Random trivia

Time to revive the trivia...

What do the following three symbols have in common, and what's weird about that commonality?
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[img src=\'http://www.activehotels.com/photos/119429/LAB119429.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]
[img src=\'http://users.erols.com/bcccsbs/newsletter/graphics/nov_geor%5B1%5D.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]


I'm looking for two very specific things here
 
Well I was going to say they all have dragons on them, but the second one looks more like a lion while the first one seems to be a cross between lion/dragon and I'm guessing the last one is Saint George, slayer of dragons.... What seems wierd about the comonality of at least THAT similarity is that the first look like Arab dragons, the second like Grecoroman and the third obviously Christian, All three cultures had similar views of the mythical beast?
 
No, but you're kinda on the right track, Onhell.

Good guess though! (you were right about the third pic being Saint George!)
 
THe third is NOT the coat of arms of any country, it is an icon. What Statues are to western Catholicism, icons ( 2 dimensional paintings) are to Eastern Orthodoxy.
 
The particular picture isn't, but the image is part of the coat of arms of the Russian Federation:

[img src=\'http://images.vector-images.com/100/rf_g4.gif\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]
 
All three are symbols of the United Kingdom.

The first is on the Royal Coat Of Arms (twice, even).
The second is Britannia, the personification of the UK/British Isles.
The third is St. George. His colours are Red and White, and his symbol is the St. George's Cross in these colours, which makes up the English flag, and is therefore also present on the Union Jack.
 
oh wow, that will teach me to shut up [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jul 19 2005, 09:19 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jul 19 2005, 09:19 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]All three are symbols of the United Kingdom.

The first is on the Royal Coat Of Arms (twice, even).
The second is Britannia, the personification of the UK/British Isles.
The third is St. George. His colours are Red and White, and his symbol is the St. George's Cross in these colours, which makes up the English flag, and is therefore also present on the Union Jack.
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Good man, Per! You got the first part right. The lions stylized in this way are the ancient symbols of the Kings of England. They originally were the shield of the Dukes of Normandy, and Jersey and Guernsey (the Channel Islands) still use them (due to a weird technicality by which they are still party of the non-existant duchy of Normandy...don't ask!)

Britannia is, as you said, the personification of the British Isles. Enough said, I think.

And Saint George is the patron saint of England, who's red cross on a white background has symbolized England for nearly 1000 years.

Now, think: what's odd about these three symbols of the UK? Besides being national symbols, what do they have in common with one another?
(Admittedly, it's quite vague)
 
All three symbols come from different cultural circles within Europe, none originally being associated with the UK.

The first is from the Germanic/Nordic area (by which I also include the Franks).

The second is obviously reminiscent of classical antiquity, whose centres were based around the Mediterranean. The name "Britannia" suggests Roman heritage (although the image could as well also be Greek).

The third requires a bit of explanation. St. George lived in Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey) during Roman times. Even though he was sanctified by a Catholic pope, he is mostly worshipped by members of the Greek Orthodox sect of Christianity. In fact, the image you posted is an icon from Russian Novgorod- it is now also present on the Russian coat of arms and the coat of arms of Moscow. The Russians are deeply Orthodox. St. George is also the Patron of deeply Orthodox Georgia (which is not named after St. George, in fact the name is of Persian origin); Georgia also has this icon of St. George in their coat of arms, and recently, the flag was changed to show St. George's cross.

Therefore, none of these symbols are actually of British origin.

You could also argue that they are of different religious backgrounds, none of them of British origin either.
The first one is, as I said, more Germanic/Nordic pagan.
The second is Roman pagan.
The third is Greek Orthodox, or, as it depicts a saint, Catholic.
The UK is nowadays Protestant, and originally it was Celtic pagan. If we regard St. George to be an Orthodox icon, it never had anything to do with Britain either, as it has never been Orthodox.
 
Per, you're on fire man!

I was going for "The're all not native to Britain"

Lions come from Africa,

the image of Britannia is based off a minor goddess which the Romans created to correspond with Athena.

And Saint George was born, as you say, in Lebenon


Good man!
 
OK, to keep it in Duke's tradition...

What or who do these three images depict, and what do they have in common?

[img src=\'http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/uploads/cyrus_the_great_cylinder.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]

[img src=\'http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/napoleon.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]

[img src=\'http://www.theinsider.com/nyc/photos/UnitedHeli.JPG\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]
 
THe second depicts Napoleon, the third is th eUN headquarters in NYC, and the first (i figured it out after the other two ) is the Rosetta Stone. Napoleon's army found it, but i have no idea what it ahs to do with the UN headquarters...
 
It took a little bit of research and a lot of guesswork, but here's my idea:

#1 - Is definately Persian in origin, judging from a zoom-in on the inscriptions.
#2 - Napleon, of course
#3 - UN headquarters

# 2 and 3 have very little in common. They can both in interpreted as signs of 'globalism' (one by military, the other by diplomacy) in their own eras, but #1 has very little to do with that.
Both 2 and 3 were formed out of chaos. Napoleon arose out of the bloodbath of the French Revolution, the UN out of the carnage of Worl War II. But again, that leaves #1 out.

Then it hit me. After reading your post, Perun, on my China thread regarding the German Basic Law, I had an idea. (Was that an unconscious hint on your part?)

Napoleon introduced a law code which enshrined basic human rights.

The UN's Universal Declaraton of Human Rights is the standard by which all other human rights legislation throughout the world is measured.

The Persians weren't exactly known for their human rights, except under the reign of Cyrus II (574-530 BC). He introduced a 'constitution' by which he agreed that ultimate authority is derrived from the people, and they therefore had certain basic rights. It is the first now occurance of such an idea, and is remarkably similar to the basic human rights laws around the world today.


So there's my answer: They all have some connection to historic human rights legislation.
 
Fuck, you're too smart, Duke! How did you know that thing was Persian? The inscription is in Babylonian language.

Duke is right on the whole line. The first object is the famous "Cyrus cylinder", a cuneiform inscription found in Babylon, written in Babylonian and Elamite (IIRC). It is exactly what Duke described. The original can be found in the British Museum in London, a replica is on display at the United Nations headquarters. It is generally accepted to be the (or one of the) first declaration of Human Rights. Note that the Achaemenian Persians followed this very closely at various points within their history, most notably during the reign of Cyrus the Great (559-529 BC) and Darius the Great (522-486 BC).

The second image is a painting of Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor (1799-1814), author of the Code Civil, one of the most famous declaration of human rights in modern history.

The third is a picture of the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Nuff said.
 
I haven't been here in a while so I missed the whole thing. oh well, just to be picky [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jul 23 2005, 12:53 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jul 23 2005, 12:53 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]The third requires a bit of explanation. St. George lived in Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey)[/quote]

That's if he even lived at all. Just like St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers among other things, it is impossible to prove if there is a historical person behind the image. After all becoming a saint for slaying a mythical creature?
[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] Even though he was sanctified by a Catholic pope, he is mostly worshipped by members of the Greek Orthodox sect of Christianity. [/quote]

DENOMINATION!!! sects and cults go agianst mainstream society, once they are norm they are denominations and churches. Also, The East and West (Orthodox, Catholic) share many saints so it doesn't really matter who sanctified him.

[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]The third is Greek Orthodox, or, as it depicts a saint, Catholic.
The UK is nowadays Protestant, and originally it was Celtic pagan. If we regard St. George to be an Orthodox icon, it never had anything to do with Britain either, as it has never been Orthodox.
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Before Catholicism you had Christianity plain and simple. With the split of 1054 the progressive West became "Catholic" and the traditional East became "Orthodox". In fact since Catholicism was the only form of Christianity in the West until the Reformation it was considered "Orthodox".
My point is depicting a saint doesn't make it Catholic as Orthodox Christians have had Saints of their own, it has never been "a catholic thing".
Wrap up Was there ever a real St. George? Only God knows.
Denominations for socially and culturally accepted belief systems, sects and cults for anti-establishment loonies.
Saints are found in Orthodox, Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian and Koptic (Egyptian) Christians.
 
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