Recalling the past event, it started after the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty which grants control of the Panama Canal Zone to the U.S. The Canal Zone became a U.S. territory.

In January 1963, President John F. Kennedy assented to fly Panama flag along the non-military sites in Canal Zone where U.S. flag was flown. But unfortunately this order was not carried until the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  The Panama governor at that time issued a decree limiting this order. The U.S. flag would no longer be flown outside Canal Zone schools, police stations, post offices or other civilian locations where it had been flown, but Panama’s flag would not be flown either.

As a result of that said action it angered the Zonians because they interpreted it as if a renunciation of sovereignty over the Canal Zone. As a response, they began demonstrating with the U.S. flag, the students of Balboa High School (a US school at that time) raised a U.S. flag in front of the institution. But their first raise was a failure; it was taken down by schools officials. They didn’t stop; the students raised another flag and posted guards to prevent its removal.

The crises arise when Panamanians responded to the flag raisings made by the Zonians. The Panamian students of Instituto Nacional marched in to the Canal Zone with their own Panama school flag. They wanted to fly a Panamian flag next to the U.S. flag flown at the Balboa High School. They figured out, if the US flag could be flown, why couldn’t the Panamanian flag be flown as well? The Panamian students were met by the Canal Zone police, Zonian students and adults. Half of them were allowed to approach the flag pole, while the police kept the others back.

The clutch between the two parties began when the Zonians approached the group of Panamian students while singing the U.S. national anthem and as a result, the Panama flag was torn.

When Panamanian protesters stormed the Zone, police began tear gassing them which escalated the situation until police responded by opening fire. The riot lasted for 2 days and left a bloody incident which took of at least 21 Panamian and 4 U.S. soldiers.

The January 9, 1964 incident provokes a significant change in Panama for the eventual signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaty which dissolved the Canal Zone and lead to control of the canal being handed back to the Panamanians.

Let us not forget the day of the heroes, The Martyr’s Day.  A special day we make sure to remember and an inspiration of patriotism.

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Dear Land of Guyana, of Rivers and Plains is the national anthem of Guyana. Selected a month before independence in 1966, the lyrics were written by Archibald Leonard Luker and the music was composed by Robert Cyril Gladstone Potter.

Lyrics

Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains;
Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains,
Set gem-like and fair, between mountains and sea,
Your children salute you, dear land of the free.
Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,
Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore.
This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,
All sons of one Mother, Guyana the free.
Great land of Guyana, diverse though our strains,
We’re born of their sacrifice, heirs of their pains,
And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,
One land of six peoples, united and free.
Dear land of Guyana, to you will we give,
Our homage, our service, each day that we live;
God guard you, great Mother, and make us to be
More worthy our heritage, land of the free….

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The Coat of Arms of Guyana

Guyana’s coat of arms was accepted on 25 February 1966 by the Parliament, after Queen Elizabeth II introduced it on 21 January of the same year.

It includes a crest of an Amerindian head-dress symbolizing the indigenous people of the country; two diamonds at the sides of the head-dress representing mining industry; a helmet (monarchial insignia); two jaguars as supporters holding a pick axe, sugar cane, and a stalk of rice (symbolizing Guyana’s sugar and rice industries); a shield decorated with the Victoria regia lily, Guyana’s national flower; three blue wavy lines representing the three main rivers of Guyana; and the national bird, the Canje Pheasant. The state motto appears on the scroll below the shield.

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The Flag of Guyana

The flag of Guyana, known as The Golden Arrowhead, was adopted in 1966. It was designed by Dr. Whitney Smith, a prominent American vexillologist (though originally without the black and white fimbriations, which were added by the College of Arms in the United Kingdom). The colors are symbolic: green for agriculture and forests, white for rivers and water, gold for mineral wealth, black for endurance, and red for zeal and dynamism.

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The national anthem of Guatemala was written by José Joaquín Palma (1844–1911) and composed by Rafael Álvarez Ovalle. The anthem was adopted in 1896 as the winning entry in a competition held by the government. The lyrics were modified slightly in 1934 by Professor Jose Maria Bonilla Ruano, a Spanish grammar scholar. Some verses were softened in their bloody context while others were enhanced in their poetic beauty.

The anthem is often erroneously “titled” Guatemala Feliz! from its opening lyrics, but the anthem has no official name and is only referred to in the country as Himno Nacional.

Spanish lyrics

¡Guatemala feliz…! que tus aras
no profane jamás el verdugo;
ni haya esclavos que laman el yugo
ni tiranos que escupan tu faz.

Si mañana tu suelo sagrado
lo amenaza invasión extranjera,
libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
a vencer o a morir llamará.

[Coro]
Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
a vencer o a morir llamará;
que tu pueblo con ánima fiera
antes muerto que esclavo será.

De tus viejas y duras cadenas
tu forjaste con mano iracunda
el arado que el suelo fecunda
y la espada que salva el honor.

Nuestros padres lucharon un día
encendidos en patrio ardimiento
y lograron sin choque sangriento
colocarte en un trono de amor.

[Coro]
Y lograron sin choque sangriento
colocarte en un trono de amor,
que de Patria, en enérgico acento,
dieron vida al ideal redentor.

Es tu enseña pedazo de cielo
en que prende una nube su albura,
y ¡ay de aquel que con ciega locura,
sus colores pretenda manchar!

Pues tus hijos valientes y altivos,
que veneran la paz cual presea,
nunca esquivan la ruda pelea
si defienden su tierra y su hogar.

[Coro]
Nunca esquivan la ruda pelea
si defienden su tierra y su hogar,
que es tan solo el honor su alma idea
y el altar de la Patria su altar.

Recostada en el Ande soberbio,
de dos mares al ruido sonoro,
bajo el ala de grana y de oro
te adormeces del bello quetzal.

Ave indiana que vive en tu escudo,
paladión que protege tu suelo;
¡ojalá que remonte su vuelo,
más que el cóndor y el águila real!

[Coro]
¡Ojalá que remonte su vuelo,
más que el cóndor y el águila real,
y en sus alas levante hasta el cielo,
Guatemala, tu nombre inmortal!

English translation

Happy Guatemala, may your altar
Never be trampled by the tormentor
Nor should slaves lick the yoke
Nor should tyrants spit in your face

If tomorrow your sacred soil
Is threatened by foreign invasion
Free into the wind, your beautiful flag
To victory or death it will call

[Chorus]
Free into the wind, your beautiful flag
To victory or death it will call
Since your people, with fiery soul
Will die before becoming slaves

From your old and hard chains
You forged, with an ire-driven hand,
The plow that fertilizes the soil
And the sword that saves honor.

Our fathers fought one day,
Lit up in patriotic burning
And they were able, without bloody clash,
To place you on a throne of love.

[Chorus]
And they were able, without bloody clash,
To place you on a throne of love,
That our Nation, in energetic assent,
Gave life to the ideal redeemer.

Your emblem shows a piece of the sky
In which a cloud gets its whiteness
Wretched is he who dares in madness
stain your colors

Well, your brave and proud sons
who admire the peace within
will never avoid the rough battles
if they are to defend their land and their home.

[Chorus]
They will never avoid the rough battles
if they are to defend their land and their home
that honor is the idea that reigns their souls
and the altar of the mother country their altar

Lying in the magnificent Ande
with two oceans at hearing distance
under the wing of seeds and gold
you become entranced from the beautiful quetzal

Native bird that lives in your seal
protector that protects your soil
hopefully he will fly high
more than the condor and the royal eagle!

[Chorus]
Hopefully he will fly high
more than the condor and the royal eagle
and in his wings, raise up to the sky:
Guatemala, your immortal name!

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The Coat of Arms of Guatemala

The Coat of Arms of Guatemala comprises:
A wreath of olive branches, the symbol for victory;
The Resplendent Quetzal, a bird that symbolizes liberty;
A scroll on which is written LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (15 September 1821 is the date of Central America’s independence from Spain);
Crossed rifles indicating Guatemala’s willingness to defend itself by force if need be;
Crossed swords, representing honour.

The coat of arms also appears on the Flag of Guatemala. The current flag design dates to 1871. The quetzal previously appeared in the flag of Los Altos, Central America in the 1830s.

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The Flag of Guatemala

The flag of Guatemala is designed in two colours: sky blue and white. The white stripe between the two sky blue stripes represents the fact that Guatemala is a land located between two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The white colour also signifies peace and purity.

The stripe pattern is based on the national flag of United Provinces of Central America, although there the stripes were horizontal and the two outer stripes were blue, rather than sky blue. The flags of the other countries that were part of the United Provinces of Central America follow the horizontal, blue pattern.

In the center of the flag is the Guatemalan coat of arms. It includes the Resplendent Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala that symbolizes liberty; a parchment scroll bearing the date of Central America’s independence from Spain, 15 September 1821; crossed rifles, indicating Guatemala’s willingness to defend itself by force if need be; a bay laurel crown, the symbol for victory; and crossed swords, representing honor.

The current flag design dates to 1871. The Resplendent Quetzal previously appeared in the flag of Los Altos, Central America in the 1830s.

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“Himno Nacional de Costa Rica” (Spanish language, Costa Rican National Anthem) is the national anthem of Costa Rica. It was originally adopted in 1853, with the music composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez. Words by José María Zeledón Brenes were added in 1900.

Lyrics

Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera
expresión de tu vida nos da;
bajo el límpido azul de tu cielo
blanca y pura descansa la paz.

En la lucha tenaz,
de fecunda labor
que enrojece del hombre la faz,
conquistaron tus hijos
labriegos sencillos
eterno prestigio, estima y honor.
Eterno prestigio, estima y honor.

¡Salve, o tierra gentil!
¡Salve, o madre de amor!
Cuando alguno pretenda
tu gloria manchar,
verás a tu pueblo valiente y viril,
la tosca herramienta en arma trocar.

Salve oh Patria tu pródigo suelo,
dulce abrigo y sustento nos da;
bajo el límpido azul de tu cielo
¡vivan siempre el trabajo y la paz!

English translation

Noble homeland, your beautiful flag
Proof of your life it gives us
Under the unsullied blue of your skies,
Peace rests, white and pure.

In the tenacious battle of fruitful toil,
That which brings a glow to men’s faces,
Your sons, simple farm hands,
Gained eternal renown, esteem and honor.
Eternal renown, esteem and honor.

Hail, gentle homeland!
Hail, mother of love!
When anyone should attempt to besmirch your glory,
You will see your people, valiant and virile,
The rustic tool into a weapon transform.

Hail, O homeland! Your prodigal soil
Sweet shelter and sustenance gives us.
Under the unsullied blue of your sky,
May peace and labor ever live!

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The Coat of Arms of Costa Rica

The official coat of arms of the Republic of Costa Rica was designed in 1848, with modifications in 1906, 1964, and most recently the 1998 addition of smoke to distinguish three volcanoes (“Se dibujaron los volcanes humeantes para diferenciarlos.”)

The Coat of Arms of Costa Rica depicts an essential simplification of the nation. The two ships on either side represent the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, both of which border Costa Rica. The ships also represent the maritime history of the country. The three mountains represent the three major mountain ranges of Costa Rica, and also stand to show the location of the country relative to the two bodies of sea. The current coat of arms has seven stars on it to stand for the seven provinces of Costa Rica. The above arms are older, and have five stars that represent the nations that had made up the United States of Central America in the early 19th century; the Costa Rican design is modified after the old Central American Federal coat of arms. The name of the nation is on a white banner at the top of the shield, above this is another blue scroll that says “Central America”.

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The Flag of Costa Rica

The flag of Costa Rica was officially adopted on November 27, 1906. However, the blue, white and red horizontal design was created and used since 1848 when Costa Rica left the Federal Republic of Central America and declare itself a Sovereign Republic. Pacífica Fernández, wife of the president, José María Castro Madriz created it inspired on the colors of the French Flag. The state and war flag and ensign includes the coat of arms of Costa Rica, while the civil ensign (there is no civil flag) omits the coat of arms and is shorter.

The blue color stands for the sky, opportunities, idealism and perseverance. The white color stands for peace, wisdom and happiness. The red color stands for the blood spilt by martyrs for independence, as well as the warmth and generosity of the people. The stripes are in the ratio 1:1:2:1:1.

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