Saturday, January 3, 2009

Spain

If several days ago i told you that we had snow, than what we have today cant be compared to it one bit :) Everything is absolutely covered in snow, its all white and beautiful...aaaannd, icy and slippery :)) But it is  lovely indeed, and it keeps snowing and snowing......the only thing i kept wondering today is whether my postman worked at all or no....the conditions werent really in his favour, and i would feel sorry if he had to go out in a weather like this (even though thats his job in the first place)....but so far, i have had no mail this year and i really hoped i would get some today...but nope :(
Luckily i have a great pile of postcards in stock, otherwise i would have nothing to post in here...but im well equipped i must say :P
I hope ill have some mail on Monday....it would be disappointing if i dont :)
And since the weather conditions are as they are, its a great reason to stay at home and have a nice quiet evening....and make an update :)


well, my first card to post today is my Christmas gift from dear Marta...along with the Christmas card she had sent me, she included this Spanish flag card coz she knows how nuts I am about them...and she got one for me when she had gone to Spain....wanna try and guess my reaction when i saw it? :)))

The Spanish flag has suffered various changes over its history. Under Franco's dictatorship the flag lost the colour mauve appearing on the Republican flag, and incorporated two important symbols, the eagle and the shield of the Catholic monarchy.

In 1977, two years after Franco's death, the eagle was slightly modified, and in 1981 it would disappear completely, leaving the current red/yellow/red with crowned arms.
The new Spanish flag has three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width) and red, with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band. The shield includes the royal seal, which is flanked by two crowned pillars (the Pillars of Hercules) bearing the inscription Plus Ultra. 
According to Spanish legislation, the height of the coat of arms should measure two fifths of the flag's width (i.e. hoist), and should appear in the middle of the yellow stripe. The flag's usual proportions are a length measuring three halves its width, in which case the distance from the hoist of the shield's vertical axis should be half the flag's width. In other instances (should the flag be either shorter in length or square) the coat of arms should appear in the centre.

Marta, do you have the slightest idea how happy you made me? :))

2 comments:

Martinha said...

Hello Ana!
The idea was to make you happy :P And knowing that the card made you happy, makes me happy :D

Hugs,
Marta

Sean McLachlan said...

Well, that cuts out one card I could have sent you! I guess I'll just have to send you a card when I make it to The Gambia. :-) Remind me, though, because I have a terrible memory and I won't be going for a few months.

Occasionally you'll see the Spanish flag without the escudo (shield or crest) in the middle. Not sure why this unofficial flag is used so much at football games and such, but you do see it. Sometimes you see it on the bottom of products when they have a flag next to the product warning in a particular language (French for the French warning, Spanish for the Spanish, etc.)

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