Country and Flag Origins - Part D

Hold tight, we're in for a wild ride with this one. All the D countries, yes you heard that right, ALL of them! "ALL IN ONE BLOG?" I hear you shout, yeah, all in one blog. The sacrifices I make for this place are enormous. That must be why I am an award-winn...sorry, I promised I wouldn't mention it again, oh wait, no, I promised I would try not to mention it again. That's it, from now on I will not mention award-winning, well, from NOW I won't mention that thing that I said I wouldn't mention. You know, that thing. Yeah, you got it, now stop going on, I'm not going to mention it.

Anyways, D, the fourth letter of the alphabet, but the fifth blog in the series, that's because C decided to have lots and lots of countries. As did B, but I made the mistake of writing about all of them in one blog, it got boring towards the end, you obviously can have too much of a good thing then. It's a few weeks away, but S has, if I remember right, twenty-six countries, wow, I may have to split  that into three (two 9s and an 8) but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Enough of me prattling on, I'm just trying to pad out the blog with a higher character count to counteract the small amount of countries. Here's the first one....

Denmark's flag has an entry in the Guinness World records book as being the oldest continuously used national flag. Although it was recognised as a national flag in 1625, according to legend it was adopted even earlier in 1215 at the Battle of Lindanise, and has been used by Danish Royalty since the 14th century. The elongated white Nordic Cross represents Christianity, and the red background symbolises the battle where, it is said, the flag fell from the sky, causing the Danes to have a surge of power to win the battle.

Denmark, or Danmark as it is known in Danish, dates back to the era of King Alfred the Great in the 9th century. Dan- is thought to derive from the German tenne and the English den meaning "flat land" or "low ground". The -mark part of the name means "woodland" or "borderland" and is thought to be a reference to the forests in the southern part of the country.

DENMARK = FLAT BORDER LAND

The flag of Djibouti was adopted in 1977. The light blue colour signifies the sea and sky, as well as the Somalis. The green colour represents the "everlasting green of the earth" as well as the Afars, a people that inhabit the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia and northern Djibouti. The white symbolises peace and the red star stands for the blood spilled in the fight for independence, and unity. The five points of the star represent the five regions inhabited by the Somali people.

The country is named after it's capital, Djibouti (obviously), whose origins are thought to derive from the Afar word gabouti meaning "plate" referring to the geography of the area. There is also reference to the word gabood that means "plateau". However, there is another theory that the name comes from "Land of Tehuti" or "Land of Thoth" referring to the Egyptian Moon God, Djehuty. 

DJIBOUTI = PLATEAU

Following independence, Dominica adopted it's flag in 1978, it was designed by local playwright and artist, Alwin Bully. The bird in the centre is the national bird of Dominica, the Sisserou Parrot, an endangered species with only around 250 individuals. It is endemic to Dominica. The green background represents the lush vegetation of the island and the cross denotes Trinity and Christianity, with its colours symbolising the natives, the fertile soil, and the pure water. The red disc stands for justice, whilst the ten stars symbolise the ten parishes of Dominica.

The Caribs called the island Wai‘tu kubuli, which means "Tall is her body". Nope, me neither! However the name of Dominica was given by our old friend Christopher Columbus, he named it after the Latin term dies Dominica meaning "Sunday". He spotted the island on a Sunday in November 1493 apparently. There has been some debate on the island for a change of name to distinguish it from our next entry.

DOMINICA = SUNDAY

The flag of DR, as it can be called in the Countries of the World Quiz, was adopted in 1863. It contains the coat of arms of the nation in the centre. The white cross denotes salvation, the blue stands for liberty and the red symbolises the blood of heroes. A close look at the coat of arms depicts a laurel branch and a palm frond, and an open book in the middle. The book is the bible and according to official sources it is open at the "Gospel of Saint John, Chapter 8, Verse 32". which I'm sure you all know is ""And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free".

You would think that DR has the same origin as Dominica, but you would be wrong. It is named after Saint Dominic, the patron saint of astronomers and founder of the Dominican Order. The colony was originally known as Santo Domingo, and it's residents were called Dominicans. The country upon independence became known as the Dominican Republic.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC = NAMED AFTER SAINT DOMINIC

"Is that it?" I hear you all quietly saying to yourselves. No point shouting, unless you're standing in my drive, I won't hear you. And if you are standing in my drive, come on in, I'll put the kettle on.

There are, as the most astute of you will have noticed, only four entries in this blog. There are only four countries starting with D, I had thought about adding the E countries, but there are nine of those, and then we're getting into the long and progressively boring blog again. I decided to keep it nice and simple this time, as there is going to be some consolidation with the letters with only one or two countries later in the series.

Before I started researching, I had thought that Dominica and DR would have had the same origin, but I was proved wrong. I love it when something unexpected pops up, it makes writing more enjoyable. Imagine if they were the same, under DR it would have said "See Dominica". Boring or what?

So anyway, what's next? Well, obviously the E countries starting with East Timor and ending with Ethiopia, nine in all, five of which are in Africa. Then onto F, G, well, you get the idea. But looking further ahead, I had a thought that I may do similar to this blog but about the US states, or the English counties for a change may be better. We always seem to revolve around the US, so doing something about "little old England" will make a change. What do you think? It's a way off yet but I like to think ahead. Or what about combining one of my older blog series and writing about the origin of island names?

I'm getting way ahead of myself now, so I'll shut up, Save and Submit the blog.

See you all soon, figuratively, unless you're still standing in my drive, in which case I'll open the door.