Flag

So today at lunch I was talking to Senora Silvia about where I can buy a chilean flag, so she told me go to a certain store. Then she started talking about the size of the flag that was in her front yard, she put it out there because the country is in mourning for 3 days, and walking around the neighborhood you see that mostly everyone has a flag. She told me how it is easier to find a flag now because of the earthquake and the patriotism everyone is showing now, or during their independence day in September. I didn't buy a flag back in September, most of the ones I saw were cheapy plastic synthetic type flags, but I bought one today that is cloth. I am happy with it.



Returning back to our after lunch conversation, she told me that you get fined if you don't have a flag up in your yard or window so people can see it during their independence day celebrations. So basically it is a law to display the flag during independence day. The fine is not very small either, it is about 200 or so dollars. Yikes! I found that an interesting fun fact. Unless she is lying, but I don't know why she would say that. Then she said, "yes we chileans love our flag, and it is a pretty flag. Your flag is pretty too. There aren't many pretty flags." Then she started to talk about national anthems, she thinks france's is really beautiful, but the best is the chilean one.... and not just because she is chilean, but apparently the lyrics are really good. I asked her if everyone has it memorized, she said it is really long, so they just sing a part of it. It is 14 stanzas long. Then she told me how they changed the anthem during the right wing dictatorship of Pinochet. They removed the stanza that talked about the brave soldiers... apparently the reason for removing it was because the soldiers were in the streets, taking captive certain people or anyone they suspected to be against them, and well the soldiers were an enemy to a great population of the people during that time.



Ah but contrary to that conversation I just read about the change to the anthem during the dictatorship and it said that they had them repeat the verse of the soldiers at the end of the anthem to emphasize the military and that they were doing good things. And if people sung it that way it showed that they supported the military action or perhaps they didn't they just didn't want to affiliate with the opposite side, and if they didn't sing it they were opposed. But this changed when Pinochet was no longer in power in 1990.