原标题：日本艺术家为东京奥运会参赛国绘制“动漫武士”队旗

为了迎接东京奥运会的开幕，日本民间艺术家为各参赛国设计了一系列以武士为主题的动漫队旗。这些队旗结合了各国国旗的元素，还参考了各国的历史与文化背景。来看看哪国队旗的武士最酷？

World Flags intends to create characters for all 200 countries competing in the Games. (Credit: World Flags)

A group of Japanese artists are hoping to help people embrace both the Olympic spirit and Japanese culture by reimagining flags of competing countries as samurai characters.

一群日本艺术家希望能通过为参赛国设计动漫武士队旗来帮助人们领略奥运精神和日本文化。

Nations large and small are represented in the World Flags project, including India, South Africa, Great Britain, Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Turkey.

这个“世界队旗”项目涵盖了大大小小的国家，包括印度、南非、英国、斯里兰卡、萨尔瓦多和土耳其。

The samurais representing Paraguay, Colombia and Costa Rica all use the colours of their flags. (Credit: World Flags)

"Samurais are unique to Japan and we want everyone to get to know traditional Japanese culture," creator Kamaya Yamamoto said.

设计师山本镰谷说：“武士是日本独有的，我们想让大家了解传统日本文化。”

He starts by researching the meaning and history of a country's flag as well as the colours and design, and then researches their culture.

他从一国国旗的含义和历史开始研究，之后扩展到国旗的颜色和图样，然后再研究这个国家的文化。

Mexico's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

For example, because the Mexican flag features an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake, Mr Yamamoto blended these elements together to create a samurai with a snake insignia and an eagle companion.

举例来说，因为墨西哥国旗上是一只老鹰在仙人掌上吃蛇，所以山本先生就将这些元素融合在一起，设计出一个与老鹰为伴、衣服上有蛇标记的武士。

Each character also comes with a short write-up on their personality, strengths and weaknesses - a bit like a character in a video game.

每个角色还附有个性、强项和弱点的简介，有点类似电子游戏里的人物。

China's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

"We hope this can be a way for people to learn about other countries," says Kozo Yamada, another artist on the project. "That's what the Olympics are about."

该项目的另一位艺术家山田耕三表示：“我们希望这可以成为人们了解其他国家的一种方式。这也是奥运会的意义所在。”

Japan's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

Samurai soldiers have played a huge part in Japanese history since at least the 12th Century. Although samurais themselves no longer exist, "bushido" - the way of the warrior, based on honour and discipline - is a value system considered important in Japanese culture even today.

早在12世纪，武士就在日本历史上叱咤风云。尽管武士已经不复存在，但是即使在今天，基于荣誉和纪律的武士道依然被视为日本文化中的一个重要价值体系。

Germany's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

Even though the online initiative seems like a fitting promotional campaign for the Tokyo Olympics, the 15 people behind the project don't make any money from it and do it in their free time.

尽管这个网上发起的项目对东京奥运会来说是一个很好的宣传活动，但是参与项目的15个人却分文不取，而且都是利用自己的闲暇时间完成的。

They have so far made samurais out of the flags of 84 of the 200 competing countries.

迄今为止，他们已经为200个参赛国中的84个国家设计了武士队旗。

America's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

France's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

Some embassies in Japan - like Honduras and Venezuela - have separately contacted the artists because they want to display pictures of the samurais.

驻日本的一些大使馆（比如洪都拉斯和委内瑞拉大使馆）已经单独联系了这些艺术家，因为他们想展示武士队旗的图片。

The hope is that the images will help people get excited about the Olympics, especially since no-one will be able to actually watch any of the Games in person.

艺术家希望这些图片可以激发人们对东京奥运会的热情，尤其在无人能够现场观看奥运会的情况下。

South Korea's samurai (Credit: World Flags)

Japan is in a state of emergency because of Covid and all spectators are banned.

受新冠疫情影响，日本已进入紧急状态，并禁止所有观众入场。

"People will only be able to enjoy the Olympics online," says Mr Yamada. "So hopefully our designs will provide a bit of entertainment and relief for all those tired of Covid-19."

山田先生表示：“人们只能在网上观赏奥运会。因此，希望我们的设计能为那些厌倦了新冠疫情的人们提供一点娱乐和安慰。”

英文来源：BBC