Oslo - Norway

Oslo is an city that a city that is also a province, mostly we know it as the capitol of Norway. Founded as Ánslo in the year 1040 by king Harald Hardrada, this Norwegian king marked the end of the Viking era. He tried to capture the English throne in 1066 but died after battle against king Harold II the same guy lost the same year the battle of Hastings against William the Conqueror. Ánslo became somewhere in history Oslo until it burned down in 1624. In those years Norway formed an personal union with Denmark and was ruled by king Christiaan IV, who rebuild the city and renamed it after him. Christiana was the name till 1877 after that the spelled the name as Kristiana en turned back to Christiana in 1897. But in 1925 the changed it back after centuries to Oslo, to give it an Norwegian identity after its independence in 1905. So lets take an look at theirs cool looking flag.

The flag has an blue background is from the seal, simply said they turned the seal in 2000 to in an flag. Lets start with the man sitting on a throne with lion heads, the man is Saint Hallvard the patron saint of Oslo and also an martyr. He defended an woman that was possible an serf or slave which was accused of theft by three men. Saint Hallvard believed her innocence take her on his boat and try to escape, but the two persons are killed by arrows from the pursuers. The woman is depicted lying naked at his feet on the seal. It appeared she is to buried, but in the story they buried her at an beach. But the three men try to dispose the body of Saint Hallvard, to tying an millstone around his neck. But as heavy the millstone the corpse refused to sink and the three men's crime was discovered. So you will see the millstone and the arrows killed them in the saint's hands. The saint did get an proper christian burial and people regard him as an martyr. The seal depict the story of Saint Hallvard and its surrounded with the words "unanimiter et constanter" Latin for "united and constant", Oslo's motto. On top of the seal you see an mural crown an symbol of an republic or citystates, but in modern times also used by cities and towns.

              

 

At last an funny fact this flag from 2000 is illegal because the only flag that can be used is the Norwegian one, only the king of Norway can allow it and that only applies to the old flag of the city. The white-blue flag has no meaning, the colors comes from the seal but there other colors to pick. An story on an flag, until you know the tale its an busy seal also can be found at manholes in Oslo.

Kaag en Braassem - The Netherlands

Kaag en Braassem is an municipality in the north of the Dutch province of South Holland, north of the city of Leiden and southwest of airport Schiphol. The municipality is an result of an merger with the municipalities of Alkemade and Jacobswoude in the year 2009. The former municipality of Alkemade consist of seven village namely: Roelofarendsveen, Oude Wetering, Rijpwetering, Oud Ade, Nieuwe Wetering en De Kaag. The other Jacobswoude is an result of three merged municipalities in the year 1991 but the villages it consist are: Leimuiden, Woubrugge, Hoogmade en Rijnsaterwoude. Then there are in the 72.24 km2 (27.89 sq mi) big area small area four small hamlets. The current municipality named after the Kagerplassen an small lake system and Braassemermeer is an big lake, the short of them is Kaag en Braassem. The municipality is relying on greenhouse horticulture and agriculture but also water tourism. If its will freeze hard when the lakes are frozen skating and ice sailing are populair activities. Also the area is suitable to ride with your bike in the countryside, one famous Dutch cyclist Joep Zoetemelk is from Rijpwetering. The people here are always in for a village party every now and then, especially the one in Roelofarendsveen somewhere in September each year. So let take an look at the flag.

The big no of vexillogists is on the flag, letters and is Dutch for municipality of Kaag and Braassem. The background is white and have no meaning. But the purple and green has lot to say. The windmill blades shape in the upper left and lower right of the flag symbolize the many windmills in the municipality, when this flag was created the municipality has most of the Netherlands within its borders namely 21. The purple and green wave patters symbolize the waterways and recreational opportunities. The windmill blades points to the upper right symbolize the greenhouses. The other green straight shapes of the blades symbolize the fields and meadows where the cattle and sheep are grazing, the thick bold green line symbolize that too. The bold purple line symbolize the motorway A4 and the high-spaad railway that goes trough the area. Earlier mentioned that the color purple represented water, cause its an mixing of blue stands for water en red for urbanization. Some villages there are urbanize slightly quickly, especially Roelofarendsveen. In short its an well thought out flag, only ditch those letters.

Saba - The Netherlands

Saba has given an nickname namely "The Unspoiled Queen" and its an small island in the Caribbean Sea. Since 2010 its governed directly from the Netherlands before that it was part of the Netherlands Antilles. With that change the highest point of the Netherlands is found on Saba, Mount Scenery has an elevation of 887 m (2,910 ft) and also an potential active volcano. Around 1900 people live on the island and the most speak English despite Dutch is main language. This happened that the island switch many times of ownership with the British, so English stuck. There are two daunting facts, one is an road and the other is an airport. Engineers were convinced that it was not possible to build an road on Saba. An local self-taught man with the name Josephus Lambert Hassel believed it could be done. He take an correspondence course in engineering and with an crew of locals they start building the road in 1938. It was finished after 20 years work and "The Road" has some difficult to take curves, its an pretty daunting drive. The second is Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport with the shortest commercial runway in the world with an length of 400 m (1,312 ft) and only propeller plane are allowed to land. High hills on the side and cliffs at both ends that drops in the sea make it an daunting task too. So lets take an look at the flag of this tiny tropical part of the Netherlands.

The flag is dived in four equal triangles, the upper parts has two red ones and the bottom two are blue. The center is an white colored diamond shape with an yellow(golden) star. De star represented Saba itself and an golden future. The color white symbolize peace and purity. Red symbolize courage, unity and vigor. Blue symbolize the sea that is important to the people of Saba. Obviously the red, white and blue represented the ties with the Netherlands and the rest of the Dutch Antilles. The flag is simple but strong with the meaning of it, most of the time four colors are enough in an flag.

Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica - Chile

Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica is the southernmost and largest region of Chile, also the second lowest in population. Like most subdivisions in the world how bigger will be the population low, the region Aysén that bordered north have the lowest population and its slightly smaller then the region i write about now. Because of the rugged icy mountainous area and all those islands and fjords, the weather is mostly wet and cold. Around 165 thousand people live in an area of 132.297 km² (51,077.9 sq mi.) or the size of  Greece. But by treaty no nation can own Antarctica but like several other countries Chile claims an part of it, that area what they are claiming is huge. The size is 1.250.000 km² (482,628 sq mi) or around the size of Angola. That why they put Antarctica in the regions name to claim that area. The region is divided in four province's and this is there names.
1: Antartica Chilena and again that continent, the province is on two continents. An small portion of Tierra del Fuego and the rest you get the idea.
2: Tierra del Fuego the remaining part.
3: Magallanes is named after the Strait of Magellan an be found at the north shore.
4: Última Esperanza is named after an sound with the same name, its the northern part in the region.
So this give an idea about the region and lets take an look at their flag.

The flag is divided in two fields with an upper blue colour and an lower orange part. The colours are separated by an thin white line and that symbolizes the snow on the mountains. The blue field symbolize the sky and the constellation Southern Cross is an symbol of the position in the southern hemisphere. This small but bright constellation is also on flags like Australia, New Zealand or Brasil. The orange field symbolize the steppe ans also progress and the rich soil. The flag is adopted on 12 september 1996 and people of the region are proud of it. 

Abuja - Nigeria

Abuja the capitol of Nigeria is an result of  an well planned. In the year 1976 they decide to relocate the capitol from Lagos to an more central point in the country, Lagos can be found southwest on the coast close to nation Benin and is the mot populous city of Nigeria. Abuja purpose is to unite more the Muslim north and Christian south. Since 1991 became Abuja officially the capitol of Nigeria and like the United States, Australia or Brasil they created an special subdivision to not make it part of any Nigerian State. The carved the Federal Capital Territory out of Niger State and Plateau State around the year 1976. Unlike the states pf Nigeria which administrated by an governor is the Federal Capital Territory administrated by an appointed minister by the president. Over 42 years the city experienced an insane grow, for example from 2000 to 2010 grew with 139,7% and that makes it the fast growing city in the world. Since 2010 its grows every year around the 35% and the greater Abuja area contains around an population of 6 million. In perspective around 1950 Abuja has an population if around 15 thousand and around 1976 an population around 77 thousand. In the end Abuja is there for every ethnicity and every religion to live safe and prosperous, many came to Abuja on that idea. Now lets take an look at the flag.

The flag has green background i don't think it has an meaning, maybe it has to do with the green savanna around the city. The big no of the vexillogists is on flag is there to, letters that formed the words in capital letters "ABUJA" and the motto or nickname "the Heart of Nigeria". On an sidenote all the states of Nigeria have an nickname and also the Federal Capital Territory, that one is "Centre of Unity". The logo in the center of the flag have the shape of the Federal Capital Territory, i put an picture below of an map of the territory. Within the shape you can it describe as an gyronny of six, an gyron looks like an pizza slice. Clockwise from the top the colors they use is light blue, yellow, blue, light blue, blue, yellow and its bordered by white lines. I don't found out what the colors mean, maybe in the near future i will get the idea behind that. And in the center there are six hands reaching each other as symbol to unite. Very clever design but the letters are little but useless.

Honolulu - United States / Hawaii

Honolulu the capitol of the only U.S. state that composed out of Island and also the largest city of Hawaii. In the Hawaiian language Honolulu means "sheltered harbor" but it cab also means "calm port". In 1794 an British captain with the name William Brown sail in to the Honolulu harbor as the first foreigner, so for an while the place was known as Brown's Harbor until the name Honolulu gets in use. The evolves in the years to become an major gateway and also important destination for tourists. So let take an look at their flag and the seal too, because its combined.

The yellow background is the colour of an flower named Ilima that grows on the island of  Oʻahu.

The flag is also represented the county of Honolulu that covers the entire island of Oʻahu and its mentioned that its part of the state of Hawaii. For vexillologists letters and number on flags is an big no, its in the United States very common to do it. The words is surrounded by an beaded rope and next to the words is band within the city seal.
  
Originally it was designed for the republic of Hawaii in 1895 but that never happened because Hawaii was annexed by the United States. The shield is divided in four quarters with in the center an escutcheon with an yellow star on an green background, which symbolize the star of Hawaii. In the first and fourth quarter you will see eight blue-red-white stripes that represent the eight inhabited islands of Hawaii. Those stripes are from the state flag of Hawaii. In the other quarters of the shield you see an royal Hawaiian staff also known as pulo'ulo'u or kapu stick. An symbol of untouchability. On top of the shield there is an rising sun that symbolize an new era dawning on Hawaii.

Finally left of the shield is an image of  Nuuanu Pali an valley with history and mythical legends.
On the right you see Diamond Head an iconic volcanic cone near to Honolulu that borders the sea.  

Overall an very clever seal on an flag that symbolizes the state of Hawaii and the island of  Oʻahu.

Antalya - Turkey

Antalya is an coastal city found in the southwest of Turkey, its also the capitol of the province with the same name. Als the city is known as the biggest international seaside resort of Turkey, its attracted lots of tourist in the sunny months each year. Also because of the great temperatures the local sweet oranges have some fame too, yet there are other citrus fruits grown here. Many historical sites in the city and in the surrounding area can be visited, Antalya is founded in the year 150 BC and many civilizations ruled this place, so take look at the flag.

The white flag contained the emblem of the city of Antalya, on the seal they squeezed some things tpical of the place. The blue disc-like shape is represented the letter "A" of Antalya. The orange disc symbolize two things an orange and the sun with its rays. But also that particular figure resembles an palmtree. The clever thing about this emblem its also resemble the Turkish good luck charms you can see and buy along the Turkish southern coast, its believed that its protect the owner for evil ghosts. 

Next the flag of the province of Antalya and that is of white background something completely different. On top we see an small flag of Turkey and two brown rings with no meaning. There is an text which means "Antalya Governorate" and finally the orange figure is the earlier mentioned oranges. I think that the blue leaf shape resembles the Blue Flag that is given to clean beaches and the environment around it.