The Power Of Symbolism

I decided to condense the postings about symbolism together, and more has been added.

America started east of the Appalachians but it ended up stretching from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans, from "coast to coast". The inevitability of reaching the opposite coast is referred to as "Manifest Destiny".

But the reason it was inevitable is the symbolism of the flag. The stripes stretch from "coast to coast".

America is also, at the time of this writing, the only nation to have put humans on the moon. Of course, a number of nations have stars on the flag but America has more than any other nation. This seems to have made it inevitable that Americans would land on the moon first.

But the flag has a downside too. The stripes resemble prison bars and America has a very high proportion of people in prison. Credit to Wikipedia article "Flag of the United States".

I believe that Britain's flag helped in discovery of sub-atomic particles. All three components of atoms, electrons, protons and, neutrons were all discovered in England. But the flag resembles a nucleus at the center with electron orbitals passing around it. Credit to Wikipedia article "Union Jack".

The symbol of Canada is the Maple Leaf. There is one disadvantage. Maple leaves fall off the tree in the winter. Emulating the national symbol snowbirds from Canada go south during the winter, to Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean, taking hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars with them. The Canadian Government was once considering buying a Caribbean island so that money spent there would still be in Canada. Maybe more money would stay in Canada in the winter if it had an evergreen tree as it's symbol. Credit to Wikipedia article "Flag of Canada".

The symbol of Communism was a red star and, sure enough, the Soviet Union was the first nation to put a satellite in orbit and then a man in space.

But another symbol of the Soviet Union was the hammer and sickle, representing industry and agriculture. Have you ever noticed that, true to the national symbol, the Soviet Union and it's Communism held together as long as the bulk of workers were employed either in agriculture or heavy industry, but then came apart when that stage had passed?

Instead of the hammer and sickle would it still be together if it had the computer mouse and smart phone as it's symbol? Credit to Wikipedia article "Flag of the Soviet Union".

Notice that Communism has continued on in countries that didn't use the symbol of the Hammer and Sickle, using stars instead, such as China (top) and Vietnam. Credit to Wikipedia articles "Flag of China" and "Flag of Vietnam".

 

THE POWER OF NATIONAL SYMBOLS

We can see the power of symbolism not only in flags but in national symbols.

Could it be that America has the crime rate that it does because it's national symbol, the bald eagle, is a predator with razor-sharp claws? What if the buffalo had been the symbol of America?

Could it be that so many people have, in the past, immigrated from Britain because it's national symbol is the lion and it is doubtful that a lion would want to live in the drizzle and fog of Britain. What if the native fox was the symbol of Britain?

Could it be that part of the reason for so many wars is that nations tend to choose vicious wild predators as their national symbols?

THE PARADOX OF DOGS

As far as I can see no nation has ever chosen a dog as it's symbol. To describe someone as a "lion", a "tiger", an "eagle" or even a "cat" is considered as compliment but referring to someone as a "dog" is universally considered as an insult.

So an intelligent and capable creature emerges from the wild and becomes "man's best friend". But no nation wants it as their symbol, they prefer vicious wild predators instead. Companies don't want it as their logo, except for maybe pet stores, and I can't see any sports teams named for one.

Of course, dogs are not the issue. Our values are the issue.

THE U.S. DOLLAR AND THE UNITED NATIONS

Has anyone else ever thought of this? The U.S. Dollar has become the defacto reserve currency of the world, going back to the end of the Second World War. Could part of the reason be symbolism? The color and proportion of the dollar is almost exactly the same as that of the United Nations Building. Image from Google Earth.

TOMATO IN ITALIAN CUISINE 

Why is tomato, in the form of sauce and paste, so central to Italian cuisine? Could it be a simple matter of flag symbolism, with the flag having the same colors as the tomato plant? Credit to Wikipedia articles "Flag of Italy" and "Tomato".

BRITAIN AND DIAMONDS

Has anyone wondered why there are so many diamonds in Britain's Crown Jewels? Unlike gold, which seems to be universally valued, the value of precious stones such as diamonds is relative. Some cultures value diamonds more than others. The value of diamonds is not based on the Bible, the Book of Revelation describes the foundations of the New Jerusalem as being composed of twelve precious stones but diamond is not among them.

No country seems to value diamonds as much as Britain. The Crown Jewels are the most famous collections of diamonds in the world. The only other country that is comparable is Iran. The late Shah held a lavish coronation ceremony in 1967 that featured what might be the greatest collections of diamonds anywhere.

This is so interesting because, not only does Britain have no diamonds of it's own, no other Europeans seem to value diamonds anything like as much as Britain does, not even the Dutch who colonized South Africa and became known as expert diamond cutters.

I have wondered why my native Britain is so fascinated by diamonds, at first glance it doesn't seem to make sense. But maybe it might be a powerful example of how symbolism works. The most prominent display of symbolism is on national flags.

Britain's fascination with diamonds is an example of how powerful symbolism is. The stripes on the flag are just like the vertices on a diamond.

THE SECRET OF INDIA'S SPACE SUCCESS

The world has admired India's success at landing spacecraft on the moon and Mars, while spending a fraction of the money that other countries have spent on similar missions. But there is a secret to India's space success. This secret is simple and has nothing to do with technology.

The secret to India's space success is what a powerful force symbolism is.

Look at the flag of India. Credit to Wikipedia article "Flag of India".

The green stripe represents the earth. Notice how the Asoka Chakra, the circle in the center, looks just like the full moon. This draws India toward the moon.

It actually looks like looking down at the pole on a globe of the moon, with the meridian lines radiating outward from the pole. This is why India has specialized in landing spacecraft at the south pole region of the moon, which is more difficult than landing near the equator. I have already suggested here that the south pole region of the moon should be named "New India".

Now look at the top stripe on the flag, the color that India calls "saffron". This stripe is the color of Mars. Credit to Wikipedia article "Mars".

This is what pulls India toward Mars. Missions to Mars have a high casualty rate and India is the first country to launch a successful Mars mission on it's first attempt.

The secret of India's space success is the symbolism of it's flag. Symbolism can be a very powerful force and this is just about the finest example of symbolism being fulfilled that I have ever seen.

THE BUFFALO AS AMERICA'S SYMBOL 

Around the city of Buffalo, NY are many statues of it's namesake animal, although it wasn't native to this area. The following three images are from Google Street View.

The present national symbol of America is the bald eagle. Wouldn't the buffalo be a better symbol?

Eagles, of various subspecies, are found in much of the world. The buffalo, actually the American bison, is much more all about America.

The eagle is a vicious predator with claws like razor blades. Isn't it amazing that we have this predator as our national symbol and then send people to prison for conducting themselves like the national symbol?

The buffalo, in contrast, is herbivorous and communal. Symbolism is a powerful force. During the mass shooting and deadly blizzard of 2022 the people of Buffalo lived up to their namesake and conducted themselves just like a mutually supportive herd of Buffalo.

The buffalo is a strong animal. Packs of wolves will follow a herd of buffalo, waiting for an aging or ailing buffalo to fall behind the herd, but the herd is too strong to be attacked directly.

I have my buffalo right here to inspire me while I am writing this.