The Armenian Flag and Me

 

I came to Armenia from the United States with our flag of thirteen red and white stripes with fifty white stars on a field of dark blue.  The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colors and each star represents a current state. The colors have been explained to be mean red for valor, white for innocence and blue for justice.  At first there was a stripe added for each state, but it was decided in 1818 to maintain the thirteen stripes and only add stars for new states.  Many Americans do not know that the flag of the Star-Spangled Banner had fifteen stripes and fifteen stars.  It is sad that so many Americans do not know there are three verses to the national anthem. We could learn a little about purity of patriotism from the people I am meeting in Armenia.

The Armenian flag is so simple and beautiful.  A blue strip bound on top by a red stripe with an orange stripe (I have had it explained to me that the color is apricot) on the bottom.  I see it painted on rocks, on walls, in parks.  During their recent velvet revolution, Armenian people carried their flag as though it were the armor of the Knights of Arthur’s Roundtable.  I watched this revolution as people danced and sang while they shut their capitol down.  It seemed more of a celebration than a revolution.  The songs were anthems of pride in their country and the dances were traditional that everyone seemed to know.  I don’t know if they ever specifically sang their national anthem but the many songs in their national repertoire are about their love of their country and the pride of their heritage. The afternoon the revolution succeeded in its goal of having the former prime minister replaced by the current prime minister, people marched and sang and drove their cars honking horns.  The simple three-striped flag was omnipresent.

What is represented by each of the colors in their flag? I don’t know but I intend to find out in this wonderful journey I have begun in this magical land.  I would like to say what the colors represent to me as I have gotten to know the people  of Armenia and why I.

Red is for blood.  Blood has been spilled in many terrible conflicts. It has been wasted in a terrible genocidal attack at the turn of the twentieth century.  But it is not the sadness of wasted blood that bonds this red stripe to blood for me. Blood is what we call family where I come from because we share a genetic bond. The Armenian people share blood in their beliefs of who they are as a people all the way to their belief in their descendancy through the bloodline of Noah.  More telling is the bond of blood I see every day in these amazing people.  They are a country, a people, a giant family. A hapless stranger like myself dwells amongst them and they feed and shelter me as though I am a long lost relative. The prodigal son has returned.  The love of family is so overwhelming. This red stands not the blood for that was needlessly spilled but the blood of family that bonds this country as one people.

The blue represents to me the sacred sky and water.  I have sat and watched the sky with specks of clouds lit up by the sun.  The azure blue sky is like a backdrop curtain to make the essence of the purity of the Armenian people whom I have met stand out like the figures in a Michelangelo fresco.  The water that comes from the mountain springs bubbles up in drinking fountains in every city and town.  The people do not spoil their landscape with plastic bottles but share the water freely with each other as we Americans only would with family.  In Armenia, everyone is family through the water.

Lastly, there is the band of apricot.  The apricot is believed to have originated in these lands.  The Greeks and Romans took back seedlings of the apricot tree as spoils of war, as valuable as any gold or jewels because of the sweet and delicious fruit that grows from the tree.  The people of Armenia follow the harvest of the apricot fruits on the national news.  The successful harvest represents the love and pride the people have in their land.  It is their most sacred of fruits.

 My dear friends, Red, Blue and Apricot. Simple. Strong. Beautiful.  Thank you Armenia for being you.