How often do you drink coffee? In most instances, one cup to start your day in the morning, then coffee break at ten, another cup right after lunch, then one more cup at three, then probably a steaming hot coffee before you hit the sack. If you can't live without coffee, then blame it on the people of Yemen who invented the drink in the 11th century.
But, if you happen to love coffee, thanks to Yemen (southwestern Arabia) a major center for the early spread of Islam, and at the crossroads of trade from the Orient, Africa to the Mediterranean. As much as 3,000tons of frankincense was borne by camel caravans annually to Greece and Rome, during Christ's time through the biblical queen city of Sheba.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Yemen was subdivided into North and South Yemen, later to become the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in the 70's. Then followed years of conflict spurred by ideological differences, since the north is pro-Western while the south has Marxist leanings and pro-Soviet.
However in May 1990, world events somehow tamed striking ideological barriers and the two nations merged. The merger was not met with cordial handshakes, but by several weeks of civil war in 1994.
Out of this union, a new
Yemen National Flag emerged. The flag was adopted on May 22, 1990, the day the two Yemen's unified. It copied the pattern of the Pan-Arab colors, consisting of equal horizontal bands of red, white, and black, similar in context to the flags of Egypt, Syria and Iraq.
The colors symbolize bloodshed of martyr's for red; a bright future for white; and the dark past for black.
by:
The Flagman
