<a href="{data}/news/old_attachments/images/euroflag410x283.jpg"><img class="frame" align="left" src="{data}/news/old_attachments/images/euroflag410x283_tn.jpg"></a>I learned a new word today; it means <iq>the study of flags</iq>. I was pointed to a cool site by a <a href="http://www.plastic.com">Plastic</a> post, <a href="http://www.plastic.com/article.html?sid=02/05/08/15352542&mode=nested&threshold=3">New EU Logo Looks Like TV Test Pattern</a> about an article pointing out <a href="http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_583273.html?menu=news.latestheadlines">EU may get new 'bar-code' logo</a> on <a href="http://www.ananova.com/">Ananova</a>. The logo has not been accepted yet (nor is it likely to be, if you look to the left). The current logo is 12 stars in an circle (like a clock face) over a blue background. <a href="http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_583559.html">EU rejects call to change flag</a> (also on <a href="http://www.ananova.com/">Ananova</a>) reports: <bq>All the ideas put forward at our meeting have been welcomed with interest, but we did not commission a design for a new flag and there is no intention of replacing the current one" said a Commission spokesman.</bq> One of the Plastic posts pointed out <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/intro.html">The world's flags given letter grades</a>, which grades every flag in the world by several criteria, like <iq>Rule 1: Do not write the name of your country on your flag</iq> or <iq>Rule 3: Do not use a tricolour unless you are in Europe</iq>. Read up on his <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/meth.html">methodology</a> before heading over to the grades (sorted by <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/alpha.html">name</a> or <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html">grade</a>). Notably, <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#pk">Pakistan</a>, <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#ch">Switzerland</a> and <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#tr">Turkey</a> all got an A. <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#tr">China</a> got a B (<iq>too many stars</iq>). Only 3 flags got an F: <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#gu">Guam</a>, <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#vi">U.S. Virgin Islands</a> and <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#mp">Northern Mariana Islands</a>. Take a look. The grade is well deserved in all three cases. They all look like some potentate's cousin who got kicked a bit too hard during milking one morning "won" the contract to design their flags. The <a href="http://ahpc-jp30.st-and.ac.uk/~josh/flags/ratings.html#us">United States</a> got a C+, rated as <iq>too many stars</iq> and <iq>too busy</iq>.