I am a big fan of American musician and singer Jason Mraz. While listening to a playlist with most of his songs in it, I noticed a song that mentioned
Gibraltar. From then on, I was wondering and got curious about this place. I didn't even know this country existed in the first place.
Gibraltar is actually a British Overseas Territory. It got its name from the Arabic name "Jabal Tariq" that means 'mountain of Tariq'. This symbolizes the geological formation called the "Rock of Gibraltar" which later was named after Gen. Tariq ibn-Ziyad who was the leader of the first incursion into Iberia in advance of the main Moorish force in 711. Presently,
Gibraltar is famously known as Gib or the Rock.
Gibraltar enjoys subtle winters and warm summers being in the Mediterranean. The country's prevailing winds come from the Sahara in Africa resulting to a balance of both humid weather and warmer ocean with the refreshing air and cooler sea.
Looking at its flag, one may notice that there is no British Ensign or the small British flag on the upper left, also known as the Union Jack. Take for example the flag of Australia; since the country was originally British Territory before, they have the Union Jack on the upper left of their flag.
The white part of the flag means peace and honesty with the red bottom half means strength, bravery and honor. The Castle represents the Fortress of Gibraltar, although there are no actual castles that looks like that on the island. Then, there's the golden key which symbolizes significance. So it's a pretty important place considering it has historically been an important base for the British Armed forces and Royal Navy.
So now, after I knew that a country by the name of Gibraltar exists and that I have described its flag, I realized it wasn't really as uninteresting as I expected it to be.
by:
The Flagman
