League of Nations - Flag

[taijasi]

A person with a little knowledge of certain basic esoteric principles ... given a little bit of pondering and perhaps also some good measure of insight ... might come upon just what the Founders intended if she contemplates the history of the Flag of the League of Nations. Or she may know!

I am posting this by way of a segue, yet these various flags, their symbolic significance, and what this suggests for today's humanity ... are something that can be discussed on their own merits.

The ideas and Principles which are represented upon these various flags, and that for which the Flag Itself stands ... are exactly what I'm getting at. Or was it, these things which ~got at me, so to speak?

Origins

 

[bob x]

Lots of people have liked the 5-pointed star; I am not sure what you are trying to get at. Early in the history of mathematics, Pythagoras discovered that in the diagram of a pentagon with an inscribed star (letter the vertices of the pentagon ABCDE and the star is connected ACEBD, with those edges crossing at five interior points FGHIJ forming an interior pentagon; let the triangle AFG be one of the five points of the star), the ratios of the star-edge to the pentagon edge (AC to AB for example), of the pentagon edge to an edge of one of the star-points (AB to AF for example), and of the star-point edge to an interior-pentagon edge (AF to FG for example), are all equal (this is the "Golden Ratio"). In fact, it is said that Pythagoras regarded this Theorem to be more important than the one more usually associated with his name (the square of the hypotenuse equalling the sum of the squares of the legs in a right triangle).

But I assume you have something more in mind.

 

[taijasi]

Lots of people have liked the 5-pointed star; I am not sure what you are trying to get at.

I assume you have something more in mind.

Yes, the number 5 is part of what's important, and the geometry involved is also something to consider. Here are four of the flags that were proposed and used in various capacities by the League of Nations over the years, none `officially,' yet some being flown for as long as 2 years:




The significance of these last three flags, all designed "to symbolize five continents and five races" ... can be understood as a natural progression of grasping something of the Unity which is symbolized by the earlier flag, with a dark background, the unfolded world in oval shape, surrounded by as many stars as the League had member states.

The final flag, with its stars within stars within stars, emphasizes yet other esoteric principles and perspectives on the scale of being (aspects of existence we can scarcely fathom) which might be imagined as extending into unbounded Infinity, yet which we must accept for the moment as limited from our vision by the *sides* of the pentagon.

One really does not know how ugly a cynical, pessimistic expression and choice of self-limitation appears from the realm of Beauty ... until one stares it face-on in the mirror, and feels the repulsion which separativeness, fear, demonization, and all of the more petty, `lower vices' cause - in the heart and mind of the spiritual soul, or SELF.

It is these collected obstacles to individual progress and real spiritual effectiveness, or their larger aggregations and phantom self, which prey upon the workers in the field, sapping the strength of well-meaning souls and their group endeavors, which have delayed the accomplishing of the goals set forth by the League of Nations, the United Nations and even that future expression of the same entity - as yet unnamed, as yet un-incarnate.

As above, so below ... aren't these the cause of the holdup to our own progress toward harmony, cooperation and enlightenment? As with men, so with nations.

Pythagoras taught a thoroughly Spiritual Philosophy. His students are scattered across the Globe; the Wisdom of Krotona lives on.

Pythagoras was thoroughly familiar with the Vedic teachings regarding man's evolution. This was reflected in his own teachings on geometry. Maybe you know about the Tetraktys, bob x?

 

[bob x]

Pythagoras travelled to Egypt and Babylon, but never got anywhere near India. The "Vedic" teachings he would never have had any occasion to hear about.

 

[taijasi]

Pythagoras travelled to Egypt and Babylon, but never got anywhere near India. The "Vedic" teachings he would never have had any occasion to hear about.

I believe there are any number of esotericists who would beg to differ on this point. The Master K.H., who was himself Pythagoras, would be glad to clarify this matter. Just ask him.

"Almost all of the sciences originated in India. Egypt, Greece, and ancient Chaldea borrowed their knowledge from India. Similarly, Osiris, Hermes, and Orpheus came from the East; also, Pythagoras received his initiation in India." (Letters Of Helena Roerich II, 8 October 1935)​

It's ok. It was quite a few years ago ...