Caboto, Giovanni

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Italian navigator. Commissioned, with his three sons, by Henry VII of England to discover unknown lands, he arrived at Cape Breton Island on 24 June 1497, thus becoming the first European to reach the North American mainland (he thought he was in northeast Asia). In 1498 he sailed again, touching Greenland, and probably died on the voyage.

Blue symbolizes hope, the clear sky, and the streams of the south. Yellow stands for the sun and the Sahara Desert. Red represents unity, prosperity, and national sacrifice. Effective date: 6 November 1959. >>