Flag Day in Patria

STAND UP FOR THE FLAG OF PATRIA!

January 25 is Robbie Burns Day in Scotland (scarf down that haggis and pour a few shots of Johnnie Walker!), and Flag Day in Patria. Although one of the first acts of the First Congress back in 1818 was to proclaim the simple red, white and blue tri-color Patria's official flag, on Jan. 25, 1973 the 39th Congress passed the Flag Act, setting the technical standards of the flag: 2:1 proportions, width of the white saltire (that's heraldic lingo for the X-shaped cross), as well as etiquette governing the proper handling and display of the flag. Since there had not been an official "flag day" in Patria (as in the USA on June 14), Congress also designated January 25 as such.

Unlike the US flag whose stars and stripes tell the story of the original 13 colonies and today's 50 states, or the Union Jack that smooshes together the crosses of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, or the maple leaf front and centre in Canada's flag, there is no particular in-your-face symbolism in the flag of Patria. It is not a Jamaican flag with a patriotic color transplant. Any resemblance between Patria's flag and the house flag of Farrell Lines is purely coincidental.

As in the US election cycle, virtually all parties in the running for the 50th Congress will wrap themselves in the flag today and all along the campaign trail.