# 'Symbolic' aminals of modern nations?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbolic-aminals-of-modern-nations/161868>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbolic-aminals-of-modern-nations/161868 "2003-03-16T23:34:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbolic-aminals-of-modern-nations/161868/21 "2003-03-17T18:32:04Z")

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Don’t know if it counts, but during World War II [Brazil](http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/3351/campaigns/brzedit.html) identified its troops with a patch that depicted a pipe-smoking snake.

The symbol derived from a common statement in Brazil that they’d sooner see a [snake smoking a pipe](http://www.cvmarj.com.br/x1.htm) than a Brazilian fighting in Europe. Sometimes the quote is attributed to Hitler himself.

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