Vexillology in al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya

Sometimes I can't help myself. This morning, for example, I learned that vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. This Flags of the World site has all kinds of good information about flags, including a fun clickable map! Here is the page on the Kingdom of Morocco, or in Arabic al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya.

This came up because I was thinking about symbols again. I mentioned in an earlier post that the pentagram is an important symbol in Morocco. If interested, you can read more about it, for example on the flag site I mentioned above.

As in most countries I suppose, the flag itself is a fairly common site in Morocco. Here it is, for example, outside of the Royal Palace in Fez.

There were often pentagrams in mosques, as well. Here is one in Fez--taken from through the door, of course, as I was not allowed to enter as a non-Muslim.

I think that may satisfy my fascination with symbols for a while. I suppose I get it that they really do mean different things to different people in different places and times. Fair enough.

I anticipate that my next few posts will be about Fez, which was my favorite Moroccan city, and my treks in the Himalaya, which were the most spectacular parts of my trip. Stay tuned.