4 March 1907 In Halter v. Nebraska the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of two businessmen for "desecrating" the flag by using its imagery on the label of their "Stars and Stripes" brand beer. 4 July 1912 The US adopts the 48-star flag, recognizing the admission of New Mexico and Arizona earlier that year. This marks a turning point in US flag… Continue reading The US Flag in the 20th Century (1st half)
Blog
The US Flag in the 19th Century
14 September 1814 Aboard the HMS Tonnant, at "dawn's early light" attorney Francis Scott Key sees a large US flag still flying over Fort McHenry despite its overnight bombardment during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. He publishes his poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser seven days later. Both… Continue reading The US Flag in the 19th Century
The US Flag in the 18th Century
1 May 1707 The Acts of Union take effect, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain and the making the red, white, and blue King's Colors its flag. This flag and its Red Ensign variant were influential in American flag-making. 21 September 1737 American civil servant and likely designer of the 13-star flag Francis Hopkinson born in Philadelphia. He famously… Continue reading The US Flag in the 18th Century
What’s that Flag? (from VexTab #40)
For more tree flags, see our blog post, Arboreal Flags.
Money Flags
Money occasionally makes its way onto flags, as a promotion for a particular currency, a political statement, a commemoration of a ransom, or as a design exercise. For examples of all of these possibilities, see below.
Vancouver Oil Spill Flag
Yesterday the MV Marathassa, a Cypriot-flagged bulk carrier on its maiden voyage, spilled toxic oil into English Bay near downtown Vancouver, BC. Today a version of the Vancouver city flag protesting this event appeared on Twitter: The idea of modifying Canadian flags to protest environmental damage from oil has been done before, though perhaps not as… Continue reading Vancouver Oil Spill Flag
Logo Flags
The 4th basic principle of flag design is "no lettering or seals". Logos generally fall under this category as well. This doesn't keep lots of flags, particularly of corporations, from having logos on them. And occasionally a logo flag works well as a flag -- usually because it obeys all or most of the other… Continue reading Logo Flags
Showgirls Present Interstate 11 Flag
Highways often have logos, but they seldom (if ever?) have flags. On April 6 there was a sighting of this rare beast at a groundbreaking for Interstate 11 in Nevada attended by the governor, both US senators, and other officials. I-11 will bypass Boulder City, providing a faster link between Las Vegas and Phoenix. Las… Continue reading Showgirls Present Interstate 11 Flag
Flag Quotes
In Vexilloid Tabloid #37 Ted Kaye wrote: When I assumed the interim editorship of this publication after John Hood died, I found that the most difficult task wasn’t writing up the “Flutterings” after each meeting, or gathering and formatting photos, or soliciting and editing submissions from other members, or laying out the issue. The toughest… Continue reading Flag Quotes
Baseball’s Opening Day Flags
Spring is really here, now that Major League Baseball has had it's Opening Day. Across the country it was a pretty flaggy event, as captured by these tweets: https://twitter.com/MLBGIFs/status/585262118036832256
Portland Flag Association 