Flag nr. 150 - Cap Verde

Today I can present my first visitor located in the island country Cape Verde located off the western coast of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal.
The largest island at Cape Verde is Santiago. The island was discovered by António da Noli in around 1460 who built a garrison in Cidade Velha which was then known as Ribeira Grande. Transcontinental slavery made Cidade Velha the second richest city in the Portuguese realm. Portugal was unable to protect its colonies because the English, Dutch, French and Spanish took over the slave trade and the island was later raided by pirates. Sir Francis Drake distroyed Ribeira Grande in 1585.
The 10 stars on the Flag of Cape Verde represent the main islands of the nation. The blue represents the ocean and the sky. The band of white and red represents the road toward the construction of the nation, and the colours stand for peace (white) and effort (red). The yellow colour, circular formation of the stars, and dark blue field show similarity to the flag of the European Union.
In 2006 I painted a football player with the Vålerenga letters on the jersey, and used the player Freddy dos Santos as model. Cape Verde is the country of origin of Freddy´s father.