Country and Flag Origins - Part F

Here we are again, back in the hotseat, well my black leather desk chair anyway, it's not one of those fancy ones with a massager and heated back unfortunately. Just a regular desk chair, not a gaming style, more executive. But enough about my seating arrangements, your not here for that, are you?

This edition of my blog contains entries for all the countries that start with the letter G, sorry F, I hit the wrong key, my fingers seem to work faster than my brain, I regularly have to go back and correct mistakes like that. But, back to the task at hand.

There are only four countries in this section, there would have been three, but I added the Federated States of Micronesia, the reason for this is that in the Countries of the World quiz, I like most of you will just type FSM, instead of either the full name or simply Micronesia. Wikipedia's entry for the country starts with an F, and it is the nation's official title. Plus it drops the M edition down one, which frankly has too many in it anyway.

So, that's the introduction bit written, on to the main course...

A simple one to start with, Micronesia's flag was introduced in 1978. The blue colour represents the Pacific Ocean, and the four white stars symbolise the four federated states. They are Chuuk. Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Yap. The flag originally had six stars representing  the states of the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Yap, Truk, Pohnpei, and Palau. Truk became Chuuk, and the Northern Marianas Islands became a territory of the United States. The Marshall Islands became independent and Phonpei was split into Phonpei and Kosrae. If that makes sense to you, then well done!

Micronesia is also the name for a general area of the Pacific in much the same way as Polynesia or Melanesia. This nation's name reflects it's position in the Pacific Ocean, and the fact that there are four states that are in a federation.

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA = STATES THAT ARE FEDERATED IN THE MICRONESIA REGION. (I think that's the first time this TL:DR explanation has reached a second line)

Staying in the Pacific, the flag of Fiji has a blue background similar to FSM, and reflecting the same thing, the Pacific Ocean. The Union Flag of the United Kingdom represents the country's links with the UK. The symbolism of that flag will be covered at a later date. The shield represents the agriculture and historical connections. The cross of St.George, England's patron saint, divides the shield which is topped by a British lion holding a cocoa pod in it's paws. The four quarters of the shield show sugar cane, coconut palm, a dove of peace, and a bunch of bananas. There is a movement to replace the flag with one that doesn't feature the UK's Union Flag.

The name of Fiji, derives from the name of the main island, Viti Levu. Although the pronunciation is as used in neighbouring Tonga. Natives of Fiji were met by explorer James Cook in Tonga, they called their home Viti, but Tongans pronounced it Fisi, Cook then changed the pronunciation to Fiji. For a time in the 19th century, written reports by missionaries called the island "Feejee". The word Viti, comes from Proto-Central Pacific *viti and means "east" or "sunrise". I know which I prefer.

FIJI = SUNRISE

The national flag of Finland is called, in Finnish, the Siniristilippu or "Blue Cross Flag", can't imagine why. The current flag was first used by the Nyland Yacht Club in Helsinki in 1861. It was used by the nation after independence in 1917, following a competition to design a new flag. One design featured red, white and blue diagonal stripes and was rejected on the grounds that it was "more suitable for a barber shop!". The cross design is said to represent Christianity, whereas the blue colour represents the sky and the thousands of lakes in the country. The white is said to symbolise the snow that covers the land in winter.

In the Finnish language, Finland is translated to Suomi and this derives from the Saame or Sami people who were indigenous to the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia.

FINLAND = LAND OF THE FINNS (The English translation of the Sami)

This flag was adopted in 1794 after the French Revolution. It was influenced by the flag of the Netherlands which is the same colour, just horizontal stripes instead of vertical. Blue and red are the traditional colours of Paris, with red representing Saint Denis, and blue Saint Martin. The Paris militia wore blue and red knots of ribbons, or cockades, in their hats during the storming of the Bastille in 1789. The three colours are described by the French government as red and blue for Paris, and white was for the king. However, it is more common to see the meaning of the colours to represent the three elements of the revolutionary motto, liberté (freedom: blue), égalité (equality: white), fraternité (brotherhood: red).

The name of France comes from the Latin Francia, and is related to the English frank, Old French franc, and the Medievel Latin francus. All three mean "free" or "freemen", it is thought they were called free because following the conquest of Gaul, only the Franks were free of taxation. The Latin term Francia means the "realm of the Franks"

FRANCE = REALM OF THE FRANKS (or the Free)

That was another short one. I have a day off from work today, Monday, so I decided to crack on with the F countries. The next one, G obviously, will be a longer blog, there are eleven countries starting with Gabon and ending with Guyana, if I write a little each day, this will probably be published next weekend.

Spring has finally sprung here in the United Kingdom, daffodils are everywhere, along the roadsides, in peoples gardens, covering some roundabouts, it's like a sea of yellow sometimes. Incidentally, if you click on the link in the line above ⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️ it will take you to an old blog of mine from 2022, all about the humble roundabout. I added the arrows just in case you missed the link.

Anyway, that's your lot for now, I shall bid you farewell in the language of the last entry,

Au Revoir!