a malaysian abroad

With all eyes on the USA for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America, what better time to wrap up my overview of the three countries that form the foundation of this blog?  Malaysia was a breeze. A week later, Switzerland proved to be more of a challenge, because she doesn’t (officially) have the national symbols I had chosen for the task.

And now, it’s America’s turn. In a way, the challenge faced is opposite of last week’s: for every one national symbol there are probably fifty corresponding state symbols. The variety is amazing. However, to keep me sane, I decided to stick to my original intent and focus on the national symbols of the USA.

First, there’s Old Glory.

source: wikipedia

The fifty stars of course represent the fifty states of the country.  From the original thirteen, the number of stars has increased as more and more states joined in.

Unlike the Malaysian flag that has an equal number of red and white stripes, the American flag has thirteen stripes of red and white, resulting in the topmost and bottommost stripes being red. These stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled and declared independence from the British Empire.

Betsy Ross is popularly credited for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch provided by George Washington himself, although it seems that no evidence for this theory exists beyond Ross’ descendants’ much later recollections of what she told her family. The descendants of Rebecca Young, whose daughter Mary is credited for sewing the 1813 Star Spangled Banner Flag, also claim this distinction. Without proof, however, the origins will remain unknown.

rose Originally uploaded by mell242

From the flag, let’s look at the national flower.

Surprisingly, it was only in 1986 that Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make the rose the floral emblem of the United States.  Every state of course has its own floral emblem - you can find the list here.

Did you know that Tyler, Texas is nicknamed the Rose Capital of America? About 20% of commercial rose bushes produced in the U.S. are grown in Tyler and Smith County and more than half of the rose bushes are packaged and shipped from the area. It boasts the nation’s largest municipal rose garden and hosts the Texas Rose Festival each October, which draws more than 100,000 spectators. (source)

Who doesn’t know the Bald Eagle as the animal symbol the USA? It is one of the country’s most recognizable symbols, and appears on most of its official seals, including the Seal of the President of the United States.

American Bald Eagle by bigkidslovetoys - 5,000 New Friends!

The Bald Eagle is an important animal in Native American traditions. Since they fly so high, eagles are considered messengers between men and the gods. Eagle feathers and claws are often used in ritual dances and are incorporated into costumes.

Funnily enough, back in 1784 Benjamin Franklin criticized the choice of the bald eagle as a symbol of the United States, finding the bird of bad moral character, lazy and a coward, instead suggesting the Wild Turkey as a better choice. (source) Thankfully, the eagle remained as the national symbol. Can you imagine associating the USA with a turkey? Well, apart from Dubya, anyway.

And whaddaya know, this brings us right back to the new President who should be sworn in within a few hours of my publishing this post. I look forward to this historic-in-so-many-ways event, and have a lot of hope for the future of this country. Lead on, Mr Obama; lead on.

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