If you check out the 195 world flags, there is a color not found except on TWO world country flags. Did you guess the color purple? The reason dates back to ancient history when the color purple was very rare and very expensive. The people known as the Phoenicians (present day Lebanon) were credited with making the first purple dye. The dye, called Tyrian purple, was made by squeezing the gland of a tiny sea creature called the Murex snail , to obtain some of its secretions. It was estimated that over 10,000 snails had to be squeezed just to get a tiny amount of the coloring. For a time, the dye was worth more than a similar amount of gold! Purple became highly valued and becoming the color of royalty. In case you wish to check, the two countries with some purple on their flags are Dominica, a tiny island country and Nicaragua. The most popular flag colors include red, white and blue.
Fun Flag Facts:
1. A vexillologist is someone that studies flags!
2. Most flags have the colors red and white.
3. Only Vatican City and the country of Switzerland have square flags.
4. Most world flags are rectangle in shape. The flag of the country of Nepal is the only one which is not rectangular or square in shape.
5. When Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, summited Mt. Everest, the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, was placed.
6.The idea of a National Flag Day,a day to honor our flag, was started by Bernard J. Cigrand, in 1885.
7. There are currently 6 American flags on the moon.
8. The country of Bhutan has a white dragon on its flag.
9. “From Old Saxon," Fflaken" , meaning “to fly or to float in the air”, is where the word FLAG originated.
10.The largest American Flag is called the Superflag. It weighs 3000 pounds and is the size of 2.8 football fields.
11. A WHITE flag is the symbol of a truce or ceasefire.
12.The last of the 50 stars represents the state of Hawaii.
Extension Activities:
2. Pretend you are an American flag on the moon or in a town, or on a mountain top. What do you hear, see, feel, etc. as you wave in the air? Remember...on the moon, there is no atmosphere so the flag wouldn’t wave!
3. Write a haiku to describe the American flag. A haiku has 3 lines(5-7-5 syllables per line). Use descriptive words. Sentence structure isn’t necessary. To check syllables, place your hand under your chin. Each time the chin drops is a syllable. For example: elephant. Three drops = 3 syllables.
4. Illustrate one of the factoids. Write a sentence to go with your drawing.
Check out my Flag Webquest!
Gail
No comments:
Post a Comment