The Roma chakra, was adopted in 1971 at the First World Romani Congress as the official symbol of the Roma (“Gypsy”) people, resembles a Hindu Chakra wheel, and not unintentionally.
The hedgehog is the animal that symbolizes the gypsies, but also their dilemma, constrained to live with non-gypsies. Their eating habits in regard to the hedgehog are strongly in contrast to non-gypsies. On the one side, the hedgehog is a food particularly prized by and linked to gypsies.
An agreement was reached that the flag will consist of two basic colours – green as a symbol of unlimited natural vastness and freedom of movement, and blue as a symbol of heavenly vastness. A wheel in the middle of the flag represents an eternal journey of the Roma people.
Old family photos can help to identify Gypsy heritage. Photographs taken at gatherings such as hop picking or fairs might be a sign, although these were often annual events which brought together families from many backgrounds, not just Gypsies and Travellers.
The Roma do not follow a single faith, but are Catholic Manouche, Mercheros, and Sinti; Muslim Ashkali and Romanlar; Pentecostal Kalderash and Lovari; Protestant Travellers; Anglican Gypsies; and Baptist Roma.
Roma (Gypsies) originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries C.E. They were called "Gypsies" because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. This minority is made up of distinct groups called "tribes" or "nations."
Romani, the common language of the Roma, the Sinti, the Kale and other European popula- tion groups summarised by the pejorative denomination gypsies, belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family and is the only New-Indo-Aryan language spo- ken exclusively outside of the Indian subcontinent.
Common Gypsy names
You may have Romani, Traveller or Gypsy ancestry if your family tree includes common Romani or Gypsy surnames such as Boss, Boswell, Buckland, Chilcott, Codona, Cooper, Doe, Lee, Gray (or Grey), Harrison, Hearn, Heron, Hodgkins, Holland, Lee, Lovell, Loveridge, Scamp, Smith, Wood and Young.
Romani communities are dispersed across all Australian states, with significant populations located in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Around 14,000 Roma live in Western Australia, mostly immigrants from Macedonia and their children. Nearly all lead sedentary lives.
countable noun. A Gypsy is a member of a race of people who travel from place to place, usually in caravans, rather than living in one place. Some Gypsies object to this name, and prefer to be called Romany.
Genetic studies based on Y-chromosome markers and mitochondrial DNA confirmed the South Asian origin of Roma. Y-chromosome marker M82 (H1a) and mtDNA haplogroups M5a1, M18 and M35b, which are characteristics of South Asian ancestry, are typical in Roma populations [8, 9].
British traditions tended to regard combinations of yellow and red, or yellow-red-black as "Gypsy". An English, non-Romani, cricket club called I Zingari ("The Gypsies") was established in 1845, with red, yellow (or gold), and black as its colors.
Gavver is another word to describe police officers, and it comes from the Romany Gypsy word 'garav' which means hide. We use the word 'gibberish' to describe someone talking complete and utter nonsense, and it originated from the Romany word 'jib' which has the dual meaning of both tongue and language.
Rom (man) and romni (woman) also mean "husband" and "wife." Roma avoid Soviet ceremonies and have their own interesting wedding ceremonies, which are strictly observed, even in big cities.
“Roma” is the word (ethnonym) that the Roma use to describe themselves: it is the term for the members of that specific people and it is Romani for “man”. “Gypsy” is a derogatory, disparaging term – for many an insult — used by the majority population to define the Roma people.
Romani in Australia
There is very little data on Australian Romani; we don't know how many people identify as Romani or practise their culture. It is not known when the first Roma arrived in Australia; some claim that it was as early as the. late 18th century.
Gypsy Roma Travellers are not currently recognised as indigenous, but could be. These communities have distinct cultural practices and experience colonisation. These communities have higher mortality, morbidity and infant mortality.
Accept that the woman may return to her community – she may feel she has little or no choice. The Gypsy and Traveller community firmly believe that “marriage is for life” and divorce is rare.
Heterogeneity between countries has become apparent and has led to the conclusion that the European Roma are composed of two different populations, characterised respectively by a high and a low frequency of blood group B [23], or defined as East and West European Roma, with the former closely related to Indian ...
Both Rom and Romany have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy.
There are 17 dialects but speakers of different dialects can understand each other. There has been a substantial work to create a standard idiom, but still a lot of work has to be done.