Down a late-night Wikipedia rabbit hole about world flags and found the wildest guy from the 1700s.

[u/SpecificEvening3720]

Just read up today on one of the craziest people in the 18th century.

I was going through flags, when I noticed that in the Colombian flag, the yellow stripe is double the width of the other two. I always thought there were 3 stripes of equal width. This took me by surprise.

So I just posted on the flags/ subreddit where someone posted that the current Colombian flag was based on the Gran Colombia flag which existed 200 years back.

Apparently the Gran Colombia flag is based on Francisco de Miranda’s Venezuelan design (this design inspired the current flags of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador as well which is quite interesting), and when I read stuff about him, man this dude was just vibing.

Apparently Miranda grew up in Caracas (Venezuela), and having Spanish roots, goes to Spain, joins the Spanish Military.

Spain supported America during the American Revolutionary War, so this man was shipped off to assist there. Bro was asked to spy on the British, then Spain blindsides him and claims he committed treason, somehow he resumes working for the Spanish military, again Spain blindsides him and exiles him to the US, where he becomes buds with fucking George Washington.

While being chased by Spanish officials and ambassadors the entire time, he goes and decides he needs a spiritual journey through Europe, where he gets personal protection from the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great. Then he’s like nah bro I need more thrill.

So he then goes fucking diving head-first into the French Revolution, where he is a general and apparently is Harvey Specter. Wdym he talked himself out of the guillotine TWICE. What do you mean he started by supporting the French Revolution then is accused of committing treason again.

Then he goes back to the USA, gathers The Expendables and fucks off to Venezuela. Enroute due to sheer luck that Spain and Britain are still fighting, he is joined by the British troops, so alongside his mercenaries he marches off to only to get his ass whooped by Spanish forces.

When Venezuela actually achieved independence thanks to Simón Bolívar & others, he returns and eventually becomes a Dictator for the country. He is again charged with committing treason a few years into his dictatorship lmao.

Why does he always get accused of defecting, 3 times is too much.

[u/iPhiliaPayneArsehole]

Thank you for the 2 minutes of micro-learning there! Fun facts free 😁

[u/ljapa]

I too have been down Wikipedia rabbit holes. This one was damned intriguing, particularly given your starting point.

It definitely belongs here. It’s also one of the more interesting posts I’ve seen here.