The flag of Singapore was first adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It was reconfirmed as the national flag when the Republic gained independence on 9 August 1965. The design is a horizontal bicolour of red above white, placed in the canton by a white crescent moon facing a pentagon of five small white five-pointed stars. The elements of the flag denote a young nation on the ascendant, universal brotherhood and equality, and national ideals. Vessels at sea do not use the national flag as an ensign. Merchant vessels and pleasure craft fly a civil ensign of red charged in white with a variant of the crescent and stars emblem in the centre. Non-military government vessels such as coast guard ships fly a state ensign of blue with the national flag in the canton, charged with an eight-pointed red and white compass rose in the lower fly. Naval warships fly a naval ensign similar to the state ensign, but in white with a red compass rose emblem. Rules defined by the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Act govern the use and display of the national flag.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Singapore

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1173:

The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become the Leaning Tower of Pisa , began. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

1483:

The first mass in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City was celebrated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel

1945:

World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb named "Fat Man", devastating Nagasaki, Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man

1969:

Followers of cult leader Charles Manson murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in her home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Tate

1974:

The Watergate scandal: Richard Nixon became the first (and to date only) President of the United States to resign from office. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

1988:

Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, leading to the popularization of the sport in California, but also upsetting so many Canadians that some even considered him a "traitor" to his home country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

vomer (n): The vomer bone; the small thin bone that forms part of the septum between the nostrils http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vomer

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

For me there are no answers, only questions, and I am grateful that the questions go on and on. I don't look for an answer, because I don't think there is one. I'm very glad to be the bearer of a question. --P. L. Travers http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers