The Wacky World of Flags

Flags are pretty neat. I think they're neat. You probably do too. Let's go on a journey just talking about random topics involving flags. There really is no structure to any of this, just a bunch of unrelated topics that I think are interesting.

[AlternateHistoryHub]

If this video does well I might do more of these. Any wacky questions or topics you want me to cover? Let me know

[landonadams]

I know that “capture the flag is the oldest gamemode in human history” is probably a joke, but it’s definitely just straight up wrong. 1v1 is definitely the oldest, followed by battle royale, and then team deathmatch. Capture the flag is like, #4 at the earliest.

[zchsk]

Fun fact: there was a flag proposal for Canada, and it was literally just a white flag with the word "Canada" on it

[tazzle.frazzle]

Can't believe Wales and Bhutan and our dragons were left out

[cakebandit]

Fun fact: the NZ flag was made before the Australian flag. Australia copied us and now we are the ones who have to change :(

[readingking]

I'm not from New Zealand but the lack of an official Lazer Kiwi flag makes me weep everyday. Such a missed opportunity.

[Gohka]

As a Brit, I'm a huge fan of Hawaii's flag. Especially because I think it's hilarious that they can get away with being an US state while also sporting a British watermark lol.

[rayneTheWolfe]

I like the idea of mars’ flag just being the Japanese one.

[sugarcombfilms]

The Danish flag being said to have dropped from the sky while also being the oldest flag in history goes surprisingly hard.

[Joscat]

I like how jimmy is perpetually raising his flag

[theshenpartei]

We still need a flag for alternate history hub

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

And while Central American flags are based off the Federal Republic of Central America's flag, the Federal Republic of Central America's flag itself was inspired by Argentina's flag (then known as the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata). This is because of a French guy named Hipólito Bouchard who was serving under the Argentine Navy and raided the Spanish outposts located there during their war for Independence and the people would see that flag, so they took it as an inspiration. The man even raided and occupied the Spanish fort of Monterey, California for a few days. He was killed by one of his servants in 1837 in Peru

When you were talking about Central Asian countries/Stans, I thought you were gonna mention the fact most of the Stan flags have a moon or a sun symbolized rather than the complex carpet (which only Turkmenistan's flag has).

[tylerl]

There was never a 49 star flag. We went from 48 to 50 because we only adopt a new flag on end 4th of July. Because Hawaii and Alaska were both added in an 8th month period, we went strait to 50. We’ve skipped a lot of numbers of stars on our flag because of this.

[braydenbuhler]

The Chinese flag at 4:32 literally just says “work” in the middle and that’s the most dystopian thing I can think of.

[nbewarwe]

10:50 That was actually what happened with the stripes. They were originally also meant to represent each state and they added a couple for two new states. But as the US started expanding, everyone realized that 20 something stripes would be a horrible idea. So they locked them at 13 and settled for adding stars to the canton, which had plenty of room.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Two flags that also look similar that I wish were talked about: Cuba and Puerto Rico
The story behind these two is there were groups of pro-independence Cuban and Puerto Rican exiles living in NYC in the 1800s. The Cuban flag was designed by Narciso López and Miguel Teurbe Tolón over dinner there in 1849 (both of them died in Cuba in 1851 and 1857 respectively due to fighting with the Spanish). Red represents the bloodshed of the independence fighters (with the triangle representing liberty, equality, and fraternity), the blue stripes represent the three military departments Cuba used to be divided by, and the white represents the purity of the national movement. The star (representing freedom) and the colors red, white, and blue were originally inspired by the US flag, with the star being added to appeal to the US for statehood (of course, this didn't happen). So yeah, the Cuban flag is one of two flags of a current communist nation that has no communist symbolism (the other being Laos). Fidel kept it because the flag was already revolutionary enough (same for the anthem La Bayamesa)

Like the Cuban flag, the Puerto Rican flag was also designed in NYC by exiles and inspired by the Cuban flag, presented the design to the PR Revolutionary Committee in 1892. The red represents the bloodshed, the two white stripes represent victory and peace, blue represents the sky and the sea, and the star represents the island. The Puerto Ricans created another flag similar to the Dominican Republic's flag that was used during El Grito de Lares in 1868, but this one wasn't used again. So in summary, the US flag inspired the Cuban flag, which then inspired the Puerto Rican flag...inspiration-ception. To recognize NYC's important role in the independence of Cuba, Cuba gifted the city with an equestrian statue of José Martí designed by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington that was cast in 1959 and dedicated in 1965, located in the southern end of Central Park

[jkfecke]

One fun fact: when the US adds a state, old flags are still considered valid. If you have a 48-star flag that's in good repair, you can fly it, and it's a perfectly cromulent American flag.

[xzbonozx]

“A man who loses the king’s colours, loses the king’s friendship”

[rossjohnstone]

I love flags. I just think they look so cool and I love learning what they mean. My Canadian flag was supposed to be blue on both sides, representing sea to shining sea.

[rubeneverts]

Hey Cody just wanted to say as a Venezuelan that I really appreciate you used the 7 stars flag instead of the 8 stars one. A lot of venezuelans are against the 8 stars flag established in 2006 by Chávez.

The reason for this it's the same as your opinion on the 13 star flag of the USA, it's more symbolic. The seven stars represents the seven provinces that sign the declaration of independence, Guayana wasn't included because it was liberated a week before the declaration. Seven months later (ha!) Bolívar enacted a law in which he added the 8th star but 4 years later it was repealed before Venezuela became a part of gran Colombia. In 2006 Chávez decided to add the 8th star again and a lot of people opposed to this because the 7 star flag it's a symbol of our independence and freedom.

If we follow the "liberated provinces" logic then the flag should have 25 stars instead of seven and that would look horrible and complicated.