Knives in Oman? What Knives?

Behold the new logo for "Brand Oman," some four years in the making according to The Muscatis.

Someone from Digital Oman went to the presentation and explains, "looking at the brand from right to left, the first colour, dawn purple, represents the dhow; Musandum aquamarine green is inspired by Oman’s rich marine environment and the turtle in particular; sky blue is taken from the silhouettes of the mountains; and the Salalah green is the essence of frankincense."

I'd add that the nice, cool blue and green colors reflect on the summertime temperatures in Muscat about as aptly as the name Greenland fits with its glaciers. Not a single ray of yellow or red sun suggested in the new logo.

The traditional Omani curved knife, called a Khanjar (picture), which every merchant in every shop all across the land wants you to take home, is so ubiquitous that, as the Muscatis points out, it's odd that it wasn't worked in somehow.

 The Muscatis ascribes it to political correctness: "the government is conciously distancing away from the khanjar as a national symbol because it is a weapon since we are living in a 'sensitive' world."

See more photos from Oman in the Oman Gallery on EarthPhotos.com.