nationalistic for an international language, so many organizations no longer recommend its use and, instead, use the jubilea simbolo (jubilee symbol, two green "E"s facing each other—or alternatively a Latin-alphabet "E" facing a Cyrillic-alphabet "Э", the first letter of "Эсперанто", the Russian name for Esperanto—on a white field). This symbol was created in 1987 by a Brazilian Esperantist to mark the centenary of the creation of Esperanto. Design of the Verda Stelo The Esperanto flag is composed of a green background with a white square (canton) in the upper lefthand corner, which in turn contains a green star. The green field symbolizes hope, the white symbolizes peace and neutrality, and the five-pointed star represents the five continents (Europe, America, Asia, Oceania, Africa). By recommendation of the board of the Universal Esperanto Association, the flag should have the following proportions: The ratio of the width of the flag to the height of the flag to a side of the white square should be 3 to 2 to 1. The ratio of a side of the white square to the radius of a circle enclosing the star should be 10 to 3.5. In popular culture Most Esperantists continue to hold the verda stelo dear as a symbol of international or supranational solidarity (with the jubilea simbolo jokingly called la melono ('the melon') by some), though many also regard the preference of one symbol over another as a purely personal choice. At most Esperanto congresses, all three main symbols can be seen in use on displays or being worn as badges. Sometimes, Esperanto travelers will display the flag, wear a badge with one of the above symbols, or even wear green clothes, to make themselves known to other Esperanto speakers. On December 15, 2009, the Verda Stelo flew on the Google home search page "Google" logo to mark L. L. Zamenhof's 150th birthday. The flag flew on a flagstaff consisting of the "L" in the search-company's name. Influence One hypothesis about the red star as a symbol of socialism relates to an alleged encounter between Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Krylenko. Krylenko, an Esperantist, was wearing a green-star lapel badge; Trotsky enquired as to its meaning and received an explanation that each arm of the star represented one of the five traditional continents. On hearing this, he specified that a similar red star should be worn by soldiers of the Red Army. See also