Few days ago we had a four days holiday, which was great for me to recover energies and catching up with some stuff. Besides Friday and Saturday, we were off on Sunday due to National Day of Kuwait and Monday, when the 27th anniversary of the end of Iraqi occupation during Gulf War in 1991 was celebrated. During these days and the previous weeks, the whole country was full of flags, pictures of their governors and other symbols I will talk about in this post.
Originally, the celebration of the National Day was on June 19th, day in which Kuwait gained independence from United Kingdom, in 1961. However, two years later, this holiday was moved to February 25th, the day when the emir on that period, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, started to govern. The main reason of this change was the extreme temperatures in summer here, too hot for Kuwaitis to go out and celebrate as they like. Basically, people gather in the main avenues and parks (mainly around Gulf Street area), most of them wearing their flag colors, having picnics, barbecues, while the youngest ones play with water guns. It is also very usual that children throw water balloons to every vehicle passing by, so it is better to close the windows if you are driving around these days.
Regarding the national symbols, I will star with the flag, with black, green, white and red colors, characteristic in many Arabic countries. The meaning of these colors come from the poet of the XIII centurySafīaddin al-Hilli,, in one of his poems saying this:
“White are our deeds.
Black are out battles.
Green are our fields.
Red are our swords.”
Thus the white color means the purity of the deeds, the black represents the defeat of the enemies in the battles, green is for the fertility of the Kuwaiti lands and red color means the blood in the swords.
About the emblem of Kuwait, besides the flag, includes also two important symbols in this part of the World. On one hand, in the middle there is a dhow (a traditional sailing ship) in the sea, illustrating the important maritime tradition of this country. This boat is framed by the wings of a falcon, the most representative bird, not only of Kuwait but other countries in the Middle East. Falcon was also a the symbol of the Quraysh clan, which prophet Mahoma belonged to.
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| Source: http://es.althistory.wikia.com |
With regard to the anthem, it has been used since 1978, and its lyric is a sequence of blessings for the country and its history, wishing safety, glory and good fortune for the future, while at the same time the values of faith, loyalty and truth are extolled. In my school it is sung every morning by Primary students to stat the day. I think is very cheerful and lively, within its solemnity. Here you can listen it:
For me, the best of these days was, not only the holidays and having a rest, but also seeing the way in which people in Kuwait celebrate these dates. This is something I missed when I was in China, where there are almost no celebrations in the streets, besides the firecrackers in New Year Day. The atmosphere and the color in the city these weeks were wonderful, together with a very nice weather, perfect to go out. I hope that it will continue like that at least for one more month.
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