British Columbia - Canada

British Columbia is the most western province of Canada and in terms of population, it is the third around 5 million people. In 1866 the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia merged to an bigger British-Columbia and the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island became the capital. Over time the Vancouver on the mainland became the third largest city of Canada. Ten years prior the United Kingdom and the United States signed an treaty that everything above the 49th parallel is an part of the British Empire. Vancouver Island is partly under the parallel and to make the border not to difficult the entire island became British. Originally British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Idaho and Oregon was part of the Columbia District, The British part caught the name on and Columbia is an romanticized name of the American continent. Actually it's named after the Columbia River that runs through the province and the states of Washington and Oregon where it emptying in the Pacific Ocean, the rivers length is 2000 km (1.243 mi). So let's take an look at the flag. 

The flag is an stretched out coat of arms which has two parts. The upper part with the British Union Jack reflects the British heritage and the little crown is symbol for when British Columbia became in crown colony in 1866. The lower part with the sun symbolize the position of the province in Canada, as the most western part where the sun sets. Also that the sun never sets in the British Empire, although the Empire in not longer there. The four white and three blue waves symbolize the position between the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Ocean. An very busy flag with mostly symbolize the British Empire's past, i'am in for an redesign. 

Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher - Belgium

Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher is an place and municipality in the northern parts of the Belgian province of Liège. It's consist of 5 villages Freloux, Noville, Roloux, Voroux-Goreux and Fexhe. There is another Fexhe in the province of Liège and to distinguish it from Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher the call that one Fexhe-Slins. The part le-Haut-Clocher means literally "the high bell tower" and by the way Slins means it's close to the village of Slins. One thing about the bell tower it's not so high, more an medium. The municipality of Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher is very low, around 3200. Medieval England has it's Magna Charta and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège has the Peace of Fexhe, the Prince-Bishop Alphonse de La Marck (1288-1344) abuse his power to much. In 1316 to try end an civil war in Liège the warlike Prince-Bishop was pursued to sign the treaty which he does, afterwards he tried to get out of it trying. The Peace of Fexhe was signed by the Prince-Bischop, the Canons of the chapter and some counts and cities in the bishopric. The power was more spread out of the country like the English Magna Charta. Also normal people get more rights and with legal issues are handled by normal courts. Corruption of officials was restricted and inviolability of domicile and property was guaranteed. But the civil war didn't end yet and every bishop pledge allegiance to this treaty ever since. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag is divided with an broken line with the colors red and white. The edges stands for the 5 villages of the municipality. And with some imagination you can see in the red part the letter "F", the first letter of Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher. Short explanation of an medieval looking flag. 

Geneva - Switzerland

Geneva the most western city and canton of Switzerland and almost encircled by France. Only it have an small border with the canton of Vaud and an small exclave of Geneva named Céligny, it's connected to Geneva if you take an boat trip over Lake Geneva therefore it is an exclave. Long time was Geneva an independent republic from the 1541 to 1798 when the French took it over. The official name is République et canton de Genève and it's an French speaking canton. The capital Geneva is the second populous city of Switzerland with around 200 thousands and the canton total is 495 thousand. Calvinism an major brand of Protestantism started here and one point of time Geneva was called "Rome of Protestantism" but nowadays the canton and city is overtaken by Catholics. After the fall of Napoleon they added Geneva some portions of France and Savoy and eventually in 1815 they joined Switzerland. Today Geneva is used had headquarters by many international corporations and organizations with many branches of the United Nations, Red Cross, World Council of Churches, European Broadcasting Union and World Trade Organization. Don't forget the many Swiss banks and watchmakers which calls Geneva home. So let's take an look at the flag.

The square shape flag is an slightly altered version of the coat of arms that is used by the city and canton of Geneva. The yellow left part with the eagle stands for the Holy Roman Empire which Geneva was once part of it as an imperial city, Secondly the eagle symbolize elevation, justice and protection. The red right part with the key stands for one of the keys of Saint Peter and the old bishopric of Geneva. Secondly the key stands for ecclesiastical rule, treasuries, and responsibility. Typical medieval symbolic looking flag which represented state and church.

Aa en Hunze - the Netherlands

Aa en Hunze is an municipality in the Dutch province of Drenthe, located in the eastern parts of the Netherlands. After an merger with 4 municipalities in 1998 the named the new municipality after two small rivers named the Drentsche Aa and Hunze. Naturally Aa en Hunze can divided in two parts by the Hondsrug an sand ridge. The east part is sandy and the oldest populated area of the Netherlands, 12 dolmens can be found here from the stone age. The west part is more grassy with small villages typical of this area. This make this area an ideal place for an holiday on an typical Dutch way of transportation. Aa and Hunze comprise of 35 villages and hamlets and those are Amen, Anderen, Anloo, Annen, Annerveenschekanaal, Balloërveld, Balloo, Deurze, Eext, Eexterveen, Eexterveenschekanaal, Eexterzandvoort, Ekehaar, Eldersloo, Eleveld, Gasselte, Gasselternijveen, Gasselternijveenschemond, Gasteren, Geelbroek, Gieten, Gieterveen, Grolloo, Marwijksoord, Nieuw Annerveen, Nieuwediep, Nijlande, Nooitgedacht, Oud Annerveen, Papenvoort, Rolde, Schipborg, Schoonloo, Spijkerboor en Vredenheim. But there are 18 more smaller settlements and those are Achter 't Hout, Bareveld, Bonnen, Bonnerveen, Bosje, Bovenstreek, De Hilte, Eerste Dwarsdiep, Gasselterboerveen, Gasselterboerveenschemond, Gieterzandvoort, Kostvlies, Marwijksoord, Schreierswijk, Streek, Torenveen, Tweede Dwarsdiep en Veenhof. The longest and second longest place name in Netherlands are in Aa en Hunze, can you find it? In this case there are many places but the population is low around 25 thousand. The town hall is located in the village of Gieten. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has an yellow Saint Andrew's Cross on an green background with on the left an yellow crown. The yellow cross stands for two roads that cross the municipality, the provincial roads N33 and N34. The 4 quarters stands for the 4 old municipalities before the merger of 1998, namely Anloo, Gasselte, Rolde and Gieten. The lily crown stands for Etstoel, the old legal practice of Drenthe before 1791 which held in Rolde an village part of Aa en Hunze. The lily is symbol for the Virgin Mary, symbol of Drenthe. Solid flag that looks ancient but is rather modern.

Hiroshima Prefecture - Japan

Hiroshima Prefecture is an Japanese subdivision which can be found in the southern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. Around 2.2 million people live in the prefecture and half of it lives in the capital Hiroshima. That city is mainly known of the events at the end of World War II with the drop of the atomic bomb. The prefecture economics is known of car manufacturing by Mazda Motor Corporation which has it's headquarters in Fuchū, selling worldwide more then an million cars annually. The second city of the prefecture is Kure an major shipbuilding city and once the main port of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Those days are over after World War II but before that many navy vessels where build here, museums can be visited about everything with Kure's maritime heritage. Part of the city Hatsukaichi is the island Miyajima one of the holiest places in Japan of the Shinto religion. Many shrines can be seen on the island, also some impressive Buddhist temples are there. So let's take an look at the flag. 

The flag has an wine red background with the prefecture emblem in the center. The white emblem is the first letter of Hiroshima in Japanese in stylized form, the actual letter is this ヒ. The roundness of the emblems symbolize the harmony and unity of the citizens of the prefecture. The overlap of the white cirkels symbolize progress in the prefecture. Don't find the meaning of the colors yet. Top notch flag like many Japanese prefectures.

Asunción - Paraguay

Asunción os the capital of Paraguay and the most populous city with around 2.1 million people. Located on the left bank of the river Paraguay and at the other side is the nation of Argentina. Founded in 1537 on an strategic locations for many expeditions into South America, which therefore Asunción nicknamed "the Mother of Cities". Originally found as an fort and it was 15 August with Spanish customs they named it after the day. Asunción official name is Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción which translated is Our Lady Saint Mary of the Assumption. And on 15 August the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption. The city grown as one of the important Spanish colonial cities and after independence in 1811 it prosper for an while. After the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) that Paraguay started against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay which Paraguay dramatically lost, which of it's territory was lost. Asunción fell in decline for decades that has still it's effect, which made the place one of the cheapest capitals in the world. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has three horizontal stripes and the center one is slightly wider, the colors red and white comes from the old Spanish flag which comprise this colors. In the center there is the coat of arms of Asunción. The upper left shows Saint Mary of the Assumption, the name of the city. The upper right shows Saint Blas the bishop of Asunción. The lower left shows the original fort of Asunción, the open door and window stands for hospitality of the city. The lower right with the tree stands for Domingo Martínez de Irala the founder and that tree is from Viscaya. The lion stands for the Spanish conquistadors. The lion's tail around the palm tree stands for the good relations with the Guarani people and the palm tree stands itself for the native presence. Simple flag with humble coat of arms tells an lot of history.

Thessaloniki - Greece

Thessaloniki the second largest city of Greece and capital of the Greek region of Central Macedonia, with it's suburbs there is an population of around 1 million. The city can also called Saloniki or Salonica and it's named after the daughter of the Macedon king Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. Thessalonikè was his half sister and which in turn is named after an military victory of her father. The word "Nikè" means "victory" over Thessaly an ancient Greek state. Located at the Thermaic Gulf in the north of Greece have it an major port, as second city of Greece it's has an vibrant cultural life and the world's fifth-best party city worldwide. Thessaloniki is built stepwise on a hill and if you want know the way to the sea, go downhill. Since it's the city exists since Macedon times there are lot of sights of other occupiers like the Romans, Byzantines and Turks, also a long Jewish history have this city from Roman times to the end of World War II. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has two colors white and blue and the city seal in the center. The white left part with the 4 blue squares represented Thessaloniki's landmark the White Tower at the waterfront. The tower was built in the 15th century by the Ottomans as a defense tower in the harbor. Later it became a prison and a place where mass executions were performed. After the Greeks took over the city in 1912, the tower was whitewashed. The blue is the Aegean Sea and also the colors of the Greek flag are blue and white. In the center the seal of Thessaloniki with the head of Alexander the Great on an coin, who is born in nearby Pella and Thessaloniki is part of the modern region of Central Macedon. Good flag but i'am not sure of that seal.