This past weekend, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez altered the national flag to add an eighth star, in honor of the Guayana territory, a territory which once included what’s now part of GUYANA, and which is still claimed by Venezuela, based on a 19th-century dispute.

Chavez also shifted the national seal, which has a horse on it, to what he says is a leftward direction.

Although there were violent protests over the weekend about this change, with many in the Venezuelan opposition protesting it, and Chavista goons shooting from their motorcycles into the crowds (see the pictures here), the reaction from blogger Daniel Duquenal is one great big yawn at the egotism of the entire move. Daniel explains that Venezuela gets at least one new flag per dictator, and therefore this new flag and seal just proves the obvious.

He’s got a map of all the different flags Venezuela has had, along with which dictator they went to on his site.

But good as Daniel’s post is, the comment section is what’s really impressive.

Turns out, according to his European readers in the know, that Chavez screwed up the new heraldry royally! What Chavez thinks of as ‘left’ on the national shield is really RIGHT in proper heraldry.

Thomas, who is from Austria, informs us of this:

I found the change concerning the coat of arms incredibly funny. Coat of Arms – because they are derived from the front painting of a shield – are *always* read from the point of view of the *bearer* of the shield.

In other words, previously the horse pointed to the left and looked back at the *right* opposition left behind. Now the horse is not only pointing to the right, it is galloping frantically away from the left (where Chavez stands politically). The correct description of Venezuela’s coat of arms is now: “…. a silver (white does not exist in heraldry) horse on blue ground, galloping to the *right*…”

They didn’t even get that correct.
Thomas ö 03.13.06 – 8:35 am ö

What a post!

The Venezuelan dictator unwittingly turned his horse to the right, all the while, thinking he was moving it LEFT.

There’s a lesson in here somewhere. But in the meantime, V.S. Naipaul could not create a better emblem of the third-world idiocy he has always chronicled so masterfully.

How is it that Chavez could not have his minions check this simple heraldry matter out before they started changing the national seal? Now, with the thing unveiled, the opposition will have the biggest horse laugh.

The post, and the excellent commentary section is here.

UPDATE: Elephant has more incisive observations here.

UPDATE: Boli-Nica has the funniest Last Word on this! Read it here.