Brazil Flag to Feature in 2014 World Cup Mascot?

With the preparations for the Soccer World Cup 2014 in Brazil getting underway, the process of choosing the mascot for the competition is also just starting. There have been many takes on the idea of a mascot in World Cup history, but traditionally, a country’s flag has usually formed part of the design, whether it’s just using the colours (like with South Africa 2010’s Zakumi leopard mascot) or actually using the flag as an intrinsic part of the design – such as the ‘Ciao’ stick figure from Italy ’94.

In fact, the first ever World Cup mascot was “World Cup Willie” from the 1966 World Cup in England. Although it now looks rather dated, the whole mascot idea was commended at the time and very popular. “Willie” was a lion kicking a football and wearing a football jersey featuring the Union Jack. This did cause some controversy at the time, since the Union Jack is, strictly speaking, the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, whereas the World Cup was an England-only affair. Nationalist sentiment in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was perhaps less strong than it is now but the appropriation of a UK symbol for an event that only took place in England still caused some protest.

Brazilian Flag

Brazil certainly won’t have that problem, and the national flag is the subject of deep affection within Brazil. In fact, one of the major holidays in Brazil is the national Flag Day on November 19^th, where Brazilians gather all over the country to pay homage to the flag, sing the flag anthem, and dispose with due ceremony of flags that are no longer in fit condition to be used.

The various ideas mooted so far for the Brazil World Cup 2014 mascot are a macaw, a jaguar, or a saci, which is a popular character in Brazilian folklore. It would seem to be easy enough to incorporate the flag (or at least its colours) into the macaw or the jaguar, but the saci might be a little trickier. Originally a representation of an indigenous deity, the saci is popular today especially among black Brazilians. The one-legged youngster smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap which allows him to disappear and reappear whenever and wherever he likes. It would certainly be more imaginative than most mascots, but it’s certainly not clear where the Brazil Flag would fit in!

The 2014 World Cup promises to be one long holiday in Brazil, and the mascot usually forms such a central part of the festivities that we’re sure there will be plenty of great designs entering the contest. Let’s just hope that Brazil’s unique flag also gets in on the act!

Dan Clarke works for Real Brazil Holidays, a specialist provider of holidays in Brazil, and he’s hugely looking forward to visiting Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.

National Flag Days - A new page on www.flagsinformation.com

Just to let you know, a new detailed page has been added onto Flagsinformation.com

This page provides a comprehensive list of National Flag Days celebrated around the world, the new page can be found at http://www.flagsinformation.com/national-flag-days.html.

The Swaziland National Flag Day is on April 25, each day.

Around the world, national flag days are celebrated for a wide variety of reasons, including:

• Gaining Independence - e.g. as with the Colombian National Flag Day
• Adoption of flag day commemoration - e.g. as with the Abkhazia National Flag Day
• Famous Battle rememberance - e.g. as with the Denmark National Flag Day
• As part of a Saints Day - e.g. such as with the Scotland National Flag Day

Take a look at the page and if you have any comments about it, leave a post on this page.

May 2nd is National Flag Day in Poland

May 2nd saw Poland celebrates its national flag day. Many Polish celebrated the Flag of the Republic of Poland Day. Many private and public buildings displayed the red and white Polish Flag with pride.


Many of the most famous buildings in Poland joined in the celebrations. The Presidential Palace, the sejm and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland were all displaying the red and white colors.

Poland has used red and white as its national colors since 1831 and has celebrated its annual flag day every year since 2004. Poland is one of a number of countries who have an annual flag day, others include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Lithuania, Mexico, Ukraine, and USA. For more info, see the National Flag Day page on Wikipedia.


The Polish Flag Day is not a national holiday so unfortunately workers still have to go to work, but it's good to see a country honoring its national flag with recognition by a special day. This day is sandwiched between Labor Day (May 1) and Constitution Day (May 3).

UNAMID - Rwandan Flag Flies at Half Mast to Remember Rwandan Genocide

In a memorial event held at UNAMID, Darfur the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was remembered. The genocide caused the lives of 800,000 Rwandans to be lost in just 3 months.

Rwandan Force Commander Lt Gen Patrick Nyamvumba commented “the genocide has taught us that we should not be complicit to violence, death and destruction by remaining silent or indifferent to human atrocities. […] The presence of Rwandan troops, police officers and civilian staff in Darfur, as part of UNAMID, with all the sacrifices, is an eloquent testimony to the resilience of the Rwandan people to assist bringing peace to other parts of Africa and the world”.


The ceremony include a minute of silence in memory of all the victims. Both the Rwandan Flag and United Nations Flag were lowered to half-mast.

The Rwandan Flag

Baku State Flag Square - The Flag is Torn and Removed Again

Not for the first time, the largest Azerbaijani Flag, which flies at the Baku State Flag Square has needed to be removed.

The reasons for its removal are unclear, it is believed though that the flag was torn in recent high winds. This is the fourth occasion the flag has had to be removed. On one occasion, local residents had to be removed, when the flagpole itself also started to move.

To date the square has cost the Azerbaijani people and government some $35Million. The whole issue is unsettling for Azerbaijani's who place a lot of emphasis on their state flag.

Background to the Azerbaijani State Flag Square
On 17th November 2007, Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a directive which promised the creation of the State Flag Square in Naku. On 30th December, 2007 Aliyev laid the foundation stone for the square. The square is in the Naval Base in the Bayil area of the Azerbaijani state capital Baku.

The State Flag Square dimensions are – The flagpole is 162 metres in height, this is the highest flagpole in the world, this has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records.




 the flag itself is 35 X 70 metres in dimension with an area of 2,450 square metres. The entire structure weighs in at an astonishing 220 tons, the flag itself weighs 350 kilogrammes.
The official state opening of State Flag Square took place on 1st September, 2010. The flag is an important symbol in Azerbaijan and reflects the freedom and independence of the Azerbaijani nation.

Egyptian Rioters Try to Rip Down Israeli Flag from Israeli Embassy in Cairo

On Friday 8th April, Egyptian rioters attempted to rip down the Israeli Flag from the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

Although attempts to remove the flag are fairly commonplace, the sheer number of rioters took authorities by surprise. The rioters has marched from Tahrir Square to the location of the Israeli Embassy and had been burning Israeli Flags all the way along the route.

These scenes are the worst anti-Israeli protests since the protests that saw President Hosni Mubarak removed from power in February. The Foreign Minister, Yigor Palmor commented "They tried to reach the flag on top of the embassy but failed."

The Israeli Flag

The Egyptian Flag

2000 People March Over the New Caledonian Flag Issue

2000 people marched in Noumea, New Caledonia over the issue of the New Caledonia Flag.

The issue of the flag has seen four governments dissolved over the past two months in New Caledonia. This week the French Overseas Minister, Marie-Luce Penchard was in Noumea attempting to resolve matters.

The march was a week later than originally planned, the French High Commissioner had banned the previous march on security grounds. This march passed off peacefully but reflected the emotions people feel about their national flag and therefore their national identity.

The whole issue boils around whether New Caledonia should have a 2-flag system and observe both the French Flag and the "Kanak" as the official flags of New Caledonia.

This whole issue proves again that national flags are a really big issue and mean a lot to people all around the world.

The Flag of New Caledonia

The French Flag

Waving Flag YouTube Videos - K Naan, World Cup, Free Downloads and More

In this post we provide links to some great waving flag YouTube videos, we start off with three links to the World Cup 2010 Classic:

David Bisbal & K Naan - Waving Flag, The Official Video

K Naan, Waving Flag, from the World Cup 2010 Opening Ceremony Celebration Concert

The Young Artists for Haiti Version on Waving Flag - a Charity Recording for Haiti

And now for something completely different, waving flag by the Chipmunks!

The US Flag flying with the national anthem in the background, very patriotic for Americans!

Argentinian Football Team World Cup Goals set to Waving Flag by K Naan

National Flag Bags - Examples of What are for Sale

If you are looking for a bag of your favorite nation, there are lots of choices available. This blog post details some of the options available and where to source them from:

Argentina National Flag Tote Bag from Cafepress, available for £12.50

Brazil National Flag Shoulder Bag by Gola, available from Amazon for £21.99 -

UK Union Jack Stylish National Flag Patterned Carrying Bag from Deal Extreme for $15.76 or 10.88 Euros.

Greece Flag Tote Bag, available from Cafe Press for £12.

These are just a few ideas, if you want to shop in style go out and get your flag bag today!

Estonian Government to Create Diplomatic Ties with Somalia

Diirad.com reports that the Estonian Government are recommending the proposal of Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and are entering into diplomatic discussions with Somalia.


Estonia currently has diplomatic relations with a total of 168 countries, the most recently added were Haiti and Comoros, which were added last year.


Urmaes Paet said on April 7 - "Establishment of diplomatic relations with Somalia is directly connected to Estonia's participation in Atalanta, the European Union military operation for protecting ships in the vicinity of Somalia from pirate attacks." Many people are failing to realise that the pirates are just as much of a nuisance to the Somalian Government as they are to governments around the world.


Paet went on to say that Estonian ships operating under Atalanta will need to collaborate with ships sailing under the Somalian flag. This process is smoothed considerably with the establishment of diplomatic relations. Paet also said that Estonia should establish diplomatic relations with as many countries as possible, as this best represents Estonia and also protects the Estonian population's worldwide interests.

Estonian Flag

Somalian Flag

Imperial, Missouri School Flag to be Taken into Space by Dr. Sandra Magnus

Students of St. Joseph Catholic School, Imperial, Missouri have been learning about space at school and have specially designed a flag. Astronaut Dr. Sandra Magnus of Belleville, Illinois has promised to take this flag on her next trip into space. 

Magnus is scheduled to be amongst the crew of STS-135-ULF7, she is currently in training and scheduled to fly into space in the summer of 2011. This mission will carry Raffaello - a Multi Purpose Logistics Module.

Magnus has promised the children that she will take a picture of the flag, which will have the earth in the background, whilst she is on this space flight.

Justin Bieber Wears USA Flag Outfit to Say Sorry for 'Evil' America Comment

Justin Bieber wore an outfit in the design of the American Flag in what many are speculating was an apology for a comment he made recently about Americans "being evil". Bieber commented in a recent Rolling Stones Magazine article that "you guys are evil", when referring to the fact that the US didn't have a free healthcare system like his beloved Canada does.  He said "You guys are evil. Canada's the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don;t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you're broke because of medical bills. My Bodyguard's baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada if your baby is premature, he stays in hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home."

A spokesperson for Bieber is reported to have said "He's a young kid and said something that got blown well out of proportion. He loves America and is proud to wear the stars and stripes when he is traveling overseas." Bieber wore the outfit whilst in Nottingham, England ahead of his 24th March tour date there. 


The US Flag outfit was made by fashion company OnePiece who specialise as the name suggests in One Piece Clothing items. OnePiece were created by 3 Norwegians in 2007 and have also recently created clothes for Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Rihanna amongst others.

Jersey, Channel Islands Celebrates 30th Anniversary of the Jersey Flag

The 7th April, 2011 saw the 30th anniversary of the first date, which the Jersey Flag was hoisted in public. This was by HRH Queen Elizabeth II on 7th April, 1981.

Jersey Bailiff, Michael Birt hoisted the Flag at a commemoration event at Fort Regent at 1PM GMT.

The States of Jersey Government asked all Jersey householders with a Flag to hoist it from sunrise to sundown on 7th April in commemoration of the event.

Is Portugal the last EU Country to seek Financial Bailout and Support?

Portugal succumbed and has requested an emergency bailout to help with financial issues in the country. Portugal are seeking a package of 75 billion euros ($107 billion), this will need to be financed across the members of the EU and through the International Monetary Fund.

Goldman Sachs are reported today on Bloomberg News that Portugal are the last country likely to need financial bailout. This follows previous requests from both Greece and Ireland.

Despite recent troubles the Portuguese Flag is still being waved with pride across the nation.

Ivory Coast Civil War (Gbagbo vs Ouattara) Threatens World Cocoa Supplies & Price

The African Country of the Ivory Coast is on the brink of civil war according to multiple sources. More famed for its football team, the Ivory Coast should perhaps be more famous as the world's largest single producing country for Cocoa. Ghana and Indonesia have been out on standby to increase their Cocoa crop in light of this crisis.

World cocoa prices could soar once again if the expected decline into civil war occurs. Cocoa prices rose to a 34-year high in March. The tensions have escalated following last year's elections where Gbagbo lost but has refused to step down. It is internationally recognised that Gbagbo lost the election to Ouattara.

Forces loyal to Gbagbo are known to wave the Ivory Coast Flag with pride. Ouattara loyalists still value the Ivory Coast Flag but have also been waving the French Flag, as kind of a protest to Gbagbo's rule.

The United Nations are now planning to intervene. Y.J. Choi the UN Envoy to the Ivory Coast recently spoke about Gbagbo's forces saying "We are planning action, we can no longer condone reckless and mindless attack on civilians and the United Nations blue helmets with heavy weapons." This follows clashes where 800 people in the town of Duekoue have died in the past week alone. The UN has the power to stop action against citizens but can't remove Gbagbo from power.

Ouattara's forces are expected to launch a major offensive on Abidjan, the commercial centre of the Ivory Coast at anytime.

Turkish Elections Flag Costs - 36 Million Turkish Liras for 3 Main Political Parties

Turkey is readying itself for elections in June 2011. An amazing set of statistics have been revealed about the costs, the political parties are willing to pay for campaign flags. The three main parties are said to be spending the following:
* The AKP - Justice and Development Party (currently ruling party) - 15 Million Turkish Liras
* The CHP - Republican People’s Party - 12 Million Turkish Liras
* The MHP - Nationalist Movement Party - 9 Million Turkish Liras


Flag Salesman Nihat Bahçıvan says "Public areas are going to be festooned with campaign flags". Bahçıvan added that the AKP have purchased over 15,000 flags to date and that campaign flags account for the majority of a parties' campaign expenses.

Bahçıvan also talked about the heavy workloads the elections willingly brought on for his company - "Our factories work 18-hour days, including weekends. If parties return the eco-friendly flags used in the campaign, we pay back 25 percent of the cost to them".

The Turkish Elections promise to be interesting and once again flags will be at the centre of them.

Turkish National Flag

For further information read: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=election-campaign-products-compete-in-a-fair-2011-04-05

Protesters Wave Massive Italian Flag at Silvio Berlusconi's Trial

Protesters waved a massive Italian Flag at the first day of Silvio Berlusconi's trial.

Berlusconi is charged with "inciting child prostitution. He is said to have had unlawful sex with a 17-year old girl called Ruby. Berlusconi's prosecution was based on a telephone call from May 2010. Berlusconi is accused of sex with a Moroccan immigrant named Karima El Mahroug.

The trial will create a media frenzy worldwide.

Flag Counters - Free Flag Web Counter Statistics for your Website

Something i've been asked frequently is to list some popular (and free) web counter statistics for your website, but importantly ones that show visitors by country - with the flag as the symbol.

So here are a list of resources that give you all you need to know to pick a free flag website statistics counter.

1) FlagCounter.com - A totally free and fully configurable service. Analyse by country, by maps and by US state. Customise background, text and border colors. Configure the maximum number of flags to show, number of columns to display and write your own title label.








2) 24counter.com - A free configurable PHP service. You can download stats for downloads today, month and year. Also you can view visitors by flags.














3)Super Counters - A free hit counter and flag counter. Fully customisable, visit the site for further information.

4)Trend Counter - A fully configurable free flag counter service. Click this link for a full demo - http://www.trendcounter.com/live/demo.htm

Also if you are interested in joining a Facebook Group about flag counters, then join http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flag-Counter/103762559671473.


Also try out this video on YouTube - "Free Flag Counter for your Blog or Website".



Please if you have a view on this subject and you've read this far - leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Football: Chelsea vs Manchester United - European Champions League - 6th April, 2011

Chelsea and Manchester United fly the English flag in their encounter of 6th April at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Soccer Stadium. This is the Quarter-Final of the European Champions League, the return leg will be at Old Trafford, Manchester on 12th April.

The team line-ups are:
Chelsea - Cech, Ivanvic, Cole, Bosingwa, Terry, Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Zhirkov, Torres, Drogba - Subs: Tunbull, Ferreira, Benayoun, Mikel, Malouda, Kalou, Anelka

Manchester United - Van Der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, Giggs, Ji-Sung, Carrick, Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez - Subs: Kuszczak, Smalling, Evans, Nani, Scholes, Gibson, Berbatov

Referee - A Undiano Mallenco

Attendance - 37,915

French Flag Support Confirmed for America's Cup Race 2013

French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno has confirmed the French Government's support for the three declared French Teams, which are vying to perform in the America's Cup Yachting race in San Francisco, 2013.

The Government are allowing the official use of the French Flag but have emphasised this is subject to the three teams being able to raise the necessary finances. Entering the race is not cheap and is estimated at a minimum of $50Million.

On 1st April, the organisers of the America's Cup confirmed that 15 teams had declared an interest in competing in the race.

The qualification event lasts from July 13 to September 1, 2013. The winner goes on to compete against the American Yacht in an event from September 7th to 22nd.

Challengers are now required to pay a $200,000 bond by the end of April, to retain their involvement in the race.

French Flag OK'd by French Government for America's Cup