For all of its pageantry, Dia de la bandera only celebrated the flag's three color bands. It did not celebrate the shield. I wondered whether there was a day to honor the shield.
It turns out that there is.
The Ecuadorian Congress approved the national shield on the flag on October 31, 1900 in the government of Eloy Alfaro. The shield image was originally designed by Jose Joaquin Olmedo, a former Ecuadorian president, in 1845. It contains symbolic images of Ecuadorian national heritage and the zodiac signs from March, April, May, and June.
Little did that congress know what kind of global phenomenon Halloween would become. Although Halloween is an American holiday, Ecuadorians have taken to the idea of dressing up in costumes and going to parties.
The government and school system, however, have not embraced it quite as enthusiastically. At the beginning of October, I began reading official pronouncements in the newspapers that schools and high schools will observe Day of the Shield. They will hold civic moments to commemorate the day and will be prohibited from having Halloween parades or parties.
I understand where the government is coming from on this one. Furthermore, there is enough attention given to Halloween in society here that the educational system doesn't need to promote it as much as it should preserve the national cultural heritage.
This school ban on Halloween won't stop the discos from having their big Halloween parties. Or will they be National Shield parties?
My only question is: How many people will show up dressed as the shield?
1 comment:
so who wins?
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