Nairobi - Kenya

Nairobi is the largest city and the capital of the African nation of Kenya, with an population of around 6,5 million that is all suburbs included. Before 1899 the area of Nairobi was mostly an swamp and there flows two main rivers the Athi and the Nairobi, and know we now the origin of the cities name. It actually means "cool waters" in the Masai language. But after the arrival the railroad they choose this place to build an traindepot, slowly Nairobi grew bigger even after some malaria outbreaks. The area attract early tourism around 1910 with big game hunters, it became the capital of the colony of British East Africa. This fast growth cause tensions with the native Masai which land was taken by the British, also the Kikuyu get angered about the loss of their land. All these friction leads after the Second World War to the Mau Mau rebellion from 1952 to 1960 and eventually to the independence in 1963 of Kenya. Nairobi didn't stop growing after the independence, it is still growing and now evolving slowly in an modern African city with help and funds of China. Still to this day there just outside of the city the big African animals roaming free. So let's take an look at the flag. 

The flag is 4 quarters in the colors yellow and green with an circle in the center with blue and white wavy stripes. The yellow stands for forward thinking and leadership, because Nairobi is the capital. The green stands for prosperity, enlightenment and people ready for an new day. The shield in the center stands for abundance, opportunities, justice and the good quality of life. Good flag with an good hope of the future.

Tucamán - Argentina

Tucamán is an Argentine province which is located in the northwest of the country. It is the most densely populated province where around 1,4 million people lives and the second-smallest of all Argentinian provinces. The capital is called San Miguel de Tucumán but shortened to Tucamán and that part has two meanings. The first explanation is from the Quechua word "place of origin of several rivers" and other one is "the end of things", nowadays Tucamán was the outer limits of the Inca empire. During Spanish colonization it located halfway between the Viceroyalty of Peru to Buenos Aires from for shipments of gold and silver. In the Tucamán area they produce textiles, wood and cattle to provide those convoys. In 1813 José de San Martín came to Tucamán to start an military school to train soldiers against the Spanish for independence of Argentina. After win some battles he moved into Peru and become an national Argentinian hero. After independence at take an long time that Tucamán get where it is now, the nickname of the province "the garden of the republic" an very productive agricultural area. Crops like sugarcane, lemons, strawberries, maize, beans and kiwifruits. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has three horizontal stripes and two of them are white and one skyblue, it is more an inverted Argentinian flag. The flag dates from the war of independence against Spain and was use in the Battle of Tucamán in 1812 and other battles in the direction of Upper-Peru, nowadays Bolivia. In Bolivia 70 years later they found this flag hidden for the Spanish Royalist and in 2010 Tucamán adopt this flag in honour of the Batlle of Tucamán which was an Argentinian victory. In those days the Argentinian independence movement are using the colors white and blue but they didn't decided or figured out which form or flag they gonna use. So this flag get an second chance in the province, simple and solid.

Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave- Mexico

Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave has an unusual long elongated shape on the Gulf of Mexico. The total length is from northwest to southeast is 650 km (403.9 mi) long and varied of wideness is 212 km (132 mi) to 36 km (22 mi). This shape is caused by the high mountain ranges in the west that acts as an border, mountains always good borders look at Chili. The highest mountain of Mexico can be found at the border of Veracruz with Puebla, the Pico de Orizaba with an elevation of 5,636 metres (18,491 ft). The rather long state name of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is derived from the city Veracruz the largest city of the state, the capital is Xalapa. Ignacio de la Llave y Segura Zevallos (1818 - 1863)was an general, politician and governor of the state Veracruz from 1861 to 1862. This state has an important Olmec sites near San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes, the Olmec civilization lived in nowadays Veracruz from from 1200 BC. up to 400 BC.The Spanish landed in 1519 with Hernán Cortez and founded the first Spanish city in Mexico named Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, this is nowadays the city of Veracruz. From here he started is conquest of the Aztec Empire. There is still an fairly strong presence of Native-Mexicans like Nahuas, Totonacs, Huastecs, Popolucs, Zapotecas, Chinantecas, Otomis, Mazatecas, Tepehuas, Mixtecas, Zoques, Mixes, Mayas and Tzotzils. One famous thing of the Totonac people is the Danza de los Voladores an ancient ceremony consists of dance and the climbing of a 30-meter pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. This ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought. So let's take an look at the flag.

Like many Mexican states the background is white with an coat of the arms in the center, Veracruz do the same. Only they use as extra an red and green edge, these are the same red and green of the national flag of Mexico. Back to the coat of arms. the green field has an yellow tower what symbolize power, greatness and the defense of the area against the Native-Mexicans. The blue part symbolize the sea and also the Pillars of Hercules with the motto "plus ultra" is showed. "Plus ultra" means "ever further" is the personal motto of the Habsburg emperor Charles V. The pillars symbolize must represent the Spanish power at sea and in the overseas discovered lands. The cross refers to the Holy Cross what is also where Veracruz is named after, "vera" means "holy" and "cruz" means "cross. The edge of the arms consists of a yellow inner edge and a pink outer edge with 13 blue stars, those stars represented the old 13 provinces of Veracruz. This coat of arms was granted by Charles V and so we have an old Spanish heraldic design. Maybe it is time to design some simpler flags for the Mexican states.

Montgomery - United States / Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the American state of Alabama with an population around 373 thousand in the metro area. The city has an slavery past because the Alabama river was ideal for transport use, cotton was big in the first half of the 19th century. After several states declared independence in 1861 and Montgomery was briefly the first capital of the Confederated States of America until it moved to Richmond, Virginia. One of it's nicknames is ""Cradle of the Confederacy". Also an more better one is "Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement” because after World War II the Afro-American community get tired of discrimination and demanded equal rights. This long struggle ended in 1965 when the passage of the Voting Rights Act in the U.S. congres that authorized federal supervision and enforcement of the rights of African Americans and other minorities to vote. So let's take an look at the flag.

Flag has two major colors grey and red, also there is white, blue and yellow. The big no of vexillologists is there, usage of letters and in this case "city of Montgomery. The grey color symbolize the uniforms of the soldiers of the Confederaty. The red is from the Alabama state flag, what is an white flag with an red saltire cross to represented Montgomery is in Alabama. The blue is from the soldiers of the Union aka the North with the gray to denotes the unity of the Confederacy and the Union today. The seven stars symbolize the 7 original states at the beginning of the Confederacy. The yellow laurel wreath symbolize glory and honor. If you don't know the meaning and drop the letters, it is an good designed city flag but in the end this flag is misplaced.

 

Lagos - Nigeria

Lagos is by far the most populous city on the continent of Africa and ofcourse the nation of Nigeria, there live 21 million people in the African megapolis. Situated in an lagoon it was inhabited by the AworI an subgroup of the Yoruba, but the area was conquered in the 16th century by the Benin Empire. Oba (warrior king) Orhogbua the ruler of the Benin Empire founded an camp with the name Èkó, which is still the name in Yoruba of modern day Lagos. In 1472 the Portugese arrived in the area and named it Lagos, maybe after the Algarve maritime town of Lagos or after the lagoon what looks like an bunch of lakes because "lagos" means "lakes" in Portugese. The Portugese mainly traded in spices, ivory and slaves until the British abolished the slave trade and took over Lagos in 1807 and made an protectorate out of it. Later in 1903 the Lagos British Protectorate was merged with the British colonies of Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria to form the Colony of Nigeria. Lagos became the capital of it and later after independence of Nigeria it remained capital until they replaced it in 1991 to Abuja. Lagos is spread out of the islands Lagos where it all started, Victoria Island one of the most exclusive and expensive areas to reside and Ikoyi an affluent neighborhood. On the mainland there is the neighborhood of Apapa where all port activities are, Iddo which is connected with large bridges and an hub of the railroads and from here if you not stuck in one of Lagos notorious traffic jams to neighborhoods like Surulere, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Lagos Mainland. One thing is for sure, it is never dull in this bustling Nigerian metropolis and it is still growing larger. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag is the same as the flag of Nigeria with the coat of arms of Lagos in the center. Let's go to the arms which is divided in three parts. First in the red part there is an wheel, this represented industry and Lagos is Nigeria's main industrial hub. The red stands for power generation, which local energy supplier NEPA nowadays miserably fail to do. In the yellow part there are 6 cowries (some kind of snail shells), this represented the past and was used in those days as currency and Lagos today is an financial hub. The yellow stands for foreshore sands which can be found in Lagos and the rest of Lagos State, this arms also used by Lagos State. In lower blue part there are 2 fisherman, this represented the traditional activities of the area and blue stands of the Lagoon of Lagos. On top of the arms there is an white cap called keresimesi, represented authority. The leaves under the keresimesi are called akoko, these are used at the installation and coronation of traditional rulers and to pray the gods for long life for the new ruler. The palm trees represented the agriculture activities in the area. The motto "justice and progress" stands for the obligation to give each citizen rights without fear, bias and favouritism and progress stands for an strong hope of an bright future. Much but good symbol explanation, but they redo this flag, the flag of Lagos State using also this coat of arms with an different background but that is an story for later.

San Bartolomé de Tirajana - Spain

San Bartolomé de Tirajana is an village and the largest municipality of Gran Canaria and also the largest of the entire region of the Canary Islands, which is an part of Spain. The area can be found in the southeast of Gran Canaria and the population around 53 thousand. The village of San Bartolomé de Tirajana is also called Tunte which is quite easier to pronounced. The mountain village is located 25 km (15.53 mi) from the coast on an altitude of about 900 m (2,953 ft) in an inactive caldera, the area is of mountainous volcanic origin and the climate is mostly dry. Agriculture is possible on certain places where the grown oranges, lemons, apricots, grapes, olives and flowers. On the south coast was before 1960 an unspoiled area with agriculture but the summer climate with an all day breeze turns this area one of the biggest holiday resort. Mainly visitors from Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scandinavia come here to relax, sunbathing and partying in the beach towns of Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés and Sant Agustin. Maspalomas is the oldest beach town of Gran Canaria with an big lighthouse, it is all about tourism with beaches. The only official nudist beach can be found near the Maspalomas Dunes. Playa del Inglés for those don't want to do cultural things, there is not any only lot of hotels and bungalows. This place is all about beaches and nightlife, especially the LGBT community is welcome here despite Spain is an catholic country. San Agustin is also about hotels and beaches but in an more modest way. So let's take an look at the flag. 

The flag has an white background with an coat of arms in the center with some text above and below it. In the upper right we see an black lion which is the personal arms of Jean de Béthencourt and French noblemen who conquered Fuerteventura and Lanzarote for Spain but tried to do same with Gran Canaria. Upper left the personal arms of Fernando Guanarteme born as Tenesor Semidan was an Guanche (the original people of Gran Canaria) who converted to christianity and helped the Spanish to conquer the island. Lower left the is an Saint James's cross was granted to village of Santiago de Tunte, the first settlement of the municipality. Santiago is the Spanish form of James. The lower right there we see an tree and that is the personal arms of bishop Juan de Frías who was one of the leaders of the conquest of Gran Canaria, he did the religious part and became the first bishop of the Canary Islands. All these things happened end 15th century in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The coat of arms is granted by the Spanish king, that why is there the crown. On top of it is the text "Real de Ansite" and "real" means "royal" and "Ansite" is an rock formation in the municipality, don't get the reason of the usage of the words. And the lower text said the name of the municipality. The flag is quite bad, made at least coat of arms larger and drop the text. 

Brussels-Capital Region - Belgium

Brussels-Capital Region or called in Dutch Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and in French Région de Bruxelles-Capitale with an population of around 1.2 million but if we include all suburbs outside Brussels-Capital Region then we have an population of around 2.1 million. After the federal reform of Belgium in 1989 when the Flemish (Dutch speaking) and Walloon (French speaking) get their own regions, Brussels due it's bilinguality (French 90%/Dutch 10%) also. Brussels-Capital Region comprise of 19 municipalities namely Anderlecht, Auderghem/Oudergem, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe/Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Bruxelles-Ville/Stad Brussel, Etterbeek, Evere, Forest/Vorst, Ganshoren, Ixelles/Elsene, Jette, Koekelberg, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis, 
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode/Sint-Joost-ten-Node, Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek, Uccle/Ukkel, Watermael-Boitsfort/Watermaal-Bosvoorde, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert/Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre/Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. The largest of them is Bruxelles-Ville/Stad Brussel and the smallest is Saint-Josse-ten-Noode/Sint-Joost-ten-Node. With the highest population and here they again Bruxelles-Ville/Stad Brussel and with the least population is Watermael-Boitsfort/Watermaal-Bosvoorde. But there are plans to merge all 19 municipalities to one big city under one mayor, like big cities as London or Paris, to reduce the many politicians and parties to something controllable. It is Belgian politics and that plan can take a long time to get trough. But everyone who lives in this region is called an Bruxellois/Bruxelloise (French) and Brusselaar/Brusselse (Dutch), so that issue is al sorted. So let's take an look at the flag.

The flag has an blue background with an flower/hart image with the colors yellow, white and grey in the center. The blue and yellow are from the flag of the European Union, which Brussels acts as de-facto capital of Europe. The yellow image is the yellow iris an swamp plant once very common in the Brussels area, because the city is build on an drenched swamp. The flower is an Brussels symbol because after an victory of the duke of Brabant who lured his enemy in the swamps covered with the yellow iris. He know if you follow the flowers on horseback nothing happened, if you don't follow it you stuck in the swamp. The grey heart symbolize that the Brussels-Capital Region is open to the world. And the whole design of the flag is in Art Nouveau style what is typical Brussels. Quite good symbolism but the flag looks silly to me.