www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Looking for a place in SJ to get the Costa Rican flag

Try this place. www.banderascr.com

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Brother Nhhank--I know you said "in SJ' but if you have a 1/2 day free on your trip, consider a trip to Sarchi. I got both my banderas de Costa Rica at a good souvenir shop there, right next to an OK restaurant. Spend some time in the furniture/ oxcart making shops then, BOOM! Back to SJ for the Primary Activities.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

If he is looking for a small souvenir flag no need to go all the way to Sarchi. Kind find those in any souvenir shop in San Jose.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Brother Irish Drifter--Readily agree with you on smaller banderas but examples such as the 3' x 5' flag that hangs proudly on my entrance wall come dearer in SJ if found at all. Plus it's a good thing to get out of SJ if only for 1/2 day.
Also in trying your link I couldn't get through to the catalogos section--some glitch in their Website no doubt.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Thanks for the info
I am looking for the 3 by 5 flag
I did look around SJ for one but I didn't look to hard though
Guess I didn't need to look at all

JB,

My guess would be that they probably don't give prices or take orders on line anyway and that you'd probably have to call them up or go out to see them to find out more. It is certainly always nice to get out of town, but do you really want to kill one of your limited afternoons in CR hunting down a flag?

I'd be somewhat curious to know how much these flags cost. Are there big savings in buying "banderas" from a store in Costa Rica as opposed to simply ordering one back home by going on-line. For example, www.flag-works.com sells a 3X5 CR flag for $42. All of their flags "are produced to international color and design standards" and their CR flag includes the CR national seal (which not all CR flags do). Incidentally, they also happen to be right up there in Nhhanks neck of the woods in Concord NH, in case he feels he absolutely has to go to a brick and mortar store.

I'd also be curious to know whether the flag that you personally purchased in CR and the ones sold by this BANDERAS company are actually the OFFICIAL national flags aka "Pabello'n Nacional" (ie with the national seal). Flag in Castilian Spanish has two meanings: "Bandera" and "Pabello'n Nacional." The first one refers to a national flag. The second one refers to a national flag with the national shield printed on the center of the red stripe. In CR, most schools, police stations and other official buildings must have the "Pabello'n Nacional." However, when it comes to private citizens, the laws are much more restrictive as to what they can display and when. For those parties, a slightly different flag or "bandera" is sold and used which has the stripes but not the national seal (technically this is the "civil ensign" rather than the official national flag).

More info on this can be found at this site http://www.flagspot.net/flags/cr.html, but I'll give you some of the highlights that relate to this question:

Bonus unrelated trivia question: Does anyone here know the significance of the blue stripes on the CR flag? (hint: it has this in common with the flags of other central american countries)

Just guessing, but do they represent the 2 oceans that CA separates?

I have to admit I had no idea of what the colors represented. This is according to "Maps of the World"

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I just wanted to by a flag
Now a history class followed by a Quiz
I bet Orange's quess is right
Thanks Proligo for the link gotta by local
Got other day trips in the works
My thread what's the answer to flag triva?

Orange was right. ID is right too. Those are the significance of the colors but I was referring to their placement.

Actually ALL of the countries that were part of the United States of Central America (1821-1842) have similar stripes. Panama was formerly part of Colombia and doesn't have them. Belize was formerly British Honduras and doesn't have them either. Guatemala has them but they're vertical and appear on either side of their flag rather than on the top and bottom. But El Salvador (which doesn't even have an Atlantic coast), Honduras and Nicaragua all have blue stripes placed just like CR's.

Another thing they have (or had) in common was some reference to their former union in their flags. Honduras still has 5 stars in the center of its flag, representing the 5 countries that were part of that union. For El Salvador and Nicaragua, it takes the form of 5 mountain peaks that appear in the national seals that are on their flags. Guatemala used to have 5 peaks in their national seal, but they were the least nostalgic and removed those from its seal and flag after less than 10 years in 1851 (replacing them with, IMHO, rather cartoonish looking quetzal and rifles). CR held out longer. They used to have 5 stars in their national seal but that was changed in 1906. However, they still have a blue banner at the top of their national seal with the words "America Central", so technically there is still some connection to that part of their history on their flag.

Some other interesting CR flag lore (at least to me):

1) The reference to the 2 oceans on either side of CR can be more clearly seen in its national seal which has 2 patches of blue on either side of a mountain range with spanish sailing ships in each one.
2) That mountain range hasn't had 5 peaks since CR was part of the Central American union in 1840. Instead, it has 3 peaks (or volcanos) which are supposed to represent the 3 mountain ranges in CR.
3) The 5 stars were replaced with 7 in order to represent the 7 provinces of CR.
4) The gold beads on either side of the coat of arms were added to represent "El Grano D'Oro" (the "golden bean" or coffee bean) which has been such an important part of CR history.

Hey, Coach! I'm ready! Put me in! I knew all 4 of your trivia items about the flag/ watyoucall'um!
I have the Pabello'n Nacional facing you on the way in and the Great Seal of my employer facing you on the way out. What a Patriot!
I still think a ride to Sarchi wouldn't be a bad idea, iff'n you have the time--my watyoucall'um cost me I think $12 4 years ago.
Great thing about this Board--you never know what will trigger a fountain of info general or particular. No joke, no teasing on this.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED