32
National flags and emblems
Textbook: pp. 48–49
GoalDescribing national flags and emblems: background, stripes, stars, crescent; position phrases; verb + -ing = adjective (shining, flowering).
New words
background · fonstripe · yo‘l-yo‘l chiziqcrescent · yarim oyemblem · gerb
Explanation
To describe a flag we give colour, shape and position: The flag has a blue background. In the top left-hand corner there is a crescent. At the bottom / at the top / on the left / on the right / in the middle. The flag of Uzbekistan has blue, white and green horizontal stripes separated by thin red lines; a crescent and 12 stars are in the top left-hand corner. The flag of the USA has 13 stripes and 50 stars. The UK’s Union Flag combines three crosses. Parts of an emblem: shield, crown, motto, unicorn. A verb + -ing can make an adjective: shine – a shining sun, flower – a flowering valley, spread – spreading wings.
Worked examples
The flag of Japan has a white background. In the middle there is a red circle. – The flag of Uzbekistan has three wide stripes and a crescent with stars in the top left-hand corner.
The emblem of Uzbekistan shows a rising, shining sun above a flowering valley. A bird with spreading wings is in the middle. The two sides have ears of wheat and cotton branches.
Class activity
“What flag is it?”: one pupil describes a flag in four sentences and the others guess the country (It has got a ... background).
Practice
1
Complete: The flag has a green ___ and a white crescent. (background / backward)
background
2
Make adjectives: shine → ___; spread → ___; flower → ___
shining; spreading; flowering
3
Name the three colours of the Uzbek flag and the number of stars.
Blue, white, green; 12 stars
4
Why do emblems often show the sun and wheat?
Because they are symbols of life, harvest and prosperity.