By Scott Shephard

Did you know that 38 countries have red, white and blue as the dominant colors in their flags? I didn't until I Googled it yesterday. There is some controversy about which country had the idea first but I do know that the United States adopted the tricolor in 1777. Flagsforum.com suggests that the Netherlands might have been the first country to use red, white and blue (in 1572).

However, as you can see, there is nothing even close to resembling a flag in this photo, even though it was taken in one of the great American cities - Denver, Colorado. What you are looking at is a building near Union Station and Coors Field in downtown Denver. It's called the "18th Street Atrium," which I also didn't know until I Googled it. I wasn't thinking about flags when I stopped to compose this photo. I just liked the strong color and texture of the bricks. And I liked the lines. And I also liked the wispy white of the morning clouds, which seem to taunt the order and pattern of the bricks. God bless Mother Nature (and good architecture.)

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/4.0 ISO200 40mm