Schaerbeek - Belgium

Schaerbeek or also known as Schaarbeek in Dutch is an municipality within the Brussels-Capital Region. Its one of the three regions of Belgium and those are the Dutch speaking Flanders and French speaking Wallonia. Schaerbeek and the other 18 municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region is bilingual. Once was Brussels and its current municipalities 
Dutch speaking but nowadays its 85% French speaking and Dutch is good for 15%. Schaerbeek have an population of around 133 thousand and the second municipality in the region. Once it was known for cherry cultivation and the sour type, which its used in lambic beers. Lambic is an spontaneous fermented beerstyle and added with cherries for an additional refermentation, get the beer an fruitier taste and it will knows as kriek lambic. Kriek is an local dialect for cherry. In the past when harvest the cherries they put them in basket on backs of donkeys, then to sell it at the market in Brussels. At one point in time there were as many donkeys and people in Schaerbeek. Nowadays the cherries of Schaerbeek are rare but the municipality planted some trees in the neighborhood of Diamantkwartier. The donkeys not so prominent anymore but some can be seen in Josaphatpark. Schaerbeek is nickname la cité des ânes (Dutch: de ezelsgemeente), translated "city of donkeys". So lets take an look at the flag.

Colors green and white derived from the coat of arms so lets check that out. The white bend line represented the Maalbeek an stream that runs under Schaerbeek, completely vaulted by the municipality and its more an memory of the stream. Next the flowers are cherry blossoms, because of the rare cherries variation i explained earlier. The green represented the grassy banks of the vaulted stream. The flag is unexcited and the coat of arms reminds of the past, but i like kriek lambic. 

Nicosia - Cyprus

Nicosia the last divided capital in the world its found on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. The southern part is in the republic of Cyprus, the Greek speaking part (mostly). The northern part is in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus only recognized by Turkey, its the Turkish speaking part. The is there an demilitarized zone runs between the north and south which divided Nicosia, to keep the two sides apart. The buffer zone is under control by the United Nations since 1974, everything in its abandoned and nature is taken it back. That's why the buffer zone also called the Green Line and an general of the peace forces draw the buffer zone on an map with an green pencil. The buildings within the Green Line have some apocalyptic feel and the airport of Nicosia is also in that area, an state of the art building of that era totally abandoned and there is an plane left to decay. Nicosia have an cosmopolitan feel and two-third of the Cypriot population live in Nicosia, around 240 thousand and that is only the southern part. So lets take an look at the flag.

The flag has an white background and the seal or emblem of Nicosia is in the center. Many nations controlled Cyprus namely: Ancient Greek, Assyria, Romans, Byzantines, Knights Templar, Mamluk Sultanate, Venice, Ottomans, United Kingdom and with independence they messed it up among them self. But the Venice fortified around 1560's Nicosia to protect it against the Ottomans, but they failed. The city walls are largely intact and there are 11 bastions, only 8 of them appear on the flag. Make not sense that each side has 5 bastions and the United Nations control 1 in the buffer zone. Maybe 11 bastions make the design to busy. The bird in the center is an dove, the symbol of peace. The whole design is about peace within in Nicosia and the color white stands for peace to. I didn't find an clearly explanation yet, the flag looks logical to me.  

Vaud - Switzerland

Vaud is the third largest Swiss canton by population around 790 thousand inhabitants, in size it is the fourth. Its located in the western part of Switzerland were they speak French, that region is called Romandy. In the north its bordered the canton of  Neuchâtel. In the east its bordered the cantons of Fribourg and Bern. In the south is there Lake Geneva and southwest the canton of Geneva, southeast of it the canton of Valais. West of it we find Switzerland's big neighbor France. Some cantons in Switzerland have enclaves and Vaud have one in Fribourg, otherwise three enclaves of Fribourg are in Vaud. Geneva have an enclave in Vaud. Lausanne is the capital of Vaud and the economical center and top notch education facilities. Its also considered sport association capital of the world and 55 can found in Lausanne, the International Olympic Committee is by far the importants. Like Lausanne is also the city of Montreux situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, Montreux is famous for its international festivals and its subtropical looking promenade. So lets take an look at the flag.

The flag is an square-shape like the flag of Switzerland, also the other cantons use this shape. The colors are white and green with golden letters the big no of the vexillologists. The colors represented revolution in the 1790's against the canton of Bern, eventually Vaud became an canton in 1803. The words in English means "Freedom and Fatherland" because of that event. Not only the vexillologists dislike the words, but Swiss outside of Vaud ridicule the text. They deliberately misrepresenting the words with "Liberté est partie" and that mean "Freedom is gone". Vaud is the only canton with an flag with words on it. Maybe the replace the words with symbols that represented the words, that make the flag fine.

Dakar - Senegal

Dakar the bustling city of the West African country of Senegal. Dakar is the most western city of the African continent and its located on te Cape Verde Peninsula. Due its location it grew to become one of the major ports in this part of Africa. The metropolitan area of Dakar comprise around 2,5 million inhabitants. Historically the Lebou people lived around the peninsula and four of the original villages still exist, okay they evolved over the centuries. Those villages are nowadays neighborhoods of Dakar, namely Ouakam, Ngor, Yoff and Hann. In 1444 the Portuguese came at first as slave-raiders and in 1456 there was peaceful contact with the locals, and the area became in important stopover for the fleets to India. They Portuguese take control of the small island Bezeguiche close to the peninsula. Then came the Dutch in 1588 and take the island and renamed it to Gorée. Portugal take it back, the Dutch again, England, France, Great Britain and finally France. All those years till 1815 the island was used for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In 1857 the French annexed the mainland from the Lebou people and established an fort in Ndakaaru, which the French called Dakar. Since it independence in 1960 Senegal experienced the typical problems. that newly African has faced like revolts, corruption an economical unease but also some prosperous things. Lets take an look at the flag. 

An white background with an shield and in French "city of Dakar", the vexillologists big no letters on an flag. An mural crown an symbol of an city in an republic. The two branches are from the tamarind tree, in the local Wolof language the called the tree "dhakar"'. In the shield we see an lighthouse in the red part, i think it has something to do with the Cape Verde Peninsula. The name of that lighthouse is Mamelles. The two canoes with sails in the blue parts has something to do with sea and port of Dakar. In the yellow parts we two green chevrons and that symbolize two hills of volcanic origin on Cape Verde Peninsula. The one close to the sea has that earlier mentioned lighthouse on top. The other one has the African Renaissance Monument to commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country's independence from France. The hills called the Deux Mamelles and thats can translated to "two teats", if you see the hills you getting the similarities. Clever use of branches but to much text.  

Setúbal - Portugal

Setúbal is the fourth largest city in Portugal with around 118 thousand inhabitants. The city can be found south of Lisbon, the distance between them is 48 km (30 mi). Also Portugal's third seaport in size and once very big in the fishing industry but that is gone, only some fishing remained. Shipbuilding is going well in this coastal town, very close by are many beautiful beaches to enjoy. People like nature can go to the Arrábida hills, when visited the place can have an idea visiting Dalmatia. The 175 km (109 mi) long river Sado enters an estuarium near Setúbal were an group dolphins called the place home. Most famous son of this city is José Mourinho an successful football(soccer)manager, won many prices over the years. Born in Setúbal when his father Félix Mourinho was goalkeeper at local side Vitoria Setúbal, became an cult-figure in those days. So lets take an look at the flag.

The flag had pizza slice looking triangles and kind of shape are called gyronny, there are eight of them in the colors white and purple. Gyronny flags to be used only by cities(cidades) but there are few exceptions. In Portugal they consider an city with at least 8000 inhabitants. And always with Portugese municipal flags there must be an coat of arms in the center. Lets start with the mural crown an symbol of cities in an republic and counting the towers you can tell of the coat of arms is an city, town or village. In this case there are five towers and that means an city. Three towers for an village and four for an town. The shield is divided in two parts lets start with the upper part. The shell and two Cross of Saint James are symbols of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada). The cross looks like an sword, in this matter it suits the military-order. The order have its headquarters in the town of Palmela close to Setúbal. The shell correctly an scallop is an symbol of the pilgrims to Santiago d Compostella. The lower part we see an castle, two sailboats and the sea with three fishes. The boat, sea and fishes represented the former fishing industry. And the castle represented Setúbal and its port. Finally we have an Portugese text in the ribbon with "city of Setúbal". Typical Portugese flag thats kind of busy bit traditional.

Veldhoven - The Netherlands

Veldhoven is an town and municipality located in the Dutch province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. Just southwest at the outskirts of Eindhoven the largest city of the province, the town acts as an suburb. Once there were four villages that merged into one new town, namely Veldhoven Dorp, Meerveldhoven, Zeelst and Oerle and this happend in 1921. Not much can be seen of the four villages anymore, only the streetplans in the form of winding village roads. The churches and football(soccer) clubs of each village still there. Maybe the Oerle part has something left from the past, but between Veldhoven Dorp and Zeelst an whole new city center is erected. Big chunks of the municipality are annexed by Eindhoven to build an regional airport, but on the other hand the largest hospital in the region can be found in Veldhoven. So lets take an look at the flag.

Light blue background with two rows of white and red squares. Those rows are inspired by the checkered white and red flag of North Brabant. De shield comes from the coat of arms, with different colors and again colors of North Brabant. The lions with one tail represented Brabant and traditionally the lion is white on an black field. The other lions with two tails represented Limburg and traditionally the lion is red on an white field. The crown is from an duke, the duke of Brabant and the duke of Limburg owned land in the area. The four diamond shape represented the four villages that merge together to the municipality of Veldhoven. For the colors of the shield below an picture of the coat of arms. The flag works well only the shield in the center is debatable, everything comes in fours.

Baja California Sur - Mexico

Baja California Sur is most southern part of the Three California's and its located on the peninsula with the same name. At 28th parallel its bordered the state of Baja California and its population is around 420 thousand and second lowest in populated state of Mexico. Baja California is also part of the most persistent misunderstanding in the history of cartography, 200 years long it drawn on maps as an island. In 1888 the Mexican government split the California's the northern part stayed an state and the southern part became an territory due the sparsely populated area at the time and long distances. In 1974 Baja California Sur it became finally an state, the 31st and the latest addition. Baja California Sur is beloved of the natural beauty, the area is mountainous with some deserts also the sea around the peninsula has marine life. The sunbathers and party people choose this Mexican state as an vacation destination in places like Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. So lets take an look at the flag.

Its an the state coat of arms put on an flag with an white background. The border is blue with four fishes and that part represented firmness, serenity, justice, loyalty and economic potential of its seas. The fishes itself represented the order, firmness and exuberance of the sea. The red symbolize the towns of the state and represented value, strength, daring and honor. The yellow represented union, generosity, nobility, riches of the mines. The center shows an oyster and represented the riches of it's pearls. Also symbolize the defense of its borders by any means in combat with firmness. Its an shield on an flag, so make it not busy and this one does the trick.