Questions tagged [symbols]

Questions about the meaning of political symbols.

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Besides Jamaica, are there other countries where a "Labour" (or Workers' etc.) party is actually right-wing/conservative?

Wikipedia: The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social ...
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1 answer
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Did Gaddafi's choice to have a plain green flag for Libya result in any political consequences?

From 1977-2011, as every kid who ever looked at the flag page in those old dictionaries could tell you, Libya's official flag was a plain green field. My question is whether this unusual design had ...
Qwokker's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Who is the Kim Kun Ok that North Korea named their recent submarine after?

According to CNN The submarine, named “Hero Kim Kun Ok,” was launched to much fanfare at a ceremony attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, according to the state-run Korean Central ...
Fizz's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Why and where is Mohamed Bazoum sitting down in a small, round, cold room next to a portrait of (a young) John F. Kennedy? Is the event identifiable?

DW News' July 31, 2023 video Niger warns against foreign interference as pro-coup protests turn violent after 02:22 shows what I think is file footage of Niger president Mohamed Bazoum, and I find the ...
uhoh's user avatar
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0 answers
86 views

Why does the Latin letter Z represent the Russian military in the current conflict in Ukraine? [duplicate]

I do NOT repeat NOT mean to provoke any sort of political discussion with this question! I am simply trying to understand how the letter Z from the Latin alphabet has taken on its current meaning in ...
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5 votes
1 answer
286 views

Was there an official campaign button printed and circulated with the DeSantis name and the likenesses of both Ron DeSantis and Ronald Reagan?

The lead in to the PBS NewsHour full episode, June 16, 2023 includes ...plus we speak with Miami mayor Francis Suarez about why he's joining the already crowded field of republican presidential ...
uhoh's user avatar
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30 votes
6 answers
6k views

Why does a state have to have a single, well-defined, internationally-recognized "Capital"?

This is partly motivated by the question of whether or not Jerusalem is Israel's capital, but my question is broader. Why should a state have a single, well-defined "capital city"? Why does ...
q 010's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
125 views

Differences in hand positions when leaders are taking oaths to constitutions, what are the origins and symbolisms involved? [closed]

Recently China's leader Xi Jinping took the Constitutional oath of office of China. Five years ago his left hand was on a document (China's constitution?) and his right hand was raised, palm forward, ...
uhoh's user avatar
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26 votes
2 answers
7k views

How much of Hu Jintao's being escorted out was seen by Chinese at home? Was it live? Did they see it close up as seen internationally?

The BBC's October 22(?), 2022 Hu Jintao: The mysterious exit of China's former leader from party congress begins: There are a lot of questions and no answers so far from the Chinese government. ...
uhoh's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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What symbols from British Raj Era still exist in India

Recently the prime minister of India unveiled the new Ensign for the Indian Navy, in his recent address from Red fort on Independence day, prime minister Modi declared that India should be free of all ...
Anshul Sahni's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
7k views

Whose photos are carried by Vladimir Putin and those by his side in the May 9, 2022 Moscow Victory Day Parade and what are their significance?

After 04:13, CNN's May 10, 2022 video What exactly is Putin's 'doomsday plane'? shows footage of the Russian president and those by his side carrying small placards with black and white photographic ...
uhoh's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
118 views

What is the significance of the central pentagonal element of this war memorial?

These photos are of a war memorial in NY State, USA. The central feature is a large 5-pointed star which has a 'cenotaph' element that is also 5-sided: Larger photo of the whole thing: In situ: It ...
StayOnTarget's user avatar
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35 votes
4 answers
10k views

What is the meaning of the Z and V symbols being sported by the Russians in the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict?

There are these two symbols (Z & V) which are considered as Russian prowar symbols which are appearing on Russian Army vehicles and being worn by Russians supporting the war. There is some ...
ksinkar's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
306 views

Do/did former Soviet republic leaders generally attend the May Victory Day parade in Moscow?

It's been noted in a 2017 article that that year only Moldovan president Dodon attended the May Victory Day parade in Moscow: Dodon was also the only head of state from the former Soviet republics in ...
Fizz's user avatar
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51 votes
20 answers
12k views

Is there any other country in the world, besides the US, that erects monuments to those who took up arms against it and lost?

Richmond's mayor Levar Stoney was quoted as saying (in the context of the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee) Mr Northam called the statue "a monument to the Confederate insurrection". [.....
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5 votes
1 answer
265 views

What is the symbology of this pin?

I found this recently among old belongings and can't remember when or where I received it. Very curious about its source but more importantly its symbology. Sorry if this is the wrong place, there's ...
Brandan's user avatar
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-3 votes
3 answers
436 views

Why there isn't a symbol that represents Socialism?

While Communism has a very well known and used symbol (hammer and sickle), Socialism doesn't. Even though Communism and Socialism are somewhat similar they aren't the same, so why doesn't Socialism ...
frankpujo's user avatar
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-7 votes
1 answer
237 views

Why the candles in candlelight vigils? [closed]

Hundreds Gather At ‘Stop Asian Hate’ Candlelight Vigil In Alhambra In today's world it's surely easy to have illumination at night, so there should be no need for candlelight vigils when one could ...
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4 votes
1 answer
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Decoding certain customized annotations in political signage, do these symbols have any emerging specific connotations?

ABC News' GOP warns HR 1 could be 'absolutely devastating for Republicans' discusses several measures by different parties and at different levels to make voting easier or harder for some. The caption ...
uhoh's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
677 views

What is the function and significance of this "House Office Bldg. 6" token? Is there some special significance?

The last image in Business Insider's 12 Republicans voted against giving medals to Capitol police officers, 2 of whom died after the insurrection is that of US House of Representatives member John ...
uhoh's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the significance of the light blue "ribbon" style lapel pins worn by Cuomo and Schumer?

I saw this photo of NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both of them are wearing the same or similar lapel pins: There was no date given for the picture. The other people visible in the ...
StayOnTarget's user avatar
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41 votes
1 answer
9k views

What's the red, white and blue (with stars) banner that Trump was using on the stage in his election campaign?

During election campaign rallys, Trump was always on stages decorated with a red-white-blue-white-red banner with white stars on the blue part. I of course know that's the US colors and the stars are ...
Florian's user avatar
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12 votes
7 answers
9k views

Why don't national leaders wear their national costume more often?

Example: the national costume of Malaysia for men is the Baju Melayu. The current Malaysian Prime Minister is Muhyiddin Yassin. Googling for images of him, we find lots of photos of him in a suit and ...
Allure's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
853 views

Where do the democratic and republican matched animal logos come from?

The democrats are commonly represented by a donkey and the republicans by an elephant and there's many articles that will explain which cartoonist created the associations in the 1870s. What I haven't ...
Macha's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
315 views

What's the meaning of a golden border around an open letter in Canada?

Yesterday, a group of parliamentarians and former Canadian diplomats wrote a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging the release of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. The letter features the ...
Ryan Kavanagh's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
524 views

What is the deal with national birds across European countries?

Yesterday congress of Czech second-biggest political party ODS took place. On one of the vice-chairman positions were elected Alexandr Vondra. In his candidate speech, he mentioned that from all ...
TGar's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
2k views

Donkey as Democratic Party symbolic animal

How come the US Democratic Party is OK with being associated with a donkey? Couldn't they push for a more flattering animal? An elephant has stronger positive connotations. Couldn't they try to be ...
Pierre B's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why does Russia seem to praise USSR personalities almost three decades after the fall of communism?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on December 26, 1991, more than 26 years ago. However, communist personalities (symbols) are still displayed in many places: Body of Stalin was temporary ...
Alexei's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
1k views

What does this symbol (Turkish coat of arms) mean?

Can you tell me what the symbol below means? I would like to know more about it. Tell me everything about every one piece.
Ľubomír Masarovič's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
596 views

What is the significance of Macron's proposed status change to the European Flag, and what steps would be needed to make this a reality?

President Macron said he wants to officially recognize the status of flag of Europe (my translation). Does this mean that the flag has been decorative only up until now? What would officially ...
BigDataLouie's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is this lapel pin insignia Steve Bannon is wearing?

What organization is represented by this pin insignia? There appears to be three slightly different designs. It is worn by Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart editor and current trump advisor, during a ...
M.Mat's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
43k views

What is the significance of a black and white Union Jack?

Recently, I was in Levanto on the Italian coast between Genoa and La Spezia, when I noticed, flying above an apartment building, a Union Jack in which the red and blue sections had been replaced with ...
WS2's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
955 views

Who decides which US Flag design will be used when additional states are admitted?

In the question If Puerto Rico becomes the 51st U.S state, would the U.S flag be altered to include 51 stars?, it was pointed out that there have already been several proposed designs for a 51 Star US ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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35 votes
13 answers
15k views

Why is banning communism symbols so hard to achieve as opposed to banning of Nazi symbols?

NOTE: to narrow down the question, I will make the following narrowing: Nazi symbols: salute and the swastika used in clear connection to Nazi (i.e. not this one) Communist symbols: hammer and sickle ...
Alexei's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
5k views

What is this blue badge that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe likes to wear?

After seeing a picture on Donald Trump's Twitter featuring Shinzo Abe and then visiting the Wikipedia page about Shinzo Abe, I noticed in the two pictures he's wearing the same two badges on his suit ...
Pharap's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
3k views

What are the flags beside the US flag at Trump's inauguration day?

What are the flags beside the US flag at Trump's inauguration (marked by an arrow in the picture below)?
user 1's user avatar
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27 votes
2 answers
18k views

What is this symbol doing on Donald Trump's podium?

So, I noticed during the recent press conference that Donald Trump appears to have a symbol on his podium. It roughly looks like this symbol: In Britain, this is a common road sign, seen on one-way ...
AJFaraday's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Union Flag After Scottish Independence [closed]

If Scotland votes to break away from the United Kingdom, which seems more likely after the Brexit vote, what will happen to the Union flag? I don't think many people would like to see the lack of blue ...
D. Clayton's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
585 views

Has a British PM ever given a speech with the EU flag alongside the Union Jack?

It is common to see most other EU leaders give talks, speeches and conferences with their national flag proudly alongside the EU flag (Merkel, Rajoy, Hollande etc). This cannot be said for UK Prime ...
MyFamily's user avatar
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1 vote
4 answers
6k views

Is there a symbol for Democracy or Democratic Republic?

Is there a symbol or flag for Democracy or a Democratic Republic? This would be something general, not for a political party or country (unless the country happened to adopt a general symbol).
Paul's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
9k views

Did Hezbollah ever have a flag with a nuclear mushroom cloud on it?

In this video Salman Rushdie claims Hezbollah and Hamas was using mushroom clouds as their flag (1:31). Christopher Hitchens claims the Hezbollah's party symbol and flag was a mushroom cloud in Beirut ...
Evan Carroll's user avatar
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