Cultural Comparison Paper

Cultural Comparison Paper

SPAN/110

May 15, 2017

Cultural Comparison Paper

As far as languages go, Spanish is used in many different countries and cultures. These Spanish-speaking countries include: Europe, Africa, North America, Central America, and South America. The two chosen locations for this paper are Panama (In Central America) and Columbia (In South America). This paper will compare and contrast the importance of each of these countries flags, capital city, and one other significant city.

Panama & Colombia Flags

The Republic of Panama adopted their official flag in November of 1903. Their flag was modeled after the US flag as they had such high respect for the US for being the first to recognize them as an independent country. The American eagle is even seen on their coat of arms as a sign of respect. Their blue and red stars are believed to signify the conservative (red) and liberal (blue) political groups. The white is said to symbolize peace (“World Atlas”, 2016).

Colombia adopted their official flag in December of 1819. Their flag consists of three horizontal bands of yellow, blue. and red. There is some debate over which symbolic meaning is correct for this flag. The most popular idea states that the yellow is for sovereignty and justice, the blue stands for loyalty and vigilance, and the red is for valor and victory during battle for independence (“World Atlas”, 2016).

Panama & Colombia City Information Comparison

The capital city of Panama is Panama City. By population this is one of the largest cities in Panama. Panama is made up of a mixture of American Indian and Caucasians mostly. Most of the population of Panama are Catholic, though about 15% are Protestant (“World Atlas”, 2016).

The capital city of Colombia is Bogota. The population of Colombia consists of Mesizo, Caucasian, African American, and Amerindian. The majority of the population of Colombia are Roman Catholic with only ten percent being of other religious beliefs (“World Atlas”, 2016).

The Ties That Bind

Panama was once owned by Colombia and was used for smuggling treasure back to Spain. The constant raids of pirates in that area forced Spain to move their smuggling route around the tip of South American, bypassing and forgetting Panama. The US Army helped restore and eventually free Panama from a powerful dictator, which helped it become the independent country they remain today (“World Atlas”, 2016).

Figure 1 Colombia Coat of Arms

Figure 2 Panama Coat of Arms

References

World Atlas. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/camerica/pa.htm#page