Everybody welcome back to flag/fan Friday. I hope you liked the Myanmar episode
So as you know
this is the part where I either fix some of the mistakes that were in the video or I talk about stuff that didn't quite make
it into the video. we meant to say that there's over a thousand types of bird in Myanmar. Not just a hundred
Although technically we did get it right because there are over a hundred but still we should have said a thousand
And a lot of you guys said that you wanted us to mention this guy, former UN General Secretary U Thant
Who was the first non-European to hold the title
And funny thing is he actually was supposed to be in the video
but we had to cut it out because of timing and we're gonna use him as an example to show that in Myanmar people don't
Have last names or patroyms.
CUT FOOTAGE: Also, It is very common for people in Myanmar to lack surnames or patronyms
For example, the former secretary-general U Thant, his name is just Thant
the "U" is just a title for mister. So people are really calling him Mr. Thant
I also wanted to mention how this thing a mythical creature called a Chinthe
is also kind of like a symbolic image of Myanmar and also many other countries in Southeast Asia
You see it a lot on temples and like pagodas and statues all over the place even in the middle of the street
It's even on their money. I also kind of want to mention how they celebrate New Year's in Myanmar
I think we already mentioned in the Laos episode but basically
people splash each other with water to symbolize the end of the dry season
You see this all over Southeast Asia, though
So it's not just unique to Myanmar and there's probably a lot of other things we could have discussed
But if you want to mention anything just feel free to put it in the comments. Otherwise, we got to get to the flag
So without further ado
[Theme Music Plays]
It's not "My"anmar, it's "our"manmar
I love that joke. Sometimes I forget that this is an educational channel
Anyway, the flag.
The flag of Myanmar is a horizontal tricolor of yellow green and red with a white five pointed star in the middle
It's funny because it's basically the flag of Lithuania, but with a star and it uses the pan-African colors
even though obviously it's not an African country.
The star symbolizes the significance of a unified country the yellow stands for solidarity
the green stands for peace, tranquility and the lush green vegetation of the country, and the red stands for...
courage and determination
Yeah, sorry, no blood this time. Courage and determination now keep in mind
This flag was actually adopted in 2010 shortly before the democratic shift in politics prior to that
They used various iterations of the Union of Burma and Socialist Republic flags
back when the country was under a unitary political system
prior to that they had this flag for like two years prior to independence. Prior to that
They were under Japan, and prior to that, They were under British Burma
and prior to that. They're under British India
Historically, there are two major kingdoms and dynasties that have their own flags too
There's the Konbaung Kingdom that ended in the 19th century and the Hanthawaddy Kingdom
That ended in the 16th century. Interesting how they use the peacock in so many of their symbols
I mean it is their national bird, and speaking of symbols the national seal
Adopted in 2008 the image depicts a golden red seal with the map of Myanmar in the center surrounded by olive branches
Extending outward to Laurel branches and a five pointed star on top.
Below the seal guarded on either side are the mythical Chinthe creatures
Finally at the bottom lies a scroll written in Burmese reading "the Republic of the Union of Myanmar"
From the 70s all the way up to the late 2000s
They had this seal it had blue Chinthes on the side and a cogwheel to symbolize the Socialist Republic
that they were under.
Yeah. The cogwheel. You see that a lot in the socialist imagery
Before that, they used a black and white version right before independence and prior to that
They were pretty much under the Konbaung dynasty which used the peacock
as an image to represent their royal household
Yeah, chinthes, peacocks, a touch of gold and unity. That's Myanmar. All right, so that's just about it
Which means you know what time it is. Geogra-fan mail time!
Ah, all right. Let's do this before we start we gotta bring in some guest stars
You remember them from the Myanmar episode Jillian and Kaleb. Kaleb are you doing he's expecting?
postcards
This card shows some random shopping mall in the front you gotta love that Soviet charm here. We got the dream from Thailand
Let's see. We got Samuel who visited Zurich beautiful, Sydney Khalil
He says I hope you make it cook about Thailand and I hope you do it properly and carefully
but you're gonna have to help me with it gentleman or lady from
Sweden, how about that? We got a bird. All right, this is Hawaii from Kate. Oh, yes reckon I can
I'm totally nice Wow
Thank you, uh-huh, I didn't say you could need the dungeon
This is from a gentleman named Alfred and he's got a question for you. Can you guess where man ask is?
Well, I'm guessing since the postage stamp says republic francais. It's probably France. Come on. You got a height
You got to hide it better dude. Come on
Alright, so first letter is this is the first time we've gotten from this country the Central African Republic
Forced um, he draws the flags. My English is not good, but I love the show and my name is Phil stone
I am from the Central African Republic. Probably wrote in English. I mean, okay, actually, I'm
Foreseeable a way so I have a letter from Ronan and he is from Yorkshire, England
I hope you guys can have some pork pies and Yorkshire pudding
Yorkshire pudding is so good. Have you guys had Yorkshire pudding? I've seen a Yorkshire dog
There's still splendid blended dog
Let's not talk about what I do on Thursdays
So we've got Bruce who's from?
Chicago, both of his parents are from immigrants from Poland and in Poland
There's a vodka called Zubrowka which he tried to send you 750 milliliters of oh
I would totally drink that
my grandma says it is because the zubur
Urinate on the grass thus transferring its power to the grass and anyone who eats it I would definitely drink buffalo pee
Vodka, buffalo Peapod care, that's what I've been missing in my life. Alright, so, let's see. I have Luca from Slovenia here
He says that every January they host the ski jumping World
Championships and he sent a flag
Lavinia
Ken let's just go to Slovenia sometime I go we got a Rick do a geography be there Caleb you're invited to Gillian
I don't know if you got to earn your way, but let's see
Lucas from Williamsburg, Virginia. I hope this arrives in time for the Myanmar episode. Literally. This is the me on our flag Friday episode
So who you got it? Alright guys now, let's open packages. See this is from Joe and
Daria who adopted their daughter from Bulgaria
They actually when they went to Bulgaria, they had a little bit of a culture clash
It was really amazing to go there and they totally recommend visiting Bulgaria when I open this package
It smelled great because this happens every time we get something from Bulgaria. Everybody sends something made of roses
They they are the world's largest rose producer rose oil. Everything roses the Bulgarian flag
Sophia the cat
So okay this package
Is these really cool magnets from Sri Lanka, but there is no name or letter in here. So, thank you
whoever sits east from
Philip lives in Liverpool in the UK. He had a book published there holding it ride. That's really cool. I think your name is
Perhaps Burum and Karina he and his wife are American but they teach English in Afghanistan and they live there
With their two-year-old what they sent Afghani snacks that no
It's made out of chickpeas
Any Afghan home would be sure to be they would be sure to serve you these
with with some tea and an Afghani hat you look like a
Renaissance painter
Somehow works
Do I pass for an Afghani man
Actually the beard does make you pass. Do you have the beard the beard makes you pass as an Afghan, you know?
So I have a letter from Anton hos in Kazakhstan, and he sent
Several things I know what this is. This is one of the only few instruments. I know how to play
This is a jaw harp Oh, check it out. Check it out. You got to go like this. I
Love this I'm keeping this for sure. Yeah
Of time yes, yeah
Dude yes, cool. Yep
Solution tickly Dupree Marcel approve bellavita Falls
appreciate the video
Okay, so he sends a really old French coins before the euro was adopted they used french francs
Are you a letter Zain says that his parents were born in Egypt. So he's actually half Egyptian but he lives in California
Oh
Wait, but I love this more
Clearly let me try one of these
This is Javier from Cuba a set a shirt about Cuba's rum production Oh
Perfect for mr. Paul
Havana Club La Ronde Cuba. My dad is the first Cuban to be representing Cuba in a Piano Competition
What in Utah Oh in Utah, okay
So this is from Sarah from Malta and there's no letter but she left this little note and it says lots of twisties love
Twisty lands. Yeah, I think we know what this is
Pretty sure keith is gonna want some of these what do you guys want to have any of these?
Yes, she didn't specifically say this is for Keith. She said all she said was lots of twisty Keith's not here
It's his loss
All right
We got one more big package or as they say package Bob from Maine
He sends us a little souvenir from Maine
Stuff from the B and M factory they've been around for over a hundred years traditional New England style food
Rolling bread bread and a can so he said to toast this and put a generous portion of cream cheese on it
There's bread in there. Yeah, it's ready. I don't believe it. Okay, it's 99% fat-free
99% fat-free this is what it looks like. I didn't even
Literally bent the fork. Oh
Looks like a really bad. It's a turn. Yeah that was in a can
Cheers
It was in a can tastes like it tastes like four levels below gingerbready
Berry molasses II I am surprised though or impressed by how moist estate yeah
Being constantly urinated by Buffalo's. He also sent beans the state of
Maine I've never seen someone with more Maine pride than you so kudos to you man. Go Bob
All right guys, so that's just about it. Before we go you time it is it's time for return address contest
So basically Jillian would you do the honors just take a name from this bag that has all the return addresses?
Whoever wins will get a notebook and a button geography now. We ran out of the scratch-off map
So now we're gonna do merchandise. You can also get these at geography now calm if you would like
All right. What do we got Jillian? All right
So we have Santosh from Mauritius Mauritius, uh, our first Marissa winner. Yeah
Alright guys, so thank you so much for sending all this stuff. I love putting your hometowns in countries on display. Thank you guys
Hope you have a good one. You've just been flagged stay cool. Stay tuned