Black

The black eagle gives the country its own name for itself: Shqiperia is commonly read as the land of the eagles.

Black and yellow were the colours of the Habsburg monarchy. They come from the black double-headed eagle on a gold ground used by the Holy Roman Emperors.

The black upper half of the Aboriginal flag stands for the Aboriginal people of Australia.

On 21 February, Language Martyrs' Day, people wear black badges and black and white clothes and walk barefoot to the Shaheed Minar to honour those killed in 1952.

The black, yellow and red of the flag come from the arms of the Duchy of Brabant: a gold lion with red claws and tongue on black. They were raised in the 1830 revolution.

Two diagonal stripes cross the yellow of the flag, one white and one black. They stand for the Sultan's two chief ministers.

Black is the usual colour of mourning. Widows in older generations wore it for a year, and the custom is called luto.

The black stripe edged in white across the flag stands for harmony between people of different races. It also recalls the zebra, the national animal.

Black is the colour of the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party. The usage goes back to the black robes of the Catholic clergy.

The black band of the flag is also linked with the black coat that Estonian peasant men once wore.

The old name of the country, Kemet, means the black land, after the dark silt left by the Nile flood. To the ancient Egyptians black was the colour of fertile soil and new life.

Under Philip II in the sixteenth century, plain black became the dress of the Spanish court and was copied across Europe. The deep black dye came from logwood shipped from the Americas.

After Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria wore black for the rest of her life. Victorian widows were expected to wear full black for at least a year.

The black star at the centre of the flag is the lodestar of African freedom. It gives the national football team its name, the Black Stars.

Close family wear black for at least forty days after a death, and often for a year. In villages many widows keep to black for the rest of their lives.

In Bali, a black and white chequered cloth called poleng is wrapped around statues, shrines and large trees. It shows the balance of opposites and marks a place as guarded.

Haredi, or strictly Orthodox, Jewish men wear black suits, black hats and white shirts every day. The cut of a coat or hat can show which community a man belongs to.

A dot of black kajal is often put on a baby's cheek or forehead to turn away the evil eye, called nazar. Many people avoid black clothes at weddings and festivals.

For Ashura and Arbaeen, millions of pilgrims walk to Karbala dressed in black, and black banners for Imam Husayn line the roads.

In Muharram, Shia Muslims wear black for Imam Husayn. Among clerics, a black turban marks a sayyid, a descendant of the Prophet, and others wear white.

The Blackshirts were the armed squads of Mussolini's Fascist movement. Black shirts were later copied by fascist groups in other countries.

The black in the flag stands for the strength and creativity of the people. Marcus Garvey's Pan-African flag of red, black and green is also widely flown.

The flag's bands recall three caliphates: black for the Abbasids, white for the Umayyads and green for the Fatimids. The red triangle is for the Hashemites and the Arab Revolt.

Mourners wear plain black, called mofuku, to funerals, and men add a black tie. Condolence money goes in an envelope tied with black and white cord.

The black band at the top of the flag stands for the people of Kenya. The colours were taken from the flag of the party that led the country to independence.

At the centre of the flag is a black mokorotlo, the cone-shaped straw hat of the Basotho. Black stands for the people.

The flag restored in 2011 is red, black and green with a white crescent and star. The black band comes from the banner of the Senussi order, which led the fight against Italian rule.

The wealthy citizens painted by Rembrandt and Frans Hals wear sober black with white collars. A good black was costly to dye, so it showed both wealth and Calvinist restraint.

Black is the national sporting colour. The rugby team are the All Blacks, and other sides take names from it, such as the Black Caps in cricket and the Black Ferns in women's rugby.

Families wear black to a wake and funeral, and some pin a small black ribbon to their clothes afterwards. Mourning dress traditionally ends at the first anniversary of the death.

In the month of Muharram, Shia Muslims dress in black to mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali at Karbala, and black banners hang over the streets.

After Russian troops fired on crowds in Warsaw in 1861, women across Poland put on black dresses and black jewellery as a sign of national mourning. It lasted for years.

The Black Madonna of Czestochowa is an icon of Mary and the child Jesus with darkened faces. It is the most revered image in the country, and pilgrims walk for days to see it.

The black and white keffiyeh with its fishnet pattern is the sign of Palestinian identity. Yasser Arafat wore it draped over one shoulder.

In fishing towns such as Nazare and in country villages, widows traditionally dressed in black for the rest of their lives. Fado singers perform in a black shawl.

University students wear the traje academico, a black suit and long black cape. At Coimbra they tear the cape's hem for friends and burn ribbons in their faculty's colour at graduation.

The Kaaba in Mecca is covered by the kiswah, a black silk cloth with verses of the Quran worked in gold and silver thread. A new one is made every year.

Women traditionally wear the abaya, a loose black cloak, over their clothes in public. Coloured abayas have become more common in recent years.

Black is worn at funerals. After King Bhumibol died in 2016 much of the country dressed in black or white for a year of mourning.

Mourners wear black and wrap a large, rough woven mat, the ta'ovala, around the waist. The closer the relative, the bigger and more worn the mat.

A red and black flag was used by the wartime Ukrainian Insurgent Army. It is seen at nationalist marches and is disputed because of the army's record.

The flag has six bands: black for the people of Africa, yellow for sunshine and red for the blood that makes all people brothers. A grey crowned crane stands at the centre.

In many Black communities a widow wears black clothes for up to a year after her husband's death, and puts them off at a family ceremony.