London - Canada

London is next to the river Thames and this place is not in Great Britain but in the Canadian region of Southwestern Ontario. The county surrounded the Canadian  London is called Middlesex, only the original British London absorbed it's Middlesex but still next to their original Thames. Early settlers are not that original of naming things in the New World, it's an recurring theme with European explorers and settlers around the world. The Canadian London was originally chosen to became the capital of the Upper Canada, the present day Ontario. But the war of 1812 with the United States changed it because London was close to America and the capital moved to York, present day Toronto. Still an important city in Ontario with an population of around 383 thousand, the economical activity is about brewing, education, medical research, insurance, and information technology. Also special of this city it is surrounded by woodlands and have many urban parks, Springbank Park and Victoria Park are the finest to visit. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has an green background bordered with two white stripes and an white tree in the center. The green has to do with all the green around and in London, it's nickname is "The Forest City" and the tree symbolize it to. The white symbolize the opportunity the municipality offers to its existing and prospective citizens. So that an simple and clear explanation and the flag is good as well.

Ogasawara Subprefecture - Japan

Ogasawara Subprefecture is an part of the prefecture of Tokyo and is not even nearby of the capitol of Japan. The distance to Tokyo is almost 1000 km (621,37 mi) and only reachable with an ferry. Tokyo governs the Bonin Islands, Volcano Islands and the far remote islands of Minami-Tori-shima and Okinotorishima. The Bonin Islands are also know as the Ogasawara Islands, also there is an village with the name Ogasawara. This is the only village of the sub prefecture but is spotted over two islands, 2000 people live on Chichijima and 400 on Hahajima. The other 28 islands are uninhabited. South of the Bonin Islands there is the next archipelago of the Volcano Islands, it comprise out of three islands and hence the name they are volcanic. The famous of them is Iwo Jima of the battle in World War II, this is the only island with an population mainly military personnel. The other two menton islands are uninhabited and only purpose to enlarged Japan's economical zone. So let's take an look at the flag. 

The flag has an white background with an white and blue image in the centre. The white stands for peace. The disc in the centre for the sun, harmony and progress. The image resembles an parent bird with two baby birds which symbolize friendship and also peace. The image is also an stylized Japanese letter 小, it is the Latin letter O. Pokemon looking flag that only works for an Japanese flag. 

Lika-Senj County - Croatia

Lika-Senj County is the largest county of Croatia and the least populated there are around 45 thousand people live there. Also it's the least prosperous of all Croatian counties, but on the other hand the nature is stunning. The Adriatic coast has some pittoresque views and Pag is the only Croatian island that is shared with an another county, the southern part belongs to Zadar county and maybe is the 5th largest island but it have the longest coastline. The Velebit mountain range goed trough the county from the northwest to the southeast and the seaside has an rocky appearance with cliffs, the other side has dense forest with an lot of fauna. Also it separated the eastern Lika region were the capital Gospić is located from Senj the historical seaside town known since the days of the ancient Greeks. Also in the Lika region are the impressive Plitvice Lakes, this national park has 16 lakes and a lot of cascades and an stunning waterfall which is the highest in Europe. The area contains Europe's rare animals like European brown bear, grey wolf, eagle, Eurasian lynx and European wildcat. Over an million visitors over the world comes to this Unesco heritage site every year. So let's take an look at the flag.

   
The flag has an white background with the light blue stripes and an coat of arms in the center. I didn't find the explanation of the colors and so we continue with the coat of arms. The flower is the Degenia velebitica an endemic species of the Velebit mountain range and is endangered. It is an symbol also of entire Croatia and you can see it on the 50 lipa coin. The tiny flower represented the delicate environment of Croatia. This flag is an good one with an calm looking coat of arms. 

Hoegaarden - Belgium

Hoegaarden is an village and municipality in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, the villages of Meldert and Outgaarden are part of it to. There are few hamlets scattered around and the population is 6886. Hoegaarden has an strong Roman history because in 1980 an amount of Roman villa's where dug up. Even in the early Middle Ages it was one point in time the center of the medieval county of Bruningerode which last from 7th/8th century till 987. Alpaïdis the last countess of Bruningerode gave her county and fortress to the Prince- Bishopric of Liège. The fortress was eventually replaced by the Saint Gorgonius church and Hoegaarden became an enclave, this lasted to 1795 after the Liège Revolution the prince-bishop ousted and the French took over. But as enclave surrounded by the Duchy of Brabant it was an small tax haven for quite some centuries. Nowadays Hoegaarden is famous of it's witbier and type of beer brewed with wheat and give the beer an cloudy yellow appearance and some thirst-quenching abilities. In 1966 Pierre Celis founded brewery De Kluis after couple of years when the last witbier brewer was stopped. Many people were happy that the beerstyle witbier returned and to this day many brewers in the world brewed an witbier inspired by the one from Hoegaarden. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has three vertical stripes, two blue and one yellow. The colors are derived from the coat of arms and let's continue with that one. The coat of arms are granted by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1819, Belgium and the Netherlands were briefly one country from 1815 to 1830. The colors are so called Nassau colors from the Dutch royal house, there are Dutch and Belgian municipalities using this colors, the background of the coat of arms are always bleu with something yellow in the center. Hoegaarden have an arm with an bishop's staff and this symbol probably refers to the fact that in the Middle Ages Hoegaarden was owned by the Prince-Bishop of Liège. So we have an simple flag and an variation of the coat of arms on the beerlabel of Hoegaarden Wit.

Tholen - the Netherlands

Tholen is at first an small city, second it can be found on an island with the same name and at last it is also an municipality. The small city has an old historic center and an population of around 8 thousand. The name Tholen has to do with "levy toll"  and the name of the city has been corrupted over the years, in medieval times that was important moneymaker. The island Tholen is connected with bridges with the rest of the province Zeeland where it is part of and neighboring province of North Brabant in the east. The island of Tholen has an population of around 22 thousand. The municipality of Tholen comprise of the actual island of Tholen and the smaller peninsula of Sint Philipsland which is connected to North Brabant and with an bridge with Tholen. Sint Philipsland has an small population of around 2730 and together with Tholen the whole municipal population is around 25 thousand. The municipality is an result of an merger of the follow municipalities Tholen, Oud-Vossemeer, Poortvliet, Scherpenisse, Sint-Annaland, Sint-Maartensdijk en Stavenisse in 1971. Finally in 1995 Sint Philipsland joined Tholen. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has up and down stripes which looks the Dutch flag and the middle stripe is yellow. The flag is knew since the 17th century and nobody knows what the flag means. But the use of the red, white and blue which is older than the Dutch flag, an long time that one was orange, white and light blue. The yellow is from the coat of arms. Let's take an quick look at it. The black and white edge is from the Zealandic noble family Borssele, the lions are from John of Beaumont from the house Hainault and they ruled the counties of Holland and Zeeland in medieval times. The boat called an cog to defend the waters around Tholen and they were required to have such a boat. That's all folks an flag without an meaning, because it is historic otherwise an redesign is required.

Yerevan - Armenia

Yerevan is the capital of Armenia and was founded in 782 BC by king Arghisti I. He founded the fortress Erebuni on the Ararat plain on the most western point. This make Yerevan one of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Yerevan is situated on an minimum height of 865 m (2,837.93 ft) and maximum height of 1,390 m (4,560.37 ft) above sea level. Surrounded by mountains and the most important one is Mount Ararat with an elevation of 5,137 m (16,854 ft), this is Armenia's national symbol only it is located in Turkey. The mountain is clearly visible from Yerevan and accepted by Christians as the resting place of Noah's Ark. The Turkish take the mountain shortly after Armenia's independence after World War I and other territory with big drama as result. The city with an long history has an population of around 1,5 million. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has an white background with an special looking shaped circle and the seal of Yerevan in the center. The white symbolizing clearness and simplicity. The circle are actually 12 triangles and symbolizing the 12 historical capitals of Armenia. The seal showed an winged lion with staff, shield and crown, they call it an Erebuni Lion. There is an lot of symbols, the lion represented strength, the staff represented power, the shield shows Mount Ararat which stands for eternity. The crown is also an tree of life and that symbolize knowledge, wisdom and self-understanding. At the bottom in Armenian letters it said Yerevan. Also the colors red, blue and yellow can be found on the flag of Armenia. Drop the letters and made the lion slightly bigger and flag is great.

Gelsenkirchen - Germany

Gelsenkirchen is one of the many cities in the German Ruhr, the largest urban area of Germany. The city is located in the centre of the Ruhr and is the 25th largest city in Germany with an population of around 262 thousand. But it is the 11th largest city of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. At last Gelsenkirchen is the 5th city of the Rhur behind Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. In 1840 Gelsenkirchen has an small population of 6000 and after the Industrial Revolution hits the Rhur with mining of coal,  the population skyrocketed in Gelsenkirchen and the rest of the Rhur. After 1900 Gelsenkirchen became the important coal mining city in Europe, the nickname of the city is "city of thousand fires". The then night sky was flared by the flames of the mines gases. Those coal days are over and after an long decline of the city and today it is the centre of solar technology. The most famous thing of Gelsenkirchen is an football/soccer club, Schalke'04 which plays in the Veltins-Arena with an capacity of 62,271. Not so successful lately but the club have 7 championships and was 10 time runners-up. 5 time winners of the German cup and 7 times finalist. In the season 1996-1997 they won the UEFA cup against Internazionale Milan. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has three horizontal stripes in the colours black, white and green. Like many German city flags they derived from the cosy of arms. Let continue with that,  it's quartered. The upper left there is an church on am black bsckground,  with open door which mean that everybody is welcome. The church represented Gelsenkirchen. The upper right an linden tree which represented the district of Buer. Buer was once an independent city before it was merged with Gelsenkirchen. The loser left is the arms of the noble family Von der Horst, they use an red lion and once owned Gelsenkirchen. Finally in the lower right part there is the hammer and pick, the heraldic symbol of mining. Places with an mining history use this symbol often in their coat of arms, Gelsenkirchen does the same. Typical German city flag with an coat of arms, it is okay for me.