The flag of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (or flag of the CPLP) represents the intergovernmental organization for friendship among Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nations where Portuguese is an official language. The Portuguese language countries are home to more than 223 million people located across the globe. The CPLP nations have a combined area of about 10,772,000 square kilometres (4,159,000 sq mi). The CPLP was formed in 1996 with seven countries: Portugal, Brazil, a former colony in South America, and five former colonies in Africa — Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. East Timor joined the community in 2002 after regaining independence from Indonesia. Senegal, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius are associate members.
The flag symbolises the Portuguese-speaking countries' union: having a blue circle, divided into eight equal wavy shapes (the numbers of members of the CPLP) representing the sea (primary bond between the Community), at the center of a white field, in the center of which a small concentrical blue circle was placed representing the union.
Famous quotes containing the words flag of, flag, community, language and/or countries:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“—Here, the flag snaps in the glare and silence
Of the unbroken ice. I stand here,
The dogs bark, my beard is black, and I stare
At the North Pole. . .
And now what? Why, go back.
Turn as I please, my step is to the south.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)
“Commitment, by its nature, frees us from ourselves and, while it stands us in opposition to some, it joins us with others similarly committed. Commitment moves us from the mirror trap of the self absorbed with the self to the freedom of a community of shared values.”
—Michael Lewis (late 20th century)
“The “sayings” of a community, its proverbs, are its characteristic comment upon life; they imply its history, suggest its attitude toward the world and its way of accepting life. Such an idiom makes the finest language any writer can have; and he can never get it with a notebook. He himself must be able to think and feel in that speech—it is a gift from heart to heart.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“Other countries drink to get drunk, and this is accepted by everyone; in France, drunkenness is a consequence, never an intention. A drink is felt as the spinning out of a pleasure, not as the necessary cause of an effect which is sought: wine is not only a philtre, it is also the leisurely act of drinking.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)