THE FLAGS OF EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA 



728. The flag of Abyssinia consists of three 

 horizontal stripes, the uppermost green, the 

 middle yellow, and the bottom red. This ban- 

 ner flies over that part of Africa which was 

 known in Bible times as Ethiopia. It is the 

 emblem of authority of a government which 

 has been called a sort of feudal monarchy. 

 The Emperor's title is "King of Kings." Cer- 

 tain parts of the country are ruled by princes, 

 some of them appointed by the Emperor and 

 others self-constituted. Some of these princes 

 have retinues of supporters who are perpetual 

 warriors and whose usefulness lasts as long as 

 there are any insubordinate tribes to pacify. 

 The Abyssinian army, numbering about 150,000, 

 is largely composed of cavalry and is well 

 adapted for swift movement, as it is not in- 

 cumbered by any commissariat, its maintenance 

 being obtained from the inhabitants of regions 

 through which it passes. 



729. The flag of Albania has a red field, 

 upon which is imposed a black double-headed 

 spread eagle. This flag dates from 1913, in 

 which year a council of six members, chosen 

 by the powers of Europe, set up the principal- 

 ity as an offset to Serbia's desire to possess a 

 port on the Adriatic Sea. Austria resented 

 Serbia's designs on the ground that the small 

 nation would cut off the dual monarchy from 

 an outlet to the Mediterranean in a way as 

 prejudicial to her interests as the closed Dar- 

 danelles were prejudicial to the interests of 

 Russia. 



730. The coat-of-arms of Andorra, one of 

 the four vest-pocket nations of the world, has 

 a quartered shield bearing thereon the episco- 

 pal miter, the crozier of Urgel, the red and 

 yellow pales of Aragon, and two belled cows. 

 Andorra is under the joint sovereignty of 

 France and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel. It 

 is governed by a council of twenty-four mem- 

 bers elected for four years by the heads of 

 families in each parish. The council elects a 

 first and second syndic to preside; the execu- 

 tive power is vested in the first syndic, while 

 the judicial power is exercised by a civil judge 

 and two magistrates. France and the Bishop 

 of Urgel each appoint a magistrate and a civil 

 judge alternately. The permanent delegate of 

 the prefect of the Pyrenees-Orientales has 

 charge of the interests of France in the re- 

 public. 



731. A century ago Napoleon declared, "I 

 recall a miniature republic lost in a corner of 

 the Pyrenees." Today the hero, the conqueror, 

 and the soldier, merely a handful of dust, is 

 often recalled by Andorra. But in its mild- 

 ness, its weakness, its isolation, the republic 

 has found strength, and its colors float upon 

 the breeze as independent as they were a cen- 

 tury ago, when they waved over an island of 

 peace in the great sea of human carnage dur- 

 ing the Napoleonic wars. For nearly six cen- 

 turies it has been thus. The war between 

 France and England, begun at Crecy and Poi- 



tiers, did not move the tiny country. Queen 

 Isabella and Ferdinand left it unmolested. 

 Charles V, dreaming dreams of empire as great 

 as those of Charlemagne, did not crush it upon 

 his way to the Netherlands or to Italy. Philip 

 II, weaving his web of expanding power 

 around so many principalities, cast no entang- 

 ling thread about it. Cynical Louis XI did 

 not deign to harm it, and Louis XIV, although 

 he ordered that there should be no more Pyre- 

 nees, left it undisturbed. It was a spectator of 

 the Carlist War in Spain in 1833 and of the 

 contest between France and Germany in 1870. 



732. Built upon a rampart of rocks and hid- 

 den upon the southern slope of the Pyrenees, 

 liberty has found a home in Andorra for a 

 thousand years. Appreciating the services ren- 

 dered by the Andorrans in his campaign 

 against the Moors, Charlemagne gave them a 

 charter of freedom and permitted them to gov- 

 ern themselves. Louis the Pious confirmed 

 these rights, and from that day to this the tiny 

 country has been self-governed under its own 

 code of laws. The Spanish Bishop of Urgel 

 holds spiritual supremacy and looks after edu- 

 cational matters and religious instruction 

 France exerts a temporal influence by appoint- 

 ing the provost from the department of Ariege 

 to control the military activities of the repub- 

 lic. The blue, yellow, and red flag of Andorra, 

 with its coronet in the center, is the youngest 

 thing in the nation. It is only fifty years old, 

 having originated in the reform of 1866 to 

 emphasize the autonomy of the valley; but 

 neither of the co-suzerains has approved it. 

 It is displayed when the council is in session. 



733. The flag of the Chinese army has a 

 red field upon which is centered a black star 

 bearing eight yellow points, with nine yellow 

 disks on the body of the star. This is the flag 

 of the republic and is entirely different from 

 the one flown by the Chinese armies in the 

 past. 



734. The royal standard of Belgium con- 

 sists of three vertical bars — black, yellow, and 

 red — with black next the staff. The national 

 arms are imposed upon the middle or yellow 

 bar. These arms consist of a golden lion on 

 a black ground. Its tongue and jaws are red. 

 The shield is ensigned with the royal crown of 

 Belgium and the supporters are two golden 

 lions. The motto of Belgium is "L'Union fait 

 la force" (Union makes strength). The black, 

 yellow, and red of the Belgian flag are the 

 colors of the Duchy of Brabant, and were 

 adopted in 1831, when the monarchy was 

 founded. 



735. Belgium's merchant flag is a duplicate 

 of the royal standard, except that the coat-of- 

 arms is omitted. 



736. The flag of the Chinese navy under the 

 republic is red, with a blue canton in the upper 

 corner next the staff, upon which is a large 

 white sun with ravs emanating in the form of 

 small triangles. This flag succeeds the one in 



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