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Reuniting Good Luck Flags with Families
Hinomaru yosegaki (日の丸 寄せ書き, literally "sun-circle sideways-writing") were "Good Luck Flags" carried by Japanese soldiers in World War II. Given to him by a soldier's close friends and family, these flags united the national (in the form of actual Japanese flags) with the intensely personal (in the form of handwritten messages from the gift givers). A non-profit named… Continue reading Reuniting Good Luck Flags with Families
Richard Gideon’s American Vexillum™
Richard R. Gideon is a flag maker and retailer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who since 2003 has been publishing American Vexillum™ Magazine (AVm). It started out as a monthly print publication, from 2003 to 2006, before moving online as a quarterly. Since 2012 it has been supplemented with daily updates of "topical news items of interest… Continue reading Richard Gideon’s American Vexillum™
American Flag Refreshed for 2015
Vice President Joseph Biden unveiled today the work of an until now little-noticed White House task force that has been looking at ways to improve America's image, at home and abroad. The result: a fresh new American flag for Spring 2015, that will be made official by an executive order to be signed this afternoon by President Obama. Biden… Continue reading American Flag Refreshed for 2015
China Plants Flag 3000m Under the Sea
A Chinese website reports that on March 19th an underwater robot placed the flag of China on the seabed nearly 3000m under the South China Sea. This marked a successful test of China's first "self-built multifunction deepwater engineering vessel" (我国自主建造的首艘深水多功能工程船). The article notes that placing flags so far under water is "not so easy" (深海插国旗不是那么容易)!
What’s that Flag? (from VexTab #38)
Arboreal Flags
A popular flag in Portland is the "Doug Flag" of Cascadia, a favorite of the Timbers Army and secessionist Pacific Northwesterners. Let's look at some of its neighbors - tree flags of the world. Lebanon Cedar Norfolk Island Pine Fir Oak Magnolia Palmetto White Pine Mythological Unknown
Evolution of the Canadian Shield
The US flag changed as states were added, with additional white stars appearing in the blue union to symbolize the growth of the country. (Wikipedia has a nice table illustrating the historical progression of the 28 different designs.) Meanwhile, to the north, our Canadian neighbors were changing their flag in an analogous way as their country… Continue reading Evolution of the Canadian Shield
What’s that Flag? (From VexTab #51)
By Any Other Name
Vexillology is a famously obscure term in English. But not just in English -- here is how it translates, according to Google, in other languages: Afrikaans: vexillologie Arabic: علم الرايات Belarussian: Вексиллологии (Vieksillolohii) Bosnian: Veksilologija Bulgarian: вексилологията (veksilologiyata) Catalan: vexilología Chinese (simplified): 旗帜学 (Qízhìxué) Chinese (traditional): 旗幟學 (Qízhìxué) Croatian: veksilologiju Danish: Vexillologi Esperanto: Veksilologio Estonian: Liputeadus Filipino: Beksilolohiya Finnish: Veksillologia French: vexillologie Hebrew: וקסילולוגיה Hungarian: Vexillológia Indonesian: Veksilologi Italian: vessillologia Japanese: 旗章学 (Kishōgaku) Kannada: ವೆಕ್ಸಿಲ್ಲಾಲಜಿ (Veksillālaji) Korean: 기학 (gihag)… Continue reading By Any Other Name
Portland Flag Association 