World flags are flying everywhere – the pair of Italian flags across the street reminds me that the World Cup is back on. The excitement that is 13 300 kilometres away is reflected here, with fans celebrating at local bars, watching games on their TVs, phones, and iPads (booo), and flooding Facebook and Twitter (haha fail whale) with cheers and what seems to be play-by-play commentary. All the excitement minus the vuvuzelas.
Now, let me say that I’m not a great soccer fan, so I’m not going to skim the Wikipedia page, run through a few news articles, and write an post about the World Cup pretending I know what I’m talking about. And no offence to fans, which I know include many/most of my friends. Football’s an amazing sport that has inspired nations, and its simplicity captivates audiences worldwide (understatement?). I suppose with a lack of a Canadian team, or even a Taiwanese team, to cheer for, I’ve simply been more quiet than usual when it comes to the World Cup.
But I do have some vivid memories of the previous two competitions. In 2002, the World Cup Final took place on the last day of the annual Taiwanese Canadian Association Conference, hosted by Montreal that year. My family decided to spend the night in Montreal to tour around the city and experience the night life. Night life that day turned out to be streets packed with fans parading with Brazilian flags. To be honest, that’s pretty much all I remember from that night (I was ten years old at the time.) Car horns honking and just a huge mass of football fans sporting green and gold, waving flags with the stars of the Southern Hemisphere.
2006 was not as eventful. I do remember watching parts of games here and there, and clips of Zidane’s headbutt looped almost endlessly on TV. Kinda like what the Conservatives did with that image of Dion.
hmmmm yep, these are the ones.
But with quite a few Italian fans in the neighbourhood, celebration did “break out” when Italy won the final through the penalty shootout. I do remember a half-naked guy running around the greenbelt behind our row of houses holding high the tricolour flag of red, white, and green, screaming at the top of his lungs.
The top Google Images result for “half-naked guy running around holding the Italian flag screaming at the top of his lungs” wasn’t as descriptive as I had hoped. *(note, for comparison's sake, Bing didn't get any hits. I guess some things just aren't meant for the internet)
Well, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is now here, and I will be following the games as time permits. Though granted, with RMR, 22 Minutes, the Simpsons, Glee, and the Big Bang Theory all on summer break, all that's left for me to watch other than soccer is Jeopardy. Yay Jeopardy!
But the World Cup is more than a competition or a sport. It is a global event, and just like the World Expo, countries are trying to put out their best displays - for soccer, it's all about skill, speed, and endurance. What I love about these sporting events is that you get a glimpse of the whole world, and from the viewpoint of the country, the whole world gets a glimpse of you. Your players. Your team. Your colours. And your flag.
A country doesn't always have a host of symbols. Sure, in Canada we have the beaver, the Mounties, the Canada Goose, the loon, hockey - but to billions of people worldwide, when they think Canada, they picture our maple leaf. For us, especially with the countries that we almost never hear about, their flag is arguably our best visual association with the country.
Ghana's win against Serbia was the first African nation to win a game at the 2010 World Cup. Their team is also referred to as the "Black Stars". With just a little investigation, you'll learn that the black star represents the "lodestar", a bright reference star in the night sky that helps in navigation, which also symbolizes African freedom. Just a bit more research will give you more details to what each colour means, as well as the history of the flag.
Flags are a great way to learn more about a country - nations can represent their histories, governments, symbols, geography, resources - all on that piece of fabric. And so much goes into making up a flag (Canada's was no exception) - what dimensions? what colours? what shade of red? what symbols? too political? does it look good waving in the wind?
Next time, when you're watching the World Cup, or any event, and you happen to see a country you're unfamiliar with, take a step beyond simply watching the game - look into the history behind the flag and find out why that awesome player is wearing those colours and symbols. Hopefully you'll learn something new. And you'll never know when such knowledge we'll come in handy. Well, that's what I'm betting on.
Oh, and same goes with our flag too. I think that Flag Day in Canada should be a National Holiday. When is it? Well, that just proves my point.
Oh, and just saying. I'm cheering on Argentina!
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