[This is an update to a 2015 posting about NAVA.]
NAVA is the North American Vexillological Association, the world’s oldest organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It publishes the peer-reviewed journal Raven, as well as a newsletter and the periodical Flag Research Quarterly (FRQ); and holds an annual meeting, the “largest conference of vexillologists (flag scholars),vexillographers (flag designers), vexillophiles (flag collectors and hobbyists), flag conservators, and flag dealers on the continent.”
NAVA has probably had its greatest impact by publishing in 2006 Good Flag, Bad Flag (GFBF), a booklet of practical advice to flag designers. Drawing upon the writings of over a dozen vexillologists,† Ted Kaye distilled five basic design principles and illustrated these with positive and negative examples. GFBF has been translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and formed the basis for Roman Mars’ 2015 TED Talk that has garnered close to three million views! (Inexplicably, NAVA removed GFBF from its website in 2014; we’re happy to report that it’s back, though somewhat buried.)
If you are interested in flags, NAVA needs your support.
The most important support you can give is your participation — by attending, presenting at, or voting at the annual meeting (this year’s is in Boston, October 13-15), submitting to Raven or FRQ, or becoming a NAVA member to receive its publications (and access to its Digital Library).
Your financial support is also critical, as NAVA is a non-profit, donation-supported organization. Annual, tax-deductable memberships cost only $40 for individuals ($20 for students) and entitle you to vote, in person, at the business meeting held at the annual meeting. Organizational memberships cost $60 annually and also receive voting privileges, including the ability to designate a representative to vote at the business meeting (individual members cannot designate such proxies) — provided you designate a representative in writing at least 15 days prior to the annual meeting. (This restriction on organizational members voting was announced for the first time by the Board at the 2016 business meeting, which unfortunately resulted in a number of organizational members being disenfranchised, so caveat emptor!)
If you are already a NAVA member and wish to renew, the easiest way to start is to enter your Customer Number on this page: service.qfie.com/pdc/clsPDCLookup.asp You can find this number on the mailing label of NAVA publications you receive, above your name. If you have difficulty locating your number, e-mail Ted Kaye of the membership committee (kandsons@aol.com), who can provide it to you.
Notes
† Philippe Bondurand, Frederick Brownell, William Crampton, Michael Faul, Jim Ferrigan, Richard Gideon, Kevin Harrington, Lee Herold, Ralph Kelly, Rich Kenny, David Martucci, Clay Moss, Peter Orenski, Whitney Smith, Steve Tyson, Henry Untermeyer, and Alfred Znamierowski.
Portland Flag Association 
[…] Also noteworthy is the involvement of Lee Herold and his Rochester-based flag store Herold Flags (heroldflags.com) as sponsors of the project. This is not the first redesign effort Herold has been involved in — he also is proposing the North Star Flag as the official Minnesota state flag. Herold also serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board of the North American Vexillological Association, NAVA. […]