Blog
Armenian Flags
100 years ago today the Armenian Genocide began at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. In honor of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a look at Armenian flags: The Armenian tricolor was created by the government of the First Republic of Armenia, based on the colors of the late Rubenid Dynasty (red, blue, and yellow), with yellow… Continue reading Armenian Flags
The Trouble with Icons
Here is a fascinating 37-minute documentary on the use -- by photographers, artists, journalists, institutions, and ordinary citizens -- of the American flag in response to war/terrorism, from British film makers David Dunnico and Cat Gregory. They compare two cases: the 1945 attack by US Marines on Japanese-held Iwo Jima out of which came Joe Rosenthal's iconic photo, and the… Continue reading The Trouble with Icons
Ron English – Flag of Baby America
Bucky Turco at ANIMALNewYork reports on a large US flag mural by "interventionist" Ron English that's gone up on the Houston Bowery Wall (an outdoor exhibition space) in Manhattan. The stars feature star-eyed (or rather star-eye-socketed) skulls, and the stripes are reproductions of English's Propaganda images of ad and currency parodies. The baby Hulk in the middle? “The… Continue reading Ron English – Flag of Baby America
A Vexillological Hapax Legomenon
Back in 2010 linguist Geoffrey Nunberg brought an interesting perspective to bear on the Pledge of Allegiance, which had been in the news when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled, 2 to 1, that "under God" could stay, despite the apparent bridging of church vs. state. He invokes the linguistic lingo hapax legomemnon, "an… Continue reading A Vexillological Hapax Legomenon
The Portland Ska Flag
By Casey Sims From Vexilloid Tabloid #51 About eight years ago a group of friends who attended Willamette University in the late 90s formed our band, Original Middleage Ska Enjoy Club. Our bandmate, Don Olsen, teaches art at local colleges—so we always have fun posters and materials. Our band is influenced by ska music, which… Continue reading The Portland Ska Flag
What’s that Flag? (from VexTab #41)
Self-Similar Flags
The the popular meme shows, the flag of Norway is the "mother of flags". It doesn't, however, contain itself (unless you don't care about the relative widths of the white and blue parts to the whole). In other words, it is not self-similar. A less-popular meme points out one national flag that has this property:… Continue reading Self-Similar Flags
The US Flag in the 21st Century
31 October 2000 American hip hop duo Outkast release their fouth studio album, Stankonia. The iconic album cover consists of Big Boi and André 3000 posing in front of a huge, black-and-white US flag with inverted stars: the funkified flag of Stankonia (which actually was manufactured and hung on the wall in their Atlanta studios). (For more,… Continue reading The US Flag in the 21st Century
The US Flag in the 20th Century (2nd half)
19 September 1952 The Adventures of Superman begins airing on American television, following an undocumented alien immigrant as he fights "the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way". The famous opening sequence ends with George Reeves standing before a US flag, somehow briskly flying in outer space. In less than 20 years, fiction will become… Continue reading The US Flag in the 20th Century (2nd half)
Portland Flag Association 