International Flags

These things may be the most boring flags of all. Nine times out of 10, they’re white, with lots of text and maybe some totally meaningless symbol.

Minimalist

As Gertrude Stein once said of Oakland, CA, with these flags, there’s no there there. 

Honestly, these things are so bland and meh that they barely register.

Eurasian Economic Union

That’s it? It looks like two different-colored smudges.

The EEU? Apart from sharing an acronym with the European Economic Union, this EEU looks like a weak attempt to recreate the Commonwealth of Independent States. In particular, it includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Tellingly, it was first proposed by primo Kazakh nut job and president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Supposedly, someone won $1,250 for coming up with this baby.

Intra-Parliamentary Union

A wreath, a temple, and a date. Wow, talk about being coy.

Now, this might be okay if this was an organization that anyone had ever heard out before. Never heard of the IPU? Here, I’ll let them toot their own horn:

We are a unique organization made up of national parliaments from around the world.  We protect and build global democracy through political dialogue and concrete action.

We are a vibrant and growing group. We currently have 178 Member Parliaments and 12 Associate Members. We work closely with the United Nations and other partner organizations whose goals we share. Today, we are the organization that most closely reflects world public opinion.

Actually, this group may be legit. It was the first “permanent international political organization and provided the origins for multilateral cooperation between nations today,” and predates the League of Nation and the UN. Its 2 founders would both win the Nobel Prize.

Color Contrast

Ergo, lack of it being a bad thing. I devoted a wholepost to country flags with this particular diagnosis. International flags, though, seem to make a specialty of it.

International Energy Agency

This is so light I can’t imagine anyone could even read it from 10 yards away.

The IEA is a very tony 1^st world kind of club. It was developed in response to the Oil Crisis of the ‘70s, and seems to be involved in all sorts of energy-related stuff.

World Canals Conference

And here we have the other end of the spectrum. Not only is this super busy, but white text on an extremely light blue background makes parts of this flag completely invisible.

The WCC is an event sponsored by Inland Waterways International, and brings together “hundreds of canal enthusiasts, professionals and scholars from around the world, to exchange good practices on canals, including the protection of historic canals or features, revitalization of canal systems, harbour sites, canal trails and amenities.” As someone who has biked the C&O and plan to bike the Lehigh Canal, I salute these folks.

Busy, busy, busy

International Space Station

Continuing our busy theme ... This looks more like a refrigerator magnet.

I think we’re all familiar with the ISS. I think it’s still out there.

Corporate Letterhead

Now we’re talkin’. This is what I associate with international flags. Boring white backgrounds, lots of text … Heck, these aren’t flags. Stationery maybe. Definitely not flags though.

International Finance Corporation

Word count: 7. Colors: 2.

The IFC? Whoa, I think you’ve heard of these boys. No, not the cable channel. The Intrafraternity Conference? Not exactly. Arm of evil organization that rules the world? Yup, that’s the one.

Iter

Word count: 8. Colors: 2.

Iter? Iter?!?! What the hell is an “iter”?

Unbelievably, it’s not an acronym. In fact, it’s Latin, for “the way.”

Equally unbelievably, this is not a cult. Instead, it’s “one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today. In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest tokamak.”

So, what the hell is a “tokamak”? Well, according to their website, it’s a “a toroidal apparatus for producing controlled fusion reactions in hot plasma.” But of course.

World Economic Forum

Word count: 11. Colors: 2.

And all in upper case.

Ohmigod, these are the Davos people. These really are the people who rule the world.

So, honestly, I have to ask … Is there a correlation between the boringness of your flag and the degree to which you dominate the world? If so, I’d like to propose the following:

What is it? 

That “totally meaningless symbol” I mentioned at the beginning of this post? That would be these.

So, I’m seeing a G? And a 7?  And another 7?

Sure enough, this is the flag of the G77 Information Trade Network. Who? What? Well, typing that into Google (at least that G77 bit), gets me the following:

• G77 pill (a narcotic)
• G77 command not found (a computer error)
• G77 countries

And that last one leads me to the actual organization itself. And all that is is a group of developing nations. It’s usually known as the Group of 77. Though it actually started with that number of members, they’ve pretty much doubled since then.

So, I see an O, and an I … and 2 other I’s … and …

Hey, it must be the OIII – you know, the O triple I? The Organization of International something something?

Actually, it’s the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

The OWHC is “an international non-profit, non-governmental organization of 250 cities in which sites of the UNESCO World Heritage list are located.”

I haven’t a clue what the flag is supposed to represent.

Weird

This next set doesn’t have anything in particular in common except for just plain weirdness.

United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women

Ah, yes, the UNIRTIAW. Catchy that.

INSTRAW though? Honestly, I have no idea how they got that.  Au francais?

According to Wikipedia, these folks have:

been the leading United Nations body of the research, knowledge management and capacity development of gender equality and women's empowerment. The Institute's participatory and innovative approaches to research have produced gender disaggregated data and research results that have served to better inform the design of training and capacity-building programmes and to strengthen stakeholder capacity to address and effectively integrate gender perspectives in all policies, programmes and projects. UN-INSTRAW works in partnership with governments, the United Nations System, civil society and academia.

Catchy, no?

International Railwaymen’s Sport Union

Is he train surfing? Isn’t that dangerous?

The organization? Their website very helpfully tells us that the USIC (they take their acronym from the French version of the name) is “an international railways sporting association with members from various countries.”

Red Crescent Society

This flag is for the Iranian version of Red Cross.  That’s supposed to be a lion.

World Anti-Doping Agency

Cucumbers?  Green seeds?

Oddly, the second guess is correct. Why green seeds? Haven’t a clue.

I think we’re all familiar with the WADA, especially with the Winter Olympics coming up.

Good

It seems only fair that I put in one here that I actually like.

St John Ambulance

Unfortunately, though, this group sounds more like a rock band from the late 60s. In actuality, they’re an organization that promotes first aid training and the provision of ambulance and other services in local communities.

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