Roman Mars is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, so it is no surprise that the redesign of the San Francisco flag has drawn his attention. In May of this year he announced that his radio show and podcast 99% Invisible was teaming up with design software multinational Autodesk to support a redesign activity, including the… Continue reading SF Flag Redesigns
Month: October 2015
South Bend Hosts Rule-Based Competition
Add South Bend, Indiana to your list of US cities working on new flag designs this year. If you would like to participate, you have until 5:00 PM Central Time on November 16th to upload a flag design to be considered. (You can also submit by mail or in person.) South Bend's contest is a bit… Continue reading South Bend Hosts Rule-Based Competition
Who Doesn’t Like the Union Jack?
Guardian art critic and famed contrarian Jonathan Jones, that's who. The decision this summer by the British team at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing not to include the Union Jack on team uniforms prompted Jones to write an essay slamming the UK flag. He titled it We don't need the union jack on Team… Continue reading Who Doesn’t Like the Union Jack?
The Ieweras Gray Women’s Warrior Flag
Ieweras Gray (1998-2014) was a Mohawk girl who was diagnosed with leukemia at age six, battling the cancer until succumbing to it at age 16. Her story, and that of her father James Sakoietah Gray who was torn between supporting his daughter and defending himself in a criminal case regarding an Indian casino, was movingly documented in… Continue reading The Ieweras Gray Women’s Warrior Flag
Gobitis
The US flag has a sad history of being used to compel patriotism. One low point occurred in 1940 when the Supreme Court, in the throes of World War II, ruled in Minersville School District v. Gobitis that religious dissenters could be forced to salute the flag in the name of national unity (or, for example, be expelled… Continue reading Gobitis
Art is the Handmaid of Human Good
Lowell's city flag, like so many, places the city seal on a plain field -- an example of the infamous "seal on a bedsheet". And, yes, there is a Roman Mars-inspired grassroots effort underway to improve it at lowellflag.com. But let's stop a moment to consider this artwork. Lowell's seal is a remarkable example of its genre.… Continue reading Art is the Handmaid of Human Good
Dallas = The Pegasus and The Trinity?
In an interesting twist on the "let's improve our city's flag!" meme that, courtesy of Roman Mars, is circulating around the U.S., a Facebook-centric initiative is underway in the Big D, Dallas, Texas. And a rapidly-moving initiative it is! Dallas I. May created the Facebook page Your Dallas Flag less than a month ago. After some… Continue reading Dallas = The Pegasus and The Trinity?
Whitney Smith: Flags of the Arab World, 1958
It was 57 years ago this month that the word vexillology first appeared in print, in an article by the founder of flag studies, Whitney Smith, in the now discontinued journal The Arab World. Here is a transcription of the article. FLAGS of the ARAB WORLD By WHITNEY SMITH, Jr. One of the most interesting phases… Continue reading Whitney Smith: Flags of the Arab World, 1958
How Roman Mars Brought Vexillology to the Public
Vexillology may have more fame as an answer to a trivia question than as an serious topic of conversation, but Roman Mars is changing that. In May we reported on the release, on TED.com and YouTube, of the video of his March 2015 TED Talk. On TED.com it's titled Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing… Continue reading How Roman Mars Brought Vexillology to the Public
A New Flag For A New L.A.
Want to improve your city's flag? Take a look at what Ian Williams and his collaborators have put together to push for "A New Flag For A New L.A.". First, they managed to get the domain losangelesflag.org (welcome to the [cityname]flag.org family, Los Angeles Flag!), the twitter handle @LosAngelesFlag, and the Facebook page facebook.com/losangelesflag. (That all these… Continue reading A New Flag For A New L.A.
Portland Flag Association 