There appears to be no one explanation of the flag, but, in general, the red symbolizes the blood spilt for freedom or the sun, blue for the sky, and orange for some combination of agriculture and wheat.
Armenia emerged around 800 BC and became organized as an entity just after 200 BC. In 301 AD, Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity. The nation was swept by Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, Mongol and Ottoman conquests, and during World War I, Ottoman Turkish policies resulted in an estimated 1 million Armenian deaths. That was western Armenia. The eastern area involved Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Soviet Union and constant warfare, or, at best, bickering. Internally, the government, while proclaiming an aim to become a Western parliamentary democracy, has been mostly metastable, complete with assassinations, protest marches, international sanctions and general unrest. Serzh Sargsian took office as President in April 2008. There is now relative calm and the economy is improving.
The Republic of Armenia is landlocked, located north of Iran, about the size of Maryland and with about 3 million people as the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics. The GDP/capita is just under $3,000, and literacy is 99%. The country is almost totally dependent on Russia and Georgia for energy, although a natural gas pipeline from Iran has just been added. It has been determined that a new nuclear power facility must be their next priority. The U.S. is providing up to a quarter billion dollars over a five year period to strengthen democracy as part of the Millennium Challenge Compact
The Department of State encourages all U.S. citizens traveling or residing abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security conditions.
The Armenian Internationial Network and the Armenian News Network can be consulted for the latest news, and Eurasianet.org provides regular briefings of the country. About.com provides a good overall background of the country. A nice bit of trivia when you are on some TV quiz show is, what is the capitol of Armenia? Yerevan.
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The Dow Jones Industrials could not stay positive and ended minus 15 at 8277. GM bankruptcy rumors provided considerable uncertainty, with their stock dropping 25% to 1.43 today. If you're a gambler, hoping that the bond holders cave in by next Tuesday, this might be a good buy, for all you can lose is $1.43/share if the worst happens. I wouldn't buy a million shares. If you're collecting useless stock certificates (I have Enron's and United Air's), this could be it. Gold continued to climb, and crude oil edged up to $61.60/barrel.
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Storms seems to be brewing in the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea.
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