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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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