National Flag Research Articles

The Relation of “Desecration of the State Coat of Arms or of the National Flag of Georgia” to Freedom of Expression

The paper addresses the relation of the descriptive part of Article 343 of the Criminal Code of Georgia to Article 17 of the Constitution of Georgia, which establishes the rights to freedom of opinion, information, mass media and the Internet. The practice of local and international courts is reviewed, that clearly shows the importance and complexity of this issue.
 
 The model of freedom of expression that is enforced in Georgia nowadays, in turn, is based on the American standard, which imposes higher requirements for the restriction of the right than the ones in any European country. It is this nuance that gives importance to the mentioned issue. At the same time, the planned legislative amendment in the country, which deals with the punishment of insults to the symbols of the European Union, coincides in content with the subject matter of the article and, possibly, with the development of a debate on its constitutionality; The case of Ani Gachechiladze v. the Parliament of Georgia makes the topic more interesting within the framework of which the judges of the 2nd panel of the Constitutional Court of Georgia will have to discuss the constitutionality of Article 343 of the Criminal Code.
 
 The paper is based on the analysis of case law and doctrine, the research is carried out using logical, systemic, comparative and historical methods.

Rallying around the “flag of convenience”: Merchant fleet flags and sanctions effectiveness

This study argues that the features of the merchant fleet of a sanctioned state are an important determinant of sanctions success. More specifically, I focus on the influence that registration of vessels under a “flag of Convenience” has on a target’s ability to redirect its trade. I argue that when much of the target’s merchant fleet is registered under foreign flags, it is easier for it to employ practices that potentially alleviate third parties’ fears of detection and punishment by the sender, and thus increase its ability to find more potential third-party trading partners. I thus hypothesize that the negative association between a target’s economic integration and sanctions success increases when much of the target’s fleet is foreign-flagged. Conversely, access to a substantial fleet that is registered under the target’s national flag increases the target’s ability to use shipping companies to re-route lost trade with the sender to specific third-party markets. I, therefore, contend that an extensive domestically flagged and owned fleet reduces the target’s vulnerability to disruption of its trade with the sender. I test these arguments using data on targets’ fleet features and sanctions success. Statistical tests spanning 1980–2005 strongly support my expectations.

Determinants of Artistic Information Identification of the Olympics Ceremonial Suit

The purpose of the article. To analyze the Olympics ceremonial suit of the XXXII Olympic Games «Tokyo 2020» and to form promising defining features of its artistic and informational identification. The research methodology provides art analysis of the formation, artistic motives, national appeals, general aesthetics and modern trends that are accumulated in the design of the Olympic ceremonial suit of foreign sports teams. The scientific novelty is to study the Olympics ceremonial suit of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and identify promising strategic advertising features of its artistic and informational identification. Conclusions. As a result of the research for further application in the design of the Olympic ceremonial suit promising strategic advertising features of artistic and informational identification are identified, including: 1) Convergence of appeals to the colors of the national flag in the design of the analyzed ceremonial Olympics suits of sports teams; 2) Correspondence of artistic and informational identification of ceremonial suits to the basic principles of the Olympic Games; 3) Eco-friendliness in an Olympics formal suit, which involves not only the use of environmental materials in the design of clothing, but is also aimed to draw attention to the global problem of mankind. Excess raw materials with a long service life and proper technological utilization of light industry waste has become a trigger for increased attention to environmental awareness at all levels of human activity. High fashion dictates the trends for -middle and mass market and is gradually moving to safe textile materials that are biodegradable without contaminating the water with micro-plastic; 4) Vestimentary traditions in the artistic and informational identification of the Olympics ceremonial suit, which allow to see the designer (design studio, company, etc.) as a referent of the sign system of artistic and informational identification of the Olympics ceremonial suit together with athletes and representatives of the delegation, which is also the brand of the country for which the suit is created.

Reading and Mapping the Worldviews of Island States through National Anthems: Celebrating Deity, Identity, Landscapes and Unity

Abstract National anthems, along with the national flag, stamps and monuments, are important features of a state’s identity. The lyrics and music instill patriotism and nationalism on holidays, at sporting events, and in children at school. This study examines the lyrics of 42 Caribbean, Pacific, African, Asian and European island state anthems to identify patterns and themes. While word frequencies differ between the regions, dominant themes reflect unity, hope, a spiritual/divine heritage, home and homeland, and pleasant environmental settings. Themes reflecting times of strife, struggles and conflict are also evident.

It Seems Italian, Doesn't It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products.

The Italian export of agri-food products has been increasingly threatened by the unfair use of misleading Italian symbols (such as the national flag or the green-white-red colors) by non-Italian producers. This research paper investigated what English and Spanish consumers know about “Made in Italy” food, and their attitude towards Italian appearance food products. Primary data were collected in Spain and England, and a probit model was used to identify the determinants of consumers’ vulnerability to misleading Italian symbols. We found that merely having Italian symbols on the package might lead almost half of the consumers in the sample to consider food as Made in Italy, regardless of the actual origin. This result confirms the severity of the problem. The econometric model provides suggestions for public actions to mitigate the issue.

The Everyday Nationalism of Workers: A Social History of Modern Belgium

The Everyday Nationalism of Workers: A Social History of Modern Belgium

Permission to bail out EU’s national flag carriers? Technocratic and political determinants of commission approval of state aid to national airlines in difficulties in the pre-COVID era

AbstractThe enforcement of EU state aid rules is often portrayed as mainly driven by technocratic standards, but there are indications that political factors also play a role. However, their exact impact and relationship with technocratic factors remain unknown. This article studies under which technocratic and political conditions the Commission approves or does not approve state aid to national airlines. Based on a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of all 14 cases of alleged state aid to national airlines between 2004 and 2019, the article shows that both the approval and non-approval of aid are predominantly dependent upon the Commission’s technocratic assessment: a low degree of market distortion turns out to be a sufficient condition for the approval of aid, whereas a high degree of market distortion is a necessary condition for the non-approval of aid. However, in some cases, political factors are decisive in determining enforcement outcomes.

Future-disproofing

As I write this editorial, small groups waving national flags are gathering on the motorway overbridges of Auckland to welcome and encourage a ‘convoy’ of vehicles who seem to unite a variety of aspirations under the general claim of ‘Freedom’. As an old 1970s marcher—apartheid, Vietnam, reclaiming the night and so on—I have to say […]

LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA BANDERA EN LA NARRATIVA PERUANA: DEL DISCURSO NACIONALISTA AL TESTIMONIO SUBALTERNO

This article analyzes the representation of the national flag in two specific episodes of the Peruvian narrative in order to expose how it can be used as a means that, on the one hand, enervates national sentiment and, on the other, denounces the injustices against the Ande communities. In the first place, in the story “El hombre de la bandera”, by the writer Enrique López Albújar, the flag is manifested as the symbol that breeds a foundational nationalist discourse. It inspires in the inhabitants of the Andes an intimate identification with Peru and defense of the territory with their own lives, despite the unquestionable injustices they have suffered historically. Second, in the novel Redoble por Rancas, by Manuel Scorza, the flag highlights the contradictions and fissures in the ideological base that sustains the nation project. The national banner fosters solidarity between the inhabitants of Rancas and the army, on the contrary, it accentuates the socio-cultural fragmentation of the country and offers a discourse of minorities. To do this, the concept of «imagined community» coined by Benedict Anderson and the theoretical contributions of decolonial criticism, by Aníbal Quijano, and postcolonial criticism, by Homi Bhabha and Partha Chatterjee, will be used.

For friends and citizens only? Banal notions of nationhood in official and semi-public discourses on foreign national flags in post-1990 Lithuania

ABSTRACT This article explores tacit, habitual notions of nationhood within political and popular discourses that underlie the ways that ethnic minorities in Lithuania perceive themselves. This is achieved by examining official and semi-public discourses surrounding the use and status of foreign national flags in Lithuania. The main findings of the article are twofold. First, doxastic perceptions of national identity that emerged in the official discourses during the 1990s rather than those since the beginning of 2000s appeared to be present within semi-public discourses in 2015. Second, official discourses appear either less aware of, or avoid, issues of ethnic tension in Lithuania – questions that, on the contrary, were very important to focus group discussants.

EXPERT STUDY OF THE STATE FLAG IMAGE OR IMITATION BY TRADEMARK

The article is devoted to the theory and practice of expert researches of the state flag image or imitation by trademark, including the State Flag of Ukraine. The study reviews flag origin – banner of arms, standards, pennons, gonfalons, streamers and banderoles – and their classification and links with traditions and rules of flag colors and their combinations. It also addresses ordinary and heraldic figures and other issues of flag study science. In the paper, the legal status of state flags and the procedure for their use are addressed and determined. The forensic expert studies are reviewed in the paper to explore the following question: “Is a trademark XXX an image or an imitation of the national flag?”, examined within a specialty framework “Researches relating to commercial (company) names, trademarks (marks for goods and services) and geographical indications”. The article shows the study of identical or similar figurative designations such as trademarks and state emblems, being so alike that one can easily confuse them with each other, is usually determined by two criteria: First, graphic (visual) similarity and second, conceptual (semiotic and semantic) resemblance. Key Words. State symbol, flag, national flag, forensic examination of intellectual property objects, trademarks, expert examination of trademarks and imitation.

Политическая нелояльность и военные преступления Прибалтийских дворян в годы первой мировой войны

In the Soviet historiography of the First World War, a false opinion was formed that representatives of the large local nobility who had “Germanic roots” (as a rule, natives of Germany or persons who had Russian and German citizenship) were a category of persons politically disloyal to the Russian autocracy. They allegedly saw their national-patriotic mission in acts of overt and covert sabotage of Russia's military security in the Baltic states - from hanging the national flags of Germany on the roofs of their estates to creating favorable conditions for the invasion of “Teutonic knights”.Another myth that can be traced in some works of modern Russian historians is that all Baltic barons of German origin, in the conditions of an armed clash between Russian and German military and naval forces, remained loyal to the Tsar and the Fatherland (Russian Empire) to the end.In this article, the author set himself the goal of reconciling the existing historical differences and contradictions, showing an objective picture of front-line political life, the central figures of which in the Baltic provinces (at different times, some districts of Courland and Livonia) were German barons. For this, an attempt was made to trace the evolution of the “enemy image”, which was embodied in the “Eastsee nobles”. It was concluded that their initial stereotypical perception and misinterpretation of the border threat was based only on the speculation of police and military officials.This and other (including those opposite in meaning) conclusions were based on archival documents discovered and introduced by the author into scientific circulation. Initially, the counterintelligence officers of the Northern Front did not have a clear idea of the hostile intentions and, moreover, the illegal activities of the Baltic barons. However, with the beginning of the “Great Retreat” of the Russian armies, some of them were faced with a difficult moral choice: Whom should they be loyal to and serve - their ancestral homeland or their homeland (Russia)? As a result of the preferences given, the overwhelming minority of the nobility, as follows from the correspondence on the counterintelligence line, committed crimes that were qualified by the current Russian criminal legislation as treason. And, at the same time, due to the fact that none of the criminally prosecuted, first of all, Courland barons ended up in the dock, and the judicial authorities never passed a single guilty verdict, we cannot consider them criminals.

Demonstrative symbolization of national identity in the design of the Olympic ceremonial costume

The purpose of the article is to analyze the Olympic ceremonial costume of the XVIII Winter Olympic Games "Nagano-1998" and set the components demonstratively symbolizing the national identity in the design of clothing of the Olympic ceremonial costume. Methodology. Heuristic methods in art analysis were used to solve the set tasks, namely: visual observation; description; an attempt to establish components demonstratively symbolizing national identity in the design of Olympic ceremonial costume clothing; logical generalization of the obtained results. Scientific Novelty. According to the results of the art analysis of the Olympic ceremonial costume of foreign teams participating in the competitions (USA, China, Greece) of the XVIII Winter Olympic Games "Nagano-1998", one of the determinants of artistic and informational identification of the Olympic ceremonial costume was established for the first time and its components, which demonstratively symbolize a national identity in the design of clothing. Conclusions. Art analysis of the Olympic ceremonial costume, the reflection of socio-political influences of the historical context on its formality and informational compliance with the principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter [5, p. 11–12] competitions, give us reason to establish for the first time a demonstrative symbolization of the national identity of the design of clothing of the Olympic ceremonial costume as one of the determinants of artistic and informational identification. Given the ceremonial guidelines for identity in costume, which have been followed by all teams since 1936, the most important manifestation in this period (1998) is the semiotic accent in costume. Expression of their state independence, national identity, as well as the importance and identity of their culture at the turn of the era, with the help of such demonstratively symbolizing national identity in the design of Olympic ceremonial costume components, such as 1) Construction - the formation of the suit and the material used are tectonically displayed on the figures of athletes. By designing items of clothing, a visual image is built, which allows obtaining a silhouette identifying result; 2) Sign - stylization of the sign/signs is done by applying a pattern, graphic elements, combinations of graphic elements, embroidery, and possibly other creative innovative stylizations on clothes and accessories. Signs visually identify athletes, allow you to read the underlying meanings of the semantic information content of the costume; 3) Color – appealing to the colors of the national flag and reproducing with the help of color images of well-known objects of cultural heritage are the most popular methods of identifying the country during the Olympic parade. However, when choosing a color and its outflow, its compliance with the values in the host country and the prevailing trends overtime is taken into account. 3) Color – appealing to the colors of the national flag and reproducing with the help of color images of well-known cultural heritage sites are the most popular methods of identifying the country during the Olympic parade. However, when choosing a color and shade of color, its compliance with the values in the host country and the prevailing trends of the time is taken into account. It is worth noting that the visual image that translates national identity can be obtained by combining these components in the design, both together and separately, which was found during the art analysis of the Olympic ceremonial costumes of sports teams of the United States, China, and Greece. Key words: design, costume, Olympic ceremonial costume, identity, identification, symbolization, demonstration.

Anthems in the Arab world: A hybrid national symbol

AbstractThe national flag, anthem and emblem are the three symbols through which an independent country proclaims its identity and sovereignty. These symbols are universal signs of particularity. In spite of their symbolic significance, national anthems have not been the subject of widespread scholarship. This is particularly true with regard to the Arab world. The aim of this article is, therefore, threefold: first, to explore the historical, political and cultural sources of these anthems; second, to analyse the anthems' themes; and finally, to explore whether a commonality between the various Arab anthems can be found. The article advances three arguments: First, in contrast to the stability of anthems outside the Middle East, anthems in the Arab world underwent changes since independence, yet several countries retained their original anthems. The changes reflected the change of regime and/or historical narrative. Second, the consolidation of the territorial Arab state has also been reflected in the symbolic framework. And, finally, the Arab anthem is a hybrid symbol, amalgamating Western and Eastern cultural artefacts—Arab, Muslim or territorial.

A New Photogrammetric Inspection Method for National Flags with Pentagrams

A New Photogrammetric Inspection Method for National Flags with Pentagrams

Light Writing on the Lathi Raj: Bombay, 1930–31

This article explores the intersection between policing and photography in the course of the Civil Disobedience Movement in colonial Bombay in 1930–31 by focusing on historical photographs compiled in a recently discovered album. When the ‘disobedient’ men, women and children of Bombay repeatedly challenged the colonial state by breaking laws deemed unjust under the leadership of Mohandas K. Gandhi, they came into direct confrontation with the most visible expression of imperial authority: the cross-racial Bombay Police armed with the ubiquitous baton (lathi). While Indian historiography is particularly rich in its exploration of both exceptional and quotidian forms of colonial violence, the visual history of violent policing remains underexplored. Through our analysis of photographic images from two specific episodes of the disobedient drama that unfolded in Bombay in 1930 – the raids at the salt pans in Wadala in June, and the national flag salutation ceremony at the Esplanade in October – we explore the complex and conspicuous entanglement of race and gender in a moment of heightened anti-colonial action and police violence in British India. In underscoring the work of the camera in documenting the history of violent police action against non-violent civil demonstrators, we reveal its role as a historical actor and an active participant in history-making.

Flexible conditional discrimination learning: Pigeons can learn to select the correct comparison stimulus, reject the incorrect comparison, or both.

In a simultaneous discrimination, pigeons are presumed to learn to about the correct stimulus, but they may also learn to avoid the incorrect stimulus. Similarly, in a conditional discrimination, they are presumed to learn about the relation between the sample stimulus and the correct comparison stimulus but not about the incorrect comparison stimulus. In the present research, we encouraged pigeons to learn about the incorrect comparison stimulus by increasing, over trials, the number of correct comparison stimuli with one sample, to compare with increasing the number of incorrect comparison stimuli over trials with the other sample. In Experiment 1, using colors and shapes, we found no difference in acquisition between the 2 sample types. However, when we replaced either the correct or incorrect comparison from training with a novel stimulus, the pigeons showed that they had learned to avoid the incorrect comparison when there were multiple correct comparisons and to select the single correct comparison when there were multiple incorrect comparisons. In Experiment 2, using national flags as stimuli, when tested with a novel flag stimulus, once again, the pigeons learned about the single correct comparison but not about the multiple incorrect comparisons. However, with the other sample, they appeared to learn about both the multiple correct comparisons and about the single incorrect comparison. This research indicates that pigeons can show considerable flexibility in what they learn in a conditional discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Vietnamese Preferences for Fresh Korean Ginseng with Labels of Certification, Nationality, Private brands, and Shopping places

Fresh Korean ginseng needs more credibility in the Vietnam market since fresh ginseng imported from China is increasing, and the Vietnam government promotes its national Ngoc Linh ginseng brand. Therefore, this study determines factors of three shopping places (the department store, supermarket, and ginseng specialty store), the certification label of good agriculture products (Viet GAP), Korean nationality, and three famous private brands of CheongKwanJang, HanSamIn, and Geumhong affecting Vietnamese consumers fresh ginseng choices based on 897 respondents from Hanoi and Hochiminh City in January 2018. Conditional and random parameter logits are used to find differences in the independent assumptions relaxation among irrelevant alternatives. Hausman test for IIA assumptions holds for the choice of the department store, ginseng specialty store, and None. Overall results show that shopping places, the Korean national flag, and the existence of VietGap positively affect Vietnam consumers choices. However, none of the Korean private brands could significantly affect Vietnamese choice for fresh ginseng products. The shopping place of ginseng specialty stores gets the highest WTP, followed by supermarkets and department stores. Korean national flag also shows a high WTP, which is higher than Vietgap, a certificate from Vietnam agricultural products. Female consumers tend to pay more WTP than males. Hochiminh consumers are willing to pay more than Hanoi consumers on average. Of course, the high-income consumers tend to pay more WTP than the low-income group. However, the low-income groups still demand fresh ginseng at a significant price. Understanding different price effects by consumer groups seem helpful for small and medium enterprises to market their ginseng products into Vietnam by further considering the origin of Korean nationality.

Discourses on the Zimbabwe Schools National Pledge and the Religious Education Curriculum

There have been debates regarding the reciting of the National Pledge introduced in Zimbabwean schools on the 3rd of May 2016. Observations have been made that the National Pledge had a slant towards inculcating and a call to patriotism, total national commitment, respect to the departed and living war veterans, respect of the national flag and national consciousness and development. Yet civic organisations, Christians, human rights groups and mission-run schools allege that reciting the National Pledge is reminiscent of political propaganda. Christian critics and apologists claim that the National Pledge violates the constitutional rights of children to freedom of conscience and parental rights and Biblical teachings on oaths, vows and swearing. The current study established that there was a loud outcry from some parents, teachers and pupils over the recitation of the national pledge. The Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe subsequently ruled and took the recitation of the National Pledge as unconstitutional, four years after it was challenged in court by a parent soon after its introduction in schools. This motivated us to carry out a research to practically establish what people think about the National Pledge. This study used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. A sample of six school heads, six teachers, 90 students, 10 parents, two academics and the former Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Dokora, were used as participants in our research study. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and observations. Despite what we view as setbacks resulting from the court case won against the National Pledge recitation, we proposed what we think would be a neutral pledge that does not infringe on peoples’ religious faith and constitutional rights.

COVID-19 nationalism and the visual construction of sovereignty during China’s coronavirus crisis

This article explores how competing actors established, spread, and challenged visual representations of the Chinese nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. It asks: how do official gatekeepers of meaning in China imbue their visual construction of a crisis-hit nation with pathos?; and what happens when their critics utilize the resulting repertoire of visual cues for their own ends? To answer these questions, the article first examines the visual libraries of nationalism and national crisis from which Chinese propaganda drew during the COVID-19 outbreak. It then analyses the struggles that ensued over such representations, specifically the use of national flags and the sentiments they elicit. The analysis traces representations of the flag of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from an initial satirical portrayal in a Danish broadsheet to the angry Chinese backlashes that followed on social media, and it shows how the tensions over such portrayals became part of a meme war over the sovereignty of Hong Kong. The analysis shows how representations of the nation can become a matter of existential anxieties during a time of crisis, especially in highly networked communication environments where authoritative official actors and their supporters are no longer in control of the symbols they established as part of their ‘emotional governance’.