Country and Flag Origins - Part C1

I thought the last blog, Part B, was a little too long, and some of you agreed,  so I decided to split Part C into two parts. I will also be including both of the Congo countries, a dilemma I was over thinking in the last blog. There will be nine countries in this one, Part C1, and eight in Part C2. That will make it a bit more manageable than seventeen again. Plus, I will also add an extra blog to my list in the quest to catch up with the two users with more blogs than me. It's not a race though. Quality still comes first over quantity.

Anyway, let's stop pondering over the tiniest point of the layout of the blogs and get on with the main feature, the countries.

The first one beginning with C is....

The current flag of Cambodia was originally adopted in 1948, but with the takeover by the Khmer Rouge, the country went through some other designed before this flag was readopted in 1993 after the restoration of the Cambodian monarchy. The building in the centre is the Angkor Wat, a religious temple that dates from the 12th century and it symbolises the country's religion, integrity, justice, and heritage. The background of two blue stripes represents the King, liberty, cooperation, and brotherhood. The red central stipe stands for the nation and it's bravery. Red and Blue are traditional Cambodian colours.

Right, ready for this? Cambodia is an anglicized version of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer Kampuchea. Kâmpŭchéa derives from the Sanskrit name, Kambojadeśa which is made up of Deśa meaning "land of" or "country of" and Kamboja referring to the descendants of an Indian sage known as Kambu. However, it is widely accepted that Cambodia translates as "Land of the Khmer"

CAMBODIA = LAND OF THE KHMER

The Cameroon flag uses the colours of the now familiar, Pan-African movement. The red central stripe represents unity, and the yellow star is known as the "Star of Unity". After independence Cameroon's flag had two stars to represent the two seperate parts of the country, however they are now unified into one, hence the single star. The yellow stripe stands for the sun, and the savannah lands in the north of the country, whereas the green band symbolises the verdant forests of the south.

Originally, Cameroon was the name given by the Portuguese for the Wouri River, which they called Rio dos Camarões meaning "River of Shrimps" referring to the then abundant, Cameroon Ghost Shrimp. Today the country's is still Camarões in Portuguese.

CAMEROON = SHRIMPS

In 1964, a committee of the government was formed to consider designs for a new Canadian flag to replace the British Union Flag. The maple leaf has been a symbol of Canada since the 18th century, it is used on the gravestones of Canadian military personnel. The number of points on the leaf isn't relevant, it was decided after wind tunnel tests that this design was the least blurry in high winds. It doesn't appear that the colours have any particular meaning, they are thought to be the national colours of Canada and appear on the Coat of Arms.

Various theories to the origin of the name Canada have been considered over the years, however it is now thought that the name comes from a St. Lawrence Iroqouian word, kanata which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, indigenous peoples used the word to direct the French explorer, Jacques Cartier to their village. The name was used by the French to refer to the whole region.

CANADA = SETTLEMENT

The flag was adopted following the country's independence from Portugal in 1992. The blue of the flag represents the ocean and the sky, the bands of white and red symbolise the road to the construction of the nation, whilst the red stands for effort, and the white for peace. The ten yellow stars represent the main islands of the Cape Verde archipelago.

Cape Verde is named after the Cap-Vert peninsula on the Senegalese coast. The name Cap-Vert comes from the Portuguese name for the peninsula, Cabo Verde. Incidently, Cabo Verde is also the Portuguese name for the islands. Both the peninsula and islands bore the same name for a while. Cape Verde, Cap-Vert and Cabo Verde all mean the same thing, Green Cape. That's the geographical cape not the Batman style cape.

CAPE VERDE = GREEN CAPE

The flag of the CAR (It's too much to keep typing Central African Repu....oh wait) was adopted in 1958. The blue and white colours represent the country's former colonial owners, France and the green and yellow colours signify Africa, with the red stripe connecting the two in unity. Like Cameroon, the star represents unity as well as independence, progress, and tolerance.

The country's name comes from its location in the centre of Africa, who'd have thought it? During the colonial era, the country was known as Ubangi-Shari, which was named after two rivers in the region. However, the first prime minister favoured CAR over the old name, mainly because of his vision of a unified Africa.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC = REPUBLIC IN THE CENTRE OF AFRICA

The flag of Chad is very similar to the flag of Romania. When Chad adopted the flag in 1959, Romania's had a crest on it as well, but after the fall of communism it was removed to it's pre-war state. Romania's was first flown in the 19th century. There has been questions asked at the United Nations, but as yet no agreement has been made. The colours of the two flags are slightly different. The blue (or indigo) represents Lake Chad, an important source of water, the yellow symbolises the Sahara Desert in the north of the country, and the red stands for the sacrifices made during Chad's struggle for independence.

Chad takes it's name from Lake Chad. The lake's name derives from a Saharan language, Kanuri, and means "lake". So in effect, Lake Chad is basically "Lake Lake".

CHAD = LAKE

The flag of Chile was adopted in 1817, although similar, the flag of Texas has no connection. The star represents the planet Venus, which is significant to the indigenous Mapuches people and symbolises a guide to honour and progression. Although, some say it references independence. The blue stands for the sky and Pacific Ocean, the white for the snow capped Andes, and the red for the blood spilled in achieving independence.

There are several theories to the origin of the name Chile. The most likely, in that there are three different versions of the same idea, is that it came from either an Inca or other indigenous name for the Aconcagua Valley. This derives from the name of a tribal chief called Tili. However, other theories are that it comes from words meaning "end of the earth", "cold", or "snow". Still further, a vague theory is that it comes from the noise a small blackbird, known locally as a trile, makes. It's call resembles a sound like cheele-cheele. 

CHILE = NAMED AFTER A CHIEF TILI (or SNOW or END OF THE EARTH or BIRDSONG)

According to the official Chinese government interpretation of the flag, and they should know, the red colour symbolises the Chinese Communist Revolution. The five stars represent the unity of the people under the Communist Party. The large star is the Party and the four smaller stars symbolise the four social classes mentioned in Mao's "On the People's Democratic Dictatorship". The four classes are the working class, the peasantry, the urban petite bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeiosie.

The name China has been in use in English since the 16th century, it's origin has been traced back to a Sanskrit word, Cīna, that was used in ancient India. It is thought to have it's origins in the Qin dynasty (Tsin or Chin in early translations) of the 9th century BC.

CHINA = COMES FROM THE QIN DYNASTY

The flag of Colombia was adopted in 1861, the ratio of the colours is 2:1:1, the yellow covering half of the flag and the blue and red a quarter each. The flag derives from the flag of Gran Colombia as are the flags of Venezuela and Ecuador. The yellow represents the riches of the country, the wealth of the Colombian soil, the gold, sovereignty, harmony, justice, agriculture and the Sun. The blue colour stands for the sky, the sea, and the rivers. The red symbolises the blood spilled in the revolution for independence, and the effort of the Colombian people.

Like many other places and cities around the Americas, Colombia is named after our favourite explorer, Christopher Columbus. That man got around!

COLOMBIA = NAMED AFTER CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

You may be wondering, "Is that it?, What about Comoros, Costa Rica, and Cyprus? Plus a few others that start with the letter C?" Well, if you had read the introduction you would know. Because the blog about the B countries was so long, I decided to split C into two parts. The title may have given it away to the more observant of you. My next blog will cover the rest of the C countries from Comoros to Czechia. Eight in all, so slightly shorter than this one.

Anyway, there is a much more pressing item on the agenda I must talk about.

This blog by Insaniot was published today, the eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord 2025.

Please read it, it is awesome. Mainly due to the fact that I won!!! Well in one category anyway. But that is enough, there were winners and nominees in five categories and I won in the Best Blog Author category. I haven't won anything since I won a raffle prize of a basket of fruit in 1984. Unless you count the £10 I won on the National Lottery about six years ago.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank again anyone that voted for me, it means a lot to be appreciated.

I would now like to be known as "The Award-Winning toowise" . Should I change my username to reflect this accolade? I don't think so, I shall remain true to my roots and remain humble. Did I mention that I won? Yeah, I think I did.

Thanks Everyone, Part C2 is already in production and should be published this weekend. Unless the euphoria of winning goes to my head and I become a diva and flounce of to the Bahamas to retire on my yacht, and dwell on what could have been.

I'll leave you with a quote from George S. Patton, Old Blood and Guts himself, WW2 General and hero...

"Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory"