Oddly, though, all the countries in this post are Arab, just like last week. These flags can all be traced back to 1952, when Egypt overthrew their king in favor of a republic. That, in turn, would inspire a whole slew of imitators.
Yemen
Yemen represents the purest (read, “most boring”) expression of this motif.
Iraq
I see Iraq has livened things up by throwing some words on there. I’m guessing these say something like – oh, I don’t know – “Iraq.”
Well, shows what I know. This one actually says allahu akhbar – “God is great.” Huh. Never heard that one before.
Syria
And this one has some little stars (apologies to Doctor Seuss and his Red Fish, Blue Fish). Two of them, to be exact.
Wondering where they came from? Interesting story … Turns out Syria and Egypt were once united, from 1958 to 1962. Egypt (see below) has moved on. Syria? Still pining away, I guess.
Even more interestingly, this was the original flag in this whole set. As you can see, it actually combined the same original colors as in the flags from last week. It’s only when Egypt moved on that green became less central.
Egypt
Egypt has livened things up with the ol’ “eagle of Saladdin.” The ol’ whuh?
So, Saladdin was this Arab dude from the Crusades. He, like, beat up on a bunch of Christians. That’s his shield and stuff.
Alternates
So, anybody up for mixing things up a little (though I'm thinking that might be frowned upon in the Arab world)? How about these two ideas:
Feel free to throw some stars or eagles or writing on either of them.
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