Venezuelan Congress Approves New Flag

Venezuelan Congress Approves New Flag
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Published: 3/8/06, 7:46 PM EDT
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez has pulled Venezuela steadily to the left, and now he's even got the horse on the national flag running that way.

Venezuela's solidly pro-Chavez National Assembly gave final approval Tuesday to changes in the flag proposed by the socialist president: an eighth star and a turnabout of the horse that until now has galloped to the right.

The move clears the way for Chavez to unfurl the new national banner on Flag Day on Sunday.

The changed direction for the horse in the coat of arms, which appears in the official flag's upper left corner, is a not-so-subtle metaphor for Chavez's politics.

The president has acknowledged the political symbolism only vaguely but has said the horse looked odd running to the right while craning its neck back the opposite direction.

He says historical drawings show the national image was intended to have a horse that "trotted freely to the left."

The congress initially approved the new flag design in January, and the latest vote confirmed the move. Venezuela's yellow, blue and red flag has had seven stars since 1863, representing the original seven provinces that rose up against Spain.

Chavez suggested the eighth star to represent the early 19th-century eastern province of Guayana, which was initially loyal to Spain but then joined an independent Venezuela.

South American independence hero Simon Bolivar once proposed a flag with eight stars in 1817, and it was used for several years. Chavez has called the eighth star the "Bolivarian star" - like his "Bolivarian Revolution," which he says is leading the oil-producing country toward socialism.

Chavez's critics call the changes a waste of money for a political whim.
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