Flag of the East India Company English East India Company adopted a flag of thirteen red and white stripes with the flag of England in canton. It was reported that the number of stripes was chosen because many of the East India Company's shareholders were Freemasons, and the number thirteen is considered powerful in freemasonry. However, different reports gave varying initial numbers of stripes. The flag caused problems for the East India Company at first when trading in the Far East, because of its use of the St George's Cross. In Japan in 1616, the Company's ships were turned away because the cross on the flag
The Colour of Magic The Colour of Magic The Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the "Discworld" series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what "Blazing Saddles" did for Westerns." The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four huge elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic sea turtle. The