We were reminded by our friends at VIBE that today marks the birthday of the flag of Hong Kong, adopted 4 April 1990 by the Seventh National People's Congress in Beijing. More than just a city flag, of course, it is officially the "regional flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China"… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Hong Kong Flag
In a surprise announcement today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced revisions to the Canadian flag "to bring it more in line with international standards": It has come to my attention that due to our garish and outdated 1960s-era maple leaf flag, many Canadians and would-be Canadians are not sufficiently appreciative of our glorious colonial past and continuing subjecthood to… Continue reading Canada Rejoins the Club
Kazutaka Nishiura has kindly uploaded to YouTube a number of videos of talks and ceremonies from last year's 26th International Congress of Vexillology in Sydney, Australia. You can access the playlist here, or view them below. Opening ceremony Edward B. (Ted) Kaye, Fiji's New Flag: A Work in Progress Nozomi Kariyasu, The History of Japanese Service… Continue reading Videos from ICV26
As a sad addendum to our piece on the Toronto city flag (in VexTab #47), here is an image of the flag covering the casket of former mayor Rob Ford as he lies in repose in City Hall. Traditions vary from city to city, and the use of the city flag as a casket flag… Continue reading City Flags and Funerals
Those interested in the history of vexillology have a nice online resource in the form of issues of NAVA News dating back to the 1960s. (NAVA is the North American Vexillological Association, founded 1967.) In the December 1969 issue, a membership questionnaire appears (along with a listing of the names, affiliations, and addresses of all 80… Continue reading Sphragistics and Sigillography
On Instagram, we are re-posting interesting flag-related images found there. Follow us at @portlandflag, and if you have posted an image you would like us to consider for re-posting, tag it with #flagpix! Here are some examples:
Our latest newsletter, Vexilloid Tabloid #57, featured this high-calorie image: This got us thinking about the intersection of doughnuts and flags. Enjoy, but consume in moderation.
by Erik Herron, PhD Eberly Family Professor of Political Science West Virginia University (from Vexilloid Tabloid #57) Introduction The disciplines of vexillology and psephology (the scientific study of elections) have many commonalities: both focus on how design and representation intersect. New Zealand’s 2015–16 Flag Referendums caused these two worlds to collide. This article assesses the… Continue reading New Zealand’s Flag Referendum and Theories of Voting
At Brighton Beach not far from downtown Melbourne, Australia is a famous row of colorfully painted "bathing boxes" (19th century huts built as shelters and changing rooms for beach goers). Box Number Two, painted to resemble the Australian flag, is a popular photographic subject. Very popular. Consider this selection of postings found on Instagram. Is there… Continue reading That Australian Flag Bathing Box
Our March meeting takes place tonight in Lake Oswego, Oregon -- anyone is welcome! See the Next Meeting page for details. We publish "minutes" as the Flutterings column in our newsletter, The Vexilloid Tabloid. Here are the Flutterings from our last meeting as reported in VexTab 56 (with many photos at the end). In our… Continue reading PFA Meeting Update
Portland Flag Association 