Vexillology 101: My New Obsession w/ Flags
I've always loved flags and their symbolism. The bold colours. The art. The heraldry. The majesty of it all. Recently though, i have decided to become a much more serious Vexillologist. In case you were unaware, vexillology is the scientific and scholarly study of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags. The word comes from the Latin word vexillum (meaning a sort of flag or banner) and the Greek suffix -logia (meaning "study of"). So there you have it. A new word for your vocabulary. Or an old word. I don't want to assume either way. Anyhoo, with all that in mind, and while perusing the flags of the world in my latest obsession, i wanted to shout out one of the coolest flags around - the punk-esque flag of Amsterdam, the capital of The Kingdom of the Netherlands, aka Holland. Yeah, that's right. The place with all the tulips & windmills & klompen (the wooden shoes made famous by the Dutch traditions of Holland) has a flag that looks like it belongs on ...