Error Flags

Day 200 – February 7, 2012

Before taking my mother-in-law (“suegra” in Spanish) and the rest of our family to the seashore mall known as Larcomar, having a wonderful buffet full of ceviche, pulpo (which would be octopus), and other assorted Peruvian cuisine at Mangos, and before snapping the picture that was featured here, we took the whole family unit to Inka Market so that mi suegra could browse for, shop for, and buy all manner of Peruvian crafts including scarves, jewelry, and gloves.

Sure, I could fill up this posting with pictures of all sorts of handmade merchandise and snapshots of quaint, small shops all tightly packed into a convenient shopping area for tourists, but my eyes spotting something else that I feel should be addressed.

The entrance to Inka Market is adorned with flags from other countries. I suppose this is done to make international shoppers feel welcome. However, there is a slight issue. How welcoming can it be when the flags are incorrect. Here is one example:

South Korea error flag

This is the flag for South Korea and while the above picture does not do its mistake full justice, this banner is not the official Taegeukgi. You can jump to the link I offer above and see that the sets of lines that are on the bottom-right and bottom-left of the flag are not the same as the official version.

This next picture has a double-blooper.

British and Israeli error flags

The Israeli flag looks correct but only because the perspective of my shot is off. In reality, the top and bottom points of the Star of David that make up the centerpiece of this banner are not straight up and down as they are in the official version. Here at the Inka Market, the Star is lopsided.

The flag next to it is the Union Jack, the banner of the United Kingdom. The red stripes that form the horizontal and vertical cross are too small and there is not enough white space on this incorrect flag.

To be fair, the Inka Market is not the only place in Peru where a flag can participate in a game of “What’s Wrong With This Picture”.

A few days earlier, I was in Laguna Huacachina (it’s the place on the back of the older version of the fifty soles bill) and when I saw my own country’s flag outside a building in this tourist area, the following riddle sprung to mind:

Why is the flag of the United States that flies in Laguna Huacachina similar to the original version of the film Habeas Corpus as pitched in Robert Altman’s movie The Player?

A Stateless Flag

Because they both have “no stars“.

(End Note: This post may be the first, last, and only time a Robert Altman masterpiece is referenced in a blog about life in Peru.)