Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
The Orient Express was the name of a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL).<br/><br/> The route and rolling stock of the Orient Express changed many times. Several routes in the past concurrently used the Orient Express name, or slight variants thereof. Although the original Orient Express was simply a normal international railway service, the name has become synonymous with intrigue and luxury travel. The two city names most prominently associated with the Orient Express are Paris and Constantinople (Istanbul), the original endpoints of the timetabled service.<br/><br/> The Orient Express was a showcase of luxury and comfort at a time when travelling was still rough and dangerous. CIWL soon developed a dense network of luxury trains all over Europe, whose names are still remembered today and associated with the art of luxury travel (such as the Blue Train, the Golden Arrow, North Express and many more). CIWL became the first and most important modern multinational dedicated to transport, travel agency, and hospitality with activities spreading from Europe to Asia and Africa.
Baron Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg (December 29, 1885 – September 15, 1921) was a Baltic Swedish-Russian Yesaul (Cossack Captain), a Russian hero of World War I and Lieutenant-general at the time of civil war in Russia and Mongolia, who 'liberated' Mongolia from Chinese rule in February - March 1921. In June he invaded Southern Siberia trying to raise an anti-communist rebellion, but was defeated by the Red Army in August 1921.<br/><br/> An independent and brutal warlord in pursuit of pan-monarchist goals in Mongolia and territories east of Lake Baikal during the Russian Civil War that followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Ungern von-Sternberg's goals included restoring the Russian monarchy under Michael Alexandrovich Romanov and the Great Mongol Empire, with Outer Mongolia under Bogd Khan as part of it. His opponents were mainly Communists.<br/><br/> Ungern-Sternberg often persecuted those who were helping his foes: all Reds and especially Jews. Following his Asiatic Cavalry Division collapse in Mongolia, Ungern-Sternberg was left by his Russian officers and taken prisoner by the Bolshevik's Red Army. He was tried and executed for his counter-revolutionary involvement in Novosibirsk.
The Tokugawa clan (Tokugawa-shi) was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They are nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) by the Nitta clan. The clan rose to power at the end of the Sengoku period, and to the end of the Edo period they ruled Japan as shoguns. In all, there were fifteen Tokugawa shoguns. Their dominance was so strong that some history books use the term 'Tokugawa era' instead of 'Edo period'. Their principal family shrine is the Tōshō-gū in Nikkō, and their principal temple is at Kan'ei-ji in Tokyo. Tokugawa's clan crest, known in Japanese as a mon, is the triple asarum or wild ginger.
Flag of Khmer Republic (Lon Nol Regime), in use from October 1970 to 1975, between the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk and the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge).
The flag of Shanghai International Settlement. The flags are: Top left: Great Britain, United States, France, Germany. Top right: Russia, Denmark, Italy, Portugal. Bottom: Norway and Sweden (upside down), Austria, Spain, Netherlands. The Latin reads: Juncta In Uno Omnia (All Joined in One), while the Chinese reads: Gong Bu Ju (Municipal Council).
The flag consists of three horizontal strips, middle blue strip is twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the center is a white disk symbolizing the unity of the people under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the country's bright future. It is also said to represent a full moon against the Mekong River. The red stripes stand for the blood shed by the people in their struggle for freedom, and the blue symbolizes their prosperity.
The royal standard of Cambodia bears the royal coat of arms on a dark blue field. Depicted on the coat of arms are two animals which are a gajasingha (a lion with an elephant trunk) on the left, and a singha, or a lion, on the right. Supported by the animals are two royal five-tiered umbrellas. In between is a royal crown with a ray of light at its top.
Flag of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), the political arm of the Khmer Rouge. Yellow Hammer and Sickle symbol on red field.
Bali is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority with some 92% of the island’s 4 million population adhering to Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam.<br/><br/> Bali is the largest tourist destination in Indonesia, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leatherwork, metalwork and music.
Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 1948-1970, 1993 to the present. Three white towers of Angkor Wat against a red field, with dark blue band top and bottom.
Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979-1989). Five towers of Angkor on a red field.
The United Suvadive Republic or Suvadive Islands was a short-lived breakaway nation in the remote Southern Atolls of the Maldive Islands, namely Addu Atoll, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah that geographically make up the Suvadive archipelago.
Flag of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). Three yellow towers of Angkor Wat on a red field.
Flag of Cambodia under French rule, 1863-1945, 1945-1948. Three towers of Angkor Wat in white on a red field surrounded by a dark blue border.
Mengjiang was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control from 12 May 1936 until after Japan’s defeat in World War II. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It is occasionally called Měnggǔguó or Mengkukuo (in analogy to Manchukuo, another Japanese puppet state in Manchuria.) The capital was Kalgan, and the ruler was Chairman Demchugdongrub.
Flag of the State of Cambodia (1989-1993). Five towers of Angkor against a red upper field and blue lower field.
The Ma clique is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949.<br/><br/> There were three families in the Ma clique (‘Ma’ being a common Hui rendering of the common Muslim name, Muhammad), each of them respectively controlled one area. The three most prominent members of the clique were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Hongbin, collectively known as the Xibei San Ma, (The Three Ma of the Northwest).<br/><br/> Some contemporary accounts, such as Edgar Snow's, described the clique as the ‘Four Ma’, adding Ma Bufang's brother Ma Buqing to the list of the top warlords. Other prominent Mas included Ma Anliang, Ma Qi, Ma Lin, Ma Hu-shan and Ma Zhongying.
Crest of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). The symbolism celebrates theoretical agricultural and industrial advances with emphasis on irrigation works, rice fields and a factory.
Flag of the short-lived Cambodian Pro-Tokyo puppet state established between March and October 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Indochina. Five white squares in and around a white frame against a red field. The five white squares represent the quincunx at Angkor Wat.
The Royal Lao flag is a three headed elephant referred to as an Erawan. The three headed elephant generally has the layered "umbrella" over its heads as opposed to one on either side.<br/><br/> The kingdom of Laos existed from the 14th to the 18th centuries, then split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms—Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak—uniting to form what is now known as Laos.<br/><br/> The country briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949.<br/><br/> Laos became independent in 1954, with a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France. In October 1887, the French announced the formation of the Union Indochinoise (Union of Indochina), which at that time comprised Cambodia and the three regions of Vietnam (Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina). In 1893, Laos was also annexed. Flag represents French flag canton on a yellow field.
Roundel of the air force of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). Three yellow towers of Angkor Wat on a red field.
From 1952 until the fall of the royal government in 1975 the country had a red flag, with a white three-headed elephant (the god Erawan) in the middle. On top of the elephant is a nine-folded umbrella, while the elephant itself stands on a five-level pedestal. The white elephant is a common royal symbol in Southeast Asia, the three heads referred to the three former kingdoms Vientiane, Luangprabang, and Champasak which made up the country. The nine-folded umbrella is also a royal symbol, originating from Mt. Meru in the Buddhist cosmology. The pedestal represented the law on which the country rested.
Sri Lanka had always been an important port and trading post in the ancient world, and was increasingly frequented by merchant ships from the Middle East, Persia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The islands were known to the first European explorers of South Asia and settled by many groups of Arab and Malay merchants.<br/><br/> A Portuguese colonial mission arrived on the island in 1505 headed by Lourenço de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida. At that point the island consisted of three kingdoms, namely Kandy in the central hills, Kotte at the Western coast, and Yarlpanam (Anglicised Jaffna) in the north. The Dutch arrived in the 17th century. The British East India Company took over the coastal regions controlled by the Dutch in 1796, and in 1802 these provinces were declared a crown colony under direct rule of the British government, therefore the island was not part of the British Raj. The annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 by the Kandyan convention, unified the island under British rule.<br/><br/> European colonists established a series of cinnamon, sugar, coffee, indigo cultivation followed by tea and rubber plantations and graphite mining. The British also brought a large number of indentured workers from Tamil Nadu to work in the plantation economy. The city of Colombo was developed as the administrative centre and commercial heart with its harbor, and the British established modern schools, colleges, roads and churches that introduced Western-style education and culture to the Ceylonese.<br/><br/> On 4 February 1948 the country gained its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. It changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.
Flag of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), 1982-83. White outline map of Cambodia bearing the Khmer word 'Kampuchea' in pale blue set against a pale blue field.
The kingdom of Laos existed from the 14th to the 18th centuries, then split into three separate kingdoms.<br/><br/> In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms—Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak—uniting to form what is now known as Laos. The country briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949.<br/><br/> Laos became independent in 1954, with a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
Used mainly in Shanghai and eastern parts of northern China until 1928, this flag was widely flown even before the founding of the Republic of China by Chinese on the eastern coast and garnered the greatest respect at the founding of the ROC.<br/><br/> The stripes represent the five great races in China's history, according to Dr. Sun Yat-sen: red for Han Chinese, yellow to represent Manchus, blue as Mongols, white for both Huis and Uyghurs, and black for Tibetans.
The royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Cambodia is the symbol of the Cambodian monarchy. It has existed in some form close to the one depicted since the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Cambodia in 1953. It is the symbol on the Royal Standard of the reigning monarch of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni (ascended 2004).
Bali is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority with some 92% of the island’s 4 million population adhering to Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam.<br/><br/> Bali is the largest tourist destination in Indonesia, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leatherwork, metalwork and music.
The coat of arms features a gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw (the same lion from the flag of Sri Lanka) in the centre on a maroon background surrounded by golden petals of a Blue Lotus the national flower of the country. This is placed on top of a traditional grain vase that sprouts sheaves of rice grains that circle the border reflecting prosperity. The crest is the Dharmacakra, symbolizing the country's foremost place for Buddhism and just rule. Traditional Sinhalese heraldic symbols for the sun and the moon form the supporters.<br/><br/> Sri Lanka had always been an important port and trading post in the ancient world, and was increasingly frequented by merchant ships from the Middle East, Persia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The islands were known to the first European explorers of South Asia and settled by many groups of Arab and Malay merchants.<br/><br/> A Portuguese colonial mission arrived on the island in 1505 headed by Lourenço de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida. At that point the island consisted of three kingdoms, namely Kandy in the central hills, Kotte at the Western coast, and Yarlpanam (Anglicised Jaffna) in the north. The Dutch arrived in the 17th century. The British East India Company took over the coastal regions controlled by the Dutch in 1796, and in 1802 these provinces were declared a crown colony under direct rule of the British government, therefore the island was not part of the British Raj. The annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 by the Kandyan convention, unified the island under British rule.<br/><br/> European colonists established a series of cinnamon, sugar, coffee, indigo cultivation followed by tea and rubber plantations and graphite mining. The British also brought a large number of indentured workers from Tamil Nadu to work in the plantation economy. The city of Colombo was developed as the administrative centre and commercial heart with its harbor, and the British established modern schools, colleges, roads and churches that introduced Western-style education and culture to the Ceylonese.<br/><br/> On 4 February 1948 the country gained its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. It changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.
The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 (with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917). It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.<br/><br/> The dynasty was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in modern northeast China (also known as Manchuria). Starting in 1644 it expanded into China proper and its surrounding territories, establishing the Empire of the Great. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.<br/><br/> During its reign the Qing Dynasty became highly integrated with Chinese culture. The dynasty reached its zenith in the 18th century, during which both territory and population were increased. However, its military power weakened thereafter and, faced with massive rebellions and defeat in wars, the Qing Dynasty declined after the mid-19th century.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was overthrown following the Xinhai Revolution, when Empress Dowager Longyu abdicated on behalf of the last emperor, Puyi, on February 12, 1912.
The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally ‘United East India Company’) was a chartered company established in 1602. It was also arguably the world's first mega-corporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies. Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asia trade. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 1600s. The VOC became bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1800.