vexillology

Flag of the Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques.

Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum and the suffix -logy, meaning "study of". The vexillum was a particular type of flag used by Roman legions during the classical era; its name is a diminutive form of the word vela meaning sail, and thus literally means "little sail". Unlike most modern flags, which are suspended from a pole or mast along a vertical side, the square vexillum was suspended from a horizontal crossbar along its top side, which was attached to a spear.

The term was coined in 1957 by the American scholar Whitney Smith^{[citation needed]}, the author of many books and articles on the subject. It was originally considered a sub-discipline of heraldry, and is still occasionally seen as such. It is sometimes considered a branch of semiotics.^[1] It is formally defined in the FIAV (Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques) constitution as "the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge." A person who studies flags is a vexillologist, and a person who designs flags is a vexillographer.

Every second year FIAV organizes the International Congress of Vexillology (ICV). The 2007 ICV was in Berlin, Germany; the 2009 ICV will be in Yokohama, Japan. Internet activity of vexillologists is centered on the Flags of the World website and mailing list.

Flag Identification Symbols (FIS)

The Flag Identification System was created by Whitney Smith and adopted by FIAV.

The first row represents use on land and the second use on water, each divided into private (civil), government (state), and military (war) use.

There are 63 representing symbols that can describe the flag, including:

FIS	Text mode	Description	Usage
	C**/***	Civil Flag	by private persons on land
	*S*/***	State Flag	by state institutions on land
	**W/***	War Flag	by military on land (army)
	***/C**	Civil Ensign	on private vessels (merchant ensign)
	***/*S*	State Ensign	on state owned vessels
	***/**W	War Ensign	by navy
	CS*/***	Civil and State Flag	by private persons and state on land
	*SW/***	State and War Flag	by state services and military on land
	CSW/***	National Flag	for all purposes on land
	***/CSW	National Ensign	for all purposes on vessels
	CSW/CSW	National Flag and Ensign	for all purposes on land and sea

Other symbols are used to describe other aspects of the usage of the flag, such as official status and which side of the flag is being shown. The ones in general use are:

• Normal or de jure version of flag, or obverse side
• Design proposed but not officially adopted
• Design is a reconstruction based on observations
• Reverse side of flag
• Design is an acceptable variant
• Alternative version of flag
• De facto version of flag
• Flag has different designs on its obverse side and its reverse side
• Obverse side meant to be hoisted with pole to the observer's right
• Design officially authorized to represent nation by government of that nation
• Design used in the past, but now abandoned (not part of Smith's original set)
• Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
• Reverse side is congruent with obverse side
• Information on reverse side is not available
• Flag can be hung vertically by hoisting on a normal pole, then turning the pole 90°
• Flag can be hung vertically by rotating the design first
• Vertical hoist method of flag is unknown
• Design has no element that can be rotated
• Flag can be hoisted vertically only

Principles of flag design

Flag designs exhibit a number of regularities, arising from a variety of practical concerns, historical circumstances, and cultural prescriptions that have shaped and continue to shape their evolution.

First among the practical issues confronting a vexillographer is the necessity for the design to be manufactured (and often mass produced) into or onto a piece of cloth, which will subsequently be hoisted aloft in the outdoors to represent an organization, individual or idea. In this respect, flag design departs considerably from logo design: logos are predominantly still images to be read off a page, screen, or billboard, while flags are alternately draped and fluttering images to be seen from a variety of distances and angles. The prevalence of simple bold colors and shapes in flag design attests to these practical issues.

Flag design is also a historical process in which current designs often refer back to previous designs, effectively quoting, elaborating, or commenting upon them. Families of current flags may derive from a few common ancestors as in the cases of the Pan-African colours, the Pan-Arab colors, the Pan-Slavic colors, the Nordic Cross flag and the Ottoman flag.

Certain cultures prescribe the proper design of flags, through heraldic or other authoritative systems. Prescription may be based on religious principles: see, for example, Islamic flags. As a discipline, vexillology is beginning to promote design principles based on a body of research on flag history and design. Prominent examples are Ted Kaye's five Good Flag, Bad Flag principles published and endorsed by the North American Vexillological Association:

1. Keep It Simple: the flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.
2. Use Meaningful Symbolism: the flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes.
3. Use 2–3 Basic Colors: limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set.
4. No Lettering or Seals: never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal.
5. Be Distinctive or Be Related: avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

Vexillologists

• Peter Ansoff, tireless debunker of American Revolutionary-era flag myths, and President of NAVA 2004–2008
• Ralph Bartlett, long-time leader in the Flag Society of Australia, and expert on Flags of Aspirant Peoples
• Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist of the Flag Institute (UK), and Secretary-General for Congresses of FIAV
• Bruce B Berry, founder member of the Southern African Vexillological Association (SAVA), editor of the SAVA Journal and SAVA Newsletter, and collector of Rhodesian and South African flags
• Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr. (deceased), author of The Flags of the Confederacy andThe Flags of the Union, founder of the Confederate States Vexillological Association
• William Crampton (deceased), founder of the Flag Institute and author of many editions of Flags of the World
• Prof. Scot Guenter, a prominent academic vexillologist and author of The American Flag 1777–1924
• Kevin Harrington, president of the Canadian Flag Association and editor of Flagscan
• Don Healy, foremost researcher of U.S. tribal flags and author (with Peter Orenski) of Native American Flags
• Ted Kaye, editor of NAVA's Raven, a Journal of Vexillology 1996–present and compiler of Good Flag, Bad Flag
• Roman Klimes, Czech, founder of the World Vexillological Research Institute and author of Freie Stadt Danzig - Flaggen, Wappen und Siegel (1920–1939)
• Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography
• Michel Lupant, Belgian vexillologist, author of many publications including reference works on flags of police and fire services, and President of FIAV
• David B. Martucci, president of NAVA 1998–2004, principal of Vexman Consulting, and expert in U.S. historical flags
• Ottfried Neubecker (deceased), the most important German vexillologist, author of the German navy Flaggenbuch of 1939
• George H. Preble, American naval admiral and author in 1872 of the influential, if lore-filled, History of the American Flag
• John M. Purcell, president of NAVA 1981–1983, principal author of American City Flags
• Rudolf Siegel, author of the influential book Die Flagge, published in 1912
• Whitney Smith, founder of the Flag Research Center, editor of the Flag Bulletin, and coiner of the word "vexillology" in 1957
• Alfred Znamierowski, Polish-born founder of the Flag Design Center and author of The World Encyclopedia of Flags.
• Sanjeeva Rao Kambhampati, founder of the Indien Vexillological Association (IVA), INDIA

Vexillographers

• Luis and Sabino Arana, designers of the Ikurriña (the flag of the Basque Country)
• Graham Bartram, designer of the flag of Tristan da Cunha and others
• Manuel Belgrano, designer of the flag of Argentina
• Frederick 'Fred' Brownell, designer of the flags of South Africa and Namibia
• Ron Cobb, designer of the American Ecology Flag
• John Eisemann, designer of the flag of the U.S. state of Ohio
• Quamrul Hassan, designer of the flag of Bangladesh
• Robert G. Heft, a designer of the 50-star canton for the American flag
• Cederic Herbert, designer of the flag of the short-lived Zimbabwe Rhodesia
• Adolf Hitler, designer of the flag of Nazi Germany, the Reichskriegsflagge and his personal standard.
• Francis Hopkinson, designer (according to some historians) of the American flag
• Friedensreich Hundertwasser, designer of the Koru Flag among others
• Sharif Hussein, designer of the flag of the Arab Revolt
• James I of England, designer of the first flag of Great Britain.
• Syed Amir-uddin Kedwaii, designer of the flag of Pakistan
• Lu Hao-tung, designer of the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag of the Republic of China
• John McConnell, designer of the Flag of the Earth
• Fredrik Meltzer, designer of the flag of Norway
• Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, designer of the flag of Brazil
• William Porcher Miles, designer of the battle flag of the Confederate States of America
• Francisco de Miranda, designer of the flag of Venezuela
• Theodosia Okoh, designer of the flag of Ghana
• Christopher Pratt, designer of the flag of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Betsy Ross, designer (according to legend) of the American flag during the American Revolution(more likely she merely sewed one of the first exemplars)
• Gerard Slevin, former Chief Herald of Ireland reputed to have helped design the flag of the European Union
• Whitney Smith, designer of the flag of Guyana and other flags
• George Stanley, designer of the flag of Canada
• Joaquín Suárez, designer of the flag of Uruguay
• Robert Watt, designer of the flag of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Oliver Wolcott, Jr., designer of the flag of the United States Customs Service
• Zeng Liansong, designer of the flag of the People's Republic of China

See also

• Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques
• Flag
• Flag Institute (U.K.)
• Flagmaster
• Flag terminology
• Flags of the World
• Heraldry
• Nordic Flag Society
• North American Vexillological Association
• Sociedad Española de Vexilología
• Tincture (heraldry)
• William Crampton Library

References

External links

• World Flag Database
• Flag Research Center (U.S.)
• Flag Institute (United Kingdom)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flaggenkunde (Germany)
• ICV 2005 at Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Flags Forum, discussion forum on vexillology