The yellow, blue and red...what they really mean

platano says on Oct 8, 2005, 09:19:

Un pais tan bello como Colombia merece una bandera de los colores de pelo, ojos y labios de una mujer bella!

A country as beautiful as Colombia deserves a flag with the colors of the hair, eyes, and lips of a beautiful woman!

Thanks for sharing this story Lucia Rojas!

As you say...Chevere!

Plátano X
Oxigeno Verde ¡Libertad por Ingrid y los demás!

plátano

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 10:42:

very nice story.. I wonder if it's true.
Sounds a bit like the beginning a traditional fairy-tale Snow White...hair black as ebony, eyes blue like the clearest sky, skin white as snow, mouth as red a drop of blood that fell to the queen's embroidery as she pinched herself with the needle...and she called her daughter Snow White.

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 12:03:

Sarah Andrews did. indeed, exist and according to many sources, she was Miranda's housekeeper and common-law wife. They had two sons, Leandro and Francisco and she never left London. There's very little I could find out about her, not even a picture to confirm the attributes that supposedly contributed to the colors of the flag. Of course, a painting of her would be much better because I don't think color photography had been invented yet:)

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 12:13:

And a BBC website describes Miranda as a world-class philanderer.



If I was a cheating Ven/Col husband, I wonder if that would mitigate the damages with my wife. Hehe.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 12:33:

I've browsing several sites on Miranda and he seems to have been a very busy guy. He's coined as being the "Precursor" to the Liberator, I wonder if he was also the precursor to the term "latin lover". He's rumoured to have had an affair with Catherine of Russia also...

Sooooo...the Colombian flag proudly exhibits the colours of the Northern European woman, so admired by latin men:)))

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Lucia Rojas says on Oct 8, 2005, 14:09:

Yes desi The colours of northen european women.... I think its very cool. More than the fact of them being the colours of the conquerors.. they were the coulours of his love. Since she never travelled with him.. maybe he figured he would always remember the mother of his children this way... in the flag she was sort of travelling with him.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 14:15:

yes, Lucia I've been reading a bit about Miranda and it kind of fits the picture. He was a very charismatic man and had many lovers in different countries, yet he made a testament in favor of Sarah Andrews, his housekeeper and the mother of his children. I wonder what kind of lives and destinies did his children have. What's your source?
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

caslug says on Oct 8, 2005, 15:04:

I like the COL school version..sounds patriotic! As for Miranda's version, sounds like what a smooth-talking guy would say to get a chica in bed! Wow, so the smooth-talking COL guy repuation started with him! LOL! Our maybe BOTH version was true, he told the patriotic version to get the mass excited and told the "romantic" version to his english GF. Guy's do double talk like that all the time, tell one version of a story for the public and another for their girl.

PS. DOes anyone know what your countries flag colour means? I dont recall(or maybe forgot) learning what red, white, & blue means for americans. i know what the stars(number of states) and stripes IRC, the 13 stripes representthe orignal 13 colonies.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

caslug says on Oct 8, 2005, 15:12:

Speaking of smooth talking miranda.. I can imagine him using different lines for differnet gals as he seduces'em.

"i will make a flag for you my love(any/all girl)..
it will have 3 colors..
yellow for you have a heart of gold..
blue the color of ocean that draws me back to you..
and red, the passion i feel for you..

now shall we retire to my quarters to for some port and talk further.."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

poco says on Oct 8, 2005, 15:18:

Flag Waving
While interesting,, one story is romantic and false and the other,, close except for the Spanish and Surrounded by oceans (kids song) portion.

There is another totally different theoretical interpretation that seems more logical than the kids song. But, if you learnt it in school,,,

Flag explained No. 1

Flag explained No. 2

My kind of Flag

I do have the romantic version photo but it might be a little risqué.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Oct 8, 2005, 16:41:

The Canadian flag white for snow
red for the Liberal Party
:)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Rubiazo says on Oct 8, 2005, 16:42:

Oh yeah and that's not really a MAPLE leaf (wink wink)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 8, 2005, 17:51:

la última Miranda met a Swedish girl of 18. Katharina Hall, in the port town of Goethenburg, Sweden before Sarah and according to some it's her that inspired him with the colors of her hair, eyes and lips. Miranda wrote a diary and recorded in it every woman he slept with, even the maids.

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

caslug says on Oct 8, 2005, 18:07:

So how old was Miranda by that time? Was he fat and bald when he met the 18 yr old swed? SOme guys use money and gift to get a girl into bed, give it to Miranda to use his national flag! LOL! If it's true i doubt he would tell THAT story to his COL soldiers.

Too bad they didn't have digital camera and internet back then. Otherwise, Miranda would have just post fotos of all his gals after buying them dinner, and get his dessert later!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Saltador says on Oct 8, 2005, 22:16:

Another source says: The colors are said to symbolise golden America separated from bloody Spain by the blue sea.
A lot more likely if you think about it...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 9, 2005, 04:12:

after having read pages and pages about Miranda and the infos provided in the links posted above I would probably go back to point zero and keep on teaching the kids about the gold (stolen by the gringo companies), the blue of the two oceans and the blood of the patriots.

The truth is hidden in the mists of time. My sabelotodo Colombian friends in the University of Stockholm and in Texas have been very helpful providing angles to consider in this matter and factual information.

Miranda had a lot of blond girlfriends in Europe. (He was 35 at the time). Most of them very fast. Sarah was the only one he lived with and had children with. Miranda was also impressed by some military uniforms in Hamburg, Germany, in these three primary colors. The yellow and the red are the Spanish heraldic colors. Adding a blue field in the middle would symbolize separation from Spain.

Miranda had two passions in life: politics and women. Politics came first. What he may or may have thought when designing the flag and choosing the colors for it is something we'll never know.

I like the separation by water from Spain theme best.

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Saltador says on Oct 9, 2005, 06:15:

Also more logical... ...if you remember one key thing. The yellow in the flag is larger and more dominant ( first and on top of the flag).
This makes sense if it symbolizes the "golden America" which is better and more important than spain.
It makes no sense in the wife theory, why would her golden hair be more important than her blue eyes?
And think back to that point in time. When he first presented this as a flag, surely someone would ask why he used those colors. They wouldn't just blindly accept that design, without it representing something they could also believe in.
Now, I must admit I'm no expert on the history of Colombia. But I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

poco says on Oct 9, 2005, 12:07:

Teaching children keep on teaching the kids about the gold (stolen by the gringo companies)
and factual information

Non sequitur statements but not surprising they would be stated.

I’d teach them that Gran Colombia was named in honor of the admiration held by Miranda for Christopher Columbus,, then again, a little truth might confuse them.

Maybe try this

Wearing the Flag Colors

PS: Avoid kissing one at this particular time.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Monpirri says on Oct 12, 2005, 11:30:

Poco I would like to post again this thread http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/13773#comment because I would like to have the link, it is a very awesome website about Colombia, accessible immediately just by clicking on it as the links you have posted here.
Would you let me know and please send instructions via PM.

Thank you,
Monpirri

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

0 funny, 0 helpful.

kat1 (Moderator) says on Oct 12, 2005, 12:09:

amarillo, azul y rojo los colores del piojo jjeje

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juanalejo says on Oct 12, 2005, 15:57:

Flag My understanding of the history of the flag was that Miranda was a big admirer of Columbus and he had adopted both the colors of the Columbus personal flag and name for the newly independent country. Long time since I studied history but if my memory is not that bad I even think Gran Colombia is a name given to the union of the three countries after they separated so to differentiate it with the Colombia as we know it, but the name of the union was also just Colombia. I will take a look at my history books and confirm all this.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

cam0940 says on Nov 6, 2005, 01:09:

Taking Desi's research into account, I bet Miranda WAS indeed inspired by a woman. Historians regularly try to romanticize issues/decisions that were originally quite trivial. It makes perfect sense that later on, when trying to explain the flag, someone came up with "valor, equality, etc" to legitimize the process, when in fact there may have been no process at all. Just the influence of a lover. The kid's song is just something easy for kids to remember, plus it sounds good, but loses meaning when we move next door to Venezuela. Many decisions in history weren't profound meditations where someone (in this case, Miranda) came up with some intellectual reason to choose these colors. Much of history was an accident or some trivial issue that was later blown out of proportion/romanticized. None of us should be surprised at what people will cover up for the sake "sounding decent" in recorded history.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Cockney Colombian says on Nov 8, 2005, 04:41:

No two oceans? Presumably the flag was originally concieved as the flag for Gran Colombia? In which case Ecuador and Veneuzuala would still have been part of a country that had two oceans on its borders.

0 funny, 0 helpful.