Volume 6 Number 1

Big Time

You may be interested to note, Dear Reader, that our host, Applied Innovations, recently moved our website (OK, along with a few others) to the Miami NAP of the Americas. Please read more about this remarkable enterprise on AI's website; to quote a bit here:

The facility is considered part of the critical infrastructure of our nation, and is properly provisioned as such.

It's our pleasure and honor to be a small part of this.

Flag Animals
Part II: The Dragons

Last issue, we looked at a few flags with birds on them. Let's now look at a couple with dragons on them.

In the occident, dragons are most often looked upon as being fierce and dangerous (Puff being an exception.); particularly dangerous to damsels and always worthy of being slain. In the orient, dragons are more often seen as auspicious symbols of good fortune.

(As usual, try to guess the flag before moving the cursor over the images.)

Sanguinary Strife

You may recall last issue we introduced National Geographic Magazine's publication, Our Flag Number or Flags of the World, a copy of which we recently acquired. Here follows another quote from the introduction:

Today, while it is true that we are thinking of the flags of our own and of other nations in relation to sanguinary strife, these emblems of armies and navies have a deep and noble significance far removed from their use in leading men to battle. In reality flags are the bulwarks of idealism.

Recall that this was written nearly 90 years ago in 1917. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Also from the above-mentioned work:

The Danish man-of-war and merchant flags are the oldest national emblems now in use, their history dating back to the year 1219, when Waldemar is supposed to have seen a cross in the sky while leading his troops against the Livonian pagans. The flag is known as the Dannebrog (Strength of Denmark). On the time-stained walls of the medieval church on the island of Heligoland there is still to be seen a painted Dannebrog.

Other opinions regarding the origins of the Dannebrog can be found on Wikipedia.

The Personal Corner

Some of you may have had the good fortune to speak with Sheli on our Customer Service line. Well, one of her daughters, Erika, will be participating in the local walk for Multiple Sclerosis.

Please read more about her efforts on her donation page.

In the face of all that can be negative in the world, it's refreshing to see youth stepping up to work positively to help.

Patchmania!

The Midsize Patch

With five different styles of patches on our website (not counting our Armed Forces Patches), we thought we offered pretty much all the flag-shaped patches anyone could ask for. Yet there still seemed something missing: Our Mini Patches are very tiny - the smallest flag patches we've ever seen - but they're somewhat limited in selection. Our Rectangle Patches and Rectangle Patches with Name offer a great selection, but they're, well, big. Enter our latest patch offering:

The Midsize Patch

Here's a size that's very small, yet still able to show great detail for even the more intricate of flag designs. (We'll talk about their amazing borders in an upcoming issue of The News.) With over a hundred  countries to choose from, we think you'll fall in love with this newest patch offering.

10% discount offer/quiz

No April Foolin'. Take 10% off any purchase made through the end of April 2007 by entering the name of this flag in the "Coupon Code" field of the Checkout Page of your order. Coupon Codes are case sensitive, so please enter this one in all caps.

If you’re phoning or emailing in your order, just mention this offer and we’ll happily calculate your discount.

This offer is exclusive of any other offers and does not include Shipping and Handling charges.

Last Offer/Quiz Answer:
Last issue's flag was that of the country of Oman.