Symbols of Democracy

1. Symbols of Democracy A presentation by Group 4

2. The American Flag • The American flag has thirteen stripes which stand for the thirteen original colonies and fifty stars which stand for the fifty states. • The white on the flag represents purity and innocence. The blue represents Vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The red signifies valor and bravery.

3. The Czech flag • The Czech flag consists of three colors. • In the beginning there were only two colors (red and white) and blue wedge was added later because of the flag of Poland. • The blue wedge symbolizes Slovakia. • The flag contains red and white colors derived from the ancient Czech coat of arms (silver lion on the red field).

4. The German Flag • The flag of Germany was adopted in its present form in 1919.It was readopted with the new constitution of 1949.It is a tricolor, made of three equal horizontal bands colored black (top), red, gold (bottom). • The German relation to black and gold surfaced in the radical 1840s, when the black-red-gold flag was used to symbolize the movement against the Conservative European Order that was established after Napoleon's defeat.

5. The American Bald Eagle • The bald eagle first appeared as an American symbol on a Massachusetts copper cent coined in 1776. • The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782, when it was placed on the Great Seal of our country. It appears in many government institutions and on official documents. The eagle appears on the President's flag, the mace of the House of Representatives, military insignia, and the one dollar bill. • the bald eagle was chosen because it symbolized strength, courage, freedom, and immortality.

6. The Czech lion • The first documented lion as a symbol of the ruling dynasty of Premyslids is documented from as late as 1213. • This accounts for the fact that the silver lion in a field of red gradually developed into a symbol of not only the dynasty but of the country as a whole, and that it retained this function until 1918.

7. The German eagle • The coat of arms of Germany is a symbol of Germany; the coat of arms feature an eagle. The coat of arms are similar to those of the flag of Germany (black, red and gold). It is the oldest extant state symbol of Europe and is one of the oldest insignia in the world. Its history as an emblem is far longer, however. To the Germanic tribes the eagle was the bird of the god Odin, and by the Romans, too, it was revered as the symbol of the supreme god, of the emperor and of invincibility. From there and through its religious significance in Christendom it came to be incorporated into medieval symbolism.

8. The Liberty Bell • The Bell achieved an iconic status when abolitionists adopted the Bell as a symbol for the movement. It was first used in this association as a frontispiece to an 1837 edition of Liberty, published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society. In retrospect, it is a remarkably apt metaphor for a country literally cracked and freedom fissured for its black inhabitants. William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication The Liberator reprinted a Boston abolitionist pamphlet containing a poem about the Bell, entitled, The Liberty Bell, which represents the first documented use of the name, "Liberty Bell."

9. The Czech crown jewels • The jewels and the Crown of Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia are kept in Prague Castle and are displayed to the public only once every fifty years. • The crown is named and dedicated after the Duke and Patron Saint Wenceslas I of the Premyslids dynasty of Bohemia and it is made from gold and precious stones. • It was made for King Charles VI in 1346. • The jewels have always played an important role as a symbol of Bohemian statehood.

11. The End This project was done by Anthony, Veronika , Michal and Ayilin All rights reserved 2006 Glen Rock High School