Flutterings (from VexTab #54)

from Vexilloid Tabloid #54

Note: “Flutterings” — notes from the editor on our last meeting — is a regular feature in The Vexilloid Tabloid.

September 2015 Flutterings You Need to Know

In our September meeting, hosted by Larry Snyder in a small theater—complete with fresh popcorn—at the Oswego Pointe development in Lake Oswego, 8 PFA members enjoyed a lively evening of flags.  As the host, Larry led the introductions and moderated the discussion.

We welcomed a new member,  Jerry Fest, a flag collector from Fairview (originally from Philadelphia).  He flies a different flag at his home each week, and posts it on Facebook (see facebook.com/WhatsthatFlag).  He’ll bring something for show and tell next time.

Michael Orelove gave an update  on his latest flag solicitation project:  to collect from the respective municipal governments the city flags of all 50 US state capitals.  He presented the flags of Carson City, Nev.; Cheyenne, Wy.; Frankfort, Ky.; Jefferson City, Mo.; Lansing, Mich.; and Montgomery, Ala. A popular motif:  capitol domes.

He also showed off a flag he recently purchased:  Helen Rogers’ Poppy Flag, which he learned about from her article in Flagmaster 153 (and ordered from her website, thepoppyflag.com).  Rogers was inspired by the 1915 poem by John McCrae:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing,  fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below…
In Flanders Fields.

 

 

David Ferriday presented what appeared to be an ordinary American flag on a stick.  But looking closer, it was labelled MADE IN U.S.A.—a true rarity!  He also passed around a clipping from the housewares catalog FLOR, advertising Union Jack floor tiles (www.flor.com/hey-jack-red.html).

He recommended we visit the Oregon Historical Society, which  is hosting an exhibit through December 7 on WW II that includes Japanese “good luck flags” (hinomaru yosegaki) taken from captured or killed soldiers.(An Oregon non-profit, OBON 2015, obon2015.com, is working to reunite these flags with soldiers’ families in Japan.)  He passed around a clipping from The Oregonian highlighting the flags.

He also had on hand two of the flags in the last “What’s That Flag?” puzzle he had put together for the Vexilloid Tabloid: the flag of South Africa, and the Flag for All Mankind in the 21st Century (his own design).  The theme of the puzzle stumped everyone; it was: “flags with too many colors (5–6) according to Good Flag, Bad Flag!”.

Larry Snyder presented some designs he’s been playing around with for a redesign of the flag of Boston, Massachusetts.  (On Flag Day the Boston Globe announced a design competition.)  He based his designs of the flag of the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, replacing the fleur-de-lis on the English flag with the star and Indian from the Massachusetts state flag.

He also presented a strange flag design he had encountered:  the flag of the “Veteran Exempts”— possibly used in the last battle of the War of 1812, the Battle of Plattsburg on Lake Champlain. The Exempts were a New York militia made up of veterans of the American Revolution (who were thus exempt from required military service); their flag design survives only as a verbal description and it’s unclear if it was ever actually made and used (see www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-vetx.html).

As is his generous habit, Patrick Genna brought with him flags he had bought at Goodwill to give away at the meeting.  This time they were those of Greece and Australia.

Scott Mainwaring’s show-and-tell flag stumped the crowd:  it was the flag of the shipbuilding city of Bath, Maine.  The striking heraldic design was created in 2013 by Keith Hammond “with the assistance of the city council’s flag committee”, and manufactured via a successful Kickstarter campaign.  See www.jeremyhammond.net/archives/102.

Our next meeting will be at the home of Michael Orelove on Nov. 12th.   Michael took the Portland Flag Association flag for him—the customary task of the next host.

[Thanks to Scott Mainwaring for text and Patrick Genna for photos.]