A couple days ago I received a postcard from Hans Peter, one of my Swiss cousins. The card shows an enormous Swiss flag hanging from the side of a mountain.
The caption on the other side said "Grösste Schweizer Fahne der Welt". From the context of the photo, I assumed that "Fahne" means "flag", and I have learned enough German to be able to translate it as "The biggest Swiss flag in the world".
I did some research by Googling "biggest Swiss flag". I learned that the flag measures 262 feet by 262 feet, and it weighs 1540 pounds. It was hung on the side of Mount Säntis, an 8200-foot-high peak in the Appenzell region of northeastern Switzerland, to celebrate Swiss National Day on August 1st, 2009. It took three hours to install the flag. This picture which I found on the internet gives you an idea of its mammoth size...
Apparently, the flag was hung from the mountain each year for Swiss National Day. I found an article from 2018 which said that just hours after its installation that year, torrential rains ripped the flag. The article included this photo from Twitter...
I could not find out whether or not the flag was subsequently mended, or if it is still being hung each year on August 1st.
Oh, my! If only I felt proud enough to hang an enormous flag of this dissentious country!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I feel the same.
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