Día del Escudo National

Tomorrow is the day of the national seal.

There it is. You've seen it. Whether you're a tourist or ex-pat or an immigrant it's stamped all over your paperwork.

The basics: It's a blanco y celeste ellipse with two outstretched clasped right hands in the bottom part that are holding up a spear that is topped off by a red stocking cap and surrounded by two laurel branches that cross and are tied at the bottom with a bow of ribbon in those same national colors. On top of everything is a golden rising sun with 21 rays that alternate between flames and points.

Cool... but what's up with that brim, Jim? You know, that santaclaus lookin' thing.

Maybe you've seen it here... or here... or here.

That might not surprise you... but what about this ...or this?

That's the gorro frigio or Phrygian cap. Better known in yanquilandia as the liberty cap or in France as le bonne rouge, a great old symbol from the enlightenment of which the Argentine founders were members.

It dates back to ancient Greece where slaves celebrated receiving their liberty by wearing it.

One place you won't see, though, is on the statue at the top of the US Capitol dome... even though the architect designed it that way.

It seems a malcontented Senator named Jefferson Davis objected to its association with slaves... or so he said.