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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Anyone know how many national flags have the southern cross on them? so, why did NZ opt to use only four stars where the others all use five?
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2 |
which lists several more! Flags that fly the Southern Cross
Depicted either as four or five stars, the Southern Cross features on the national flags of New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. It also appears on the Australian flags of Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, and on the flag of Chile’s Magallanes region. The flag of the Southern Common Market, the South American trading bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, also depicts the constellation.
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2 |
so, why did NZ opt to use only four stars where the others all use five? Somewhere, the flag designer needed glasses ?
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,852 Likes: 2 |
"Under the Southern Cross" is the motto of the US Army 23rd Infantry Division, nicknamed Americal, for "Americans in New Caledonia" where it was first commissioned in 1942. See their emblem/crest here , along with more information about its history than you want to know, or to be reminded of. By a curious quirk, the Division's museum is located about two miles down the road from my home.
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
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Good site, interesting, I am going to spend some time there, thanks.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
so, why did NZ opt to use only four stars where the others all use five? It was an option for consideration at the time but it was decided that the four stars could also be interpreted as compass points. 
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,706 |
and our Australian flag was born in 1901, when Federation occurred. The Flag denotes our global position by the use of the Southern Cross. The brightest star in the Southern Hemisphere. The Federation Star (sometimes referred to as the Commonwealth Star) directly under the Union Jack has seven points representing the States and Territories of Australia.
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3 |
so, why did NZ opt to use only four stars where the others all use five? It was an option for consideration at the time but it was decided that the four stars could also be interpreted as compass points. And in the days when ships used the stars for guidance, that is a really interesting point for a flag. Thanks. I really like the way the red stands out.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3 |
and our Australian flag was born in 1901, when Federation occurred. The Flag denotes our global position by the use of the Southern Cross. The brightest star in the Southern Hemisphere. The Federation Star (sometimes referred to as the Commonwealth Star) directly under the Union Jack has seven points representing the States and Territories of Australia. But not the Federal Capital Territory???
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined: Dec 2006
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
And in the days when ships used the stars for guidance
In the Cook Islands where I am from Celestial navigation is alive and well.
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