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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Flag for the most northern isle by Africa - Isle of Mal Ventre

Flag for Africa's North-most Island
Mal Ventre

The Island of Mal Ventre or rather in Italian - Isola di Mal di Ventre is the proverbial Midway in between Africa and Europe. Its name means Isle of Negative Winds. It is politically a part of Italy, and locally governed with Sardinia.

The colours of this flag are black, yellow, red, and green. These pan-African colours are combined with a popular symbol with Europe: the Fluer-di-lis.

The Fluer-di-lis was employed because it symbolized the direction North on old European maps, and the isle of Mal Ventre is arguably the most northern point of Africa. Meaning, it is closer to Africa than it is Europe. Additionally, pan-African colours blended with a traditionally European symbol reflect with two natures of Isola di Mal Ventre as a land caught in between Africa and Europe.

Map of America - circa 1526
Made by Juan Vespucci, Nephew of Amerigo Vespucci
America was named after Juan Vepucci's famous uncle

NOTICE - North is indicated with a Fluer-di-lis on the compass





























Mal Ventre Isle is one of thousands of islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea is a cultural nexus for the Old World since it has a shoreline with Africa, Europe, and Asia. This puts all the islands in the Mediterranean up for grabs, as to which continent it should be associated with.

The basic rule is whichever continent it's closest too, gets dibs. With this logic Cyprus is an Asian Isle, Corsica a European Isle, and Mal Ventre an African Isle. But this rule dosen't always work out so well. Examples being, the islands of Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia. These isles are geographically in between two continents. The east coast of Crete is closer to mainland Asia, while its west coast is closer to mainland Europe. With Sicily its eastern coast is closer to Europe while its western coast is closer to Africa, as with Sardinia its north shore is closer to Europe while its south shore is closer to Africa.

Isola di Mal di Ventre with flag
Geographically, an isle closest to Africa


But with Mal Ventre Isle, it is wholly closer to Africa - since all of its coastlines are closer to Africa. Thus it is the most northern isle of Africa. It stands at 40 degrees north - rounded up a few seconds. Mal Ventre Isle is much smaller than Midway, but like Midway has become a breeding ground for birds.



The Isle of Mal Ventre is a lonely midway point and peaceful sanctuary between two continents.

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