derives from the word ymnt which means "South" referring to the countries position in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. Others claim that Yemen is related to the words yamn or yumn, meaning "felicity" or "blessed". It is thought this refers to the fertile lands of Yemen, as a contrast to the desert of the rest of Arabia. The Romans called the land Arabia Felix, meaning "fortunate Arabia".

YEMEN = BLESSED or SOUTH

Sometimes, an idea emerges from the most mundane source. This just happened earlier when I was looking for a thumbnail picture to add to the blurb of this blog. I'm not going to say too much, but I know what I'm doing soon. It may be a blog or it may be a quiz, I don't know yet, it's just a small idea that is rattling around the empty space in my head, a bit like a golf ball in an empty watering can. Sooner or later it will hit the switch that turns on the light bulb! I need to do a little more research.

Only one more blog to go, the letter Zed or Zee, whichever you prefer.  After that, who knows? Well, I do, maybe, but it may change, I haven't yet decided 100%. Let's just get this series finished first, then I may take a short hiatus, possibly add a few quizzes to my ever growing list, I've currently got 871 quizzes, so I would like to make it at least to the 1,000 mark sometime, only 129 to go. Another feature would be nice, but it's getting harder and harder to make an impression, there are so many excellent quizzes out there. I should really try to make a map quiz, just for the hell of it, but it's a bit daunting at the moment, maybe after a few attempts it will get easier. Any tips ?

That's it for now. Once again, thanks for reading and your kind comments, it really does make a difference and boosts my ego no end. That's enough padding chat for now, see y'all in the next one.

Ciao.