Update: Taylor Homoky's design (see below) won the Arts Partnership contest. On 16 December 2015 the city's Arts and Culture Commission voted to forward it along with other designs to the city's communications manager. We couldn't find any subsequent news regarding Fargo's plans (or lack thereof) to adopt a flag. Citizens of the flagless city of Fargo, North… Continue reading Fargo – A Flag for the Flagless?
Tag: City Flags
Letter Society Project 25: City Flag
Each month, collaborative design blog The Letter Society sets for its members a design challenge. Last June, Project 25 was City Flag. For inspiration, they pointed to Roman Mars' TED Talk The Worst-Designed Thing You've Never Noticed, featuring the PFA's Ted Kaye discussing Good Flag, Bad Flag. Here are the results of the design challenge: Seattle,… Continue reading Letter Society Project 25: City Flag
Portland’s Flag Turns 13
Happy Portland Flag Day! (Not yet an official holiday.) On 4 September 2002, after lobbying by flag designer Douglas Lynch (1913-2009) and the Portland Flag Association, the Portland City Council adopted ordinance 176874, revising the flag to its current (and originally intended) design. (For more on the redesign effort, see our History page.) Over the course… Continue reading Portland’s Flag Turns 13
Flags in Cuba – A Trip Report
by Ted Kaye, Vexilloid Tabloid #45 (April 2014) I recently visited Cuba and saw a profusion of national flag use—often as an instrument of political messaging. Here’s a sampling.
What’s in the Flower Bed This Year?
From Vexilloid Tabloid #53 Every year, Michael Orelove plants his “flower bed” to represent a flag. Since 2010 he has grown the U.S., Oregon, U.K., Canada, and Alaska flags. This year he honors his native city, Chicago. The flag has a white field with two horizontal light-blue stripes and four red stars arranged horizontally in… Continue reading What’s in the Flower Bed This Year?
Improving Boston’s City Flag
The Boston Globe took Flag Day as an opportunity to shine a light today on Boston's city flag and its deficiencies. Ruth Graham's op-ed "Improving Boston's city flag" includes quotes from vexillologists Dave Martucci (of the New England Vexillological Association), the PFA's Ted Kaye, and current NAVA President John Hartvigsen. Martucci points to the current flag's… Continue reading Improving Boston’s City Flag
Flag Day, *DC* Flag Day
This Sunday is Flag Day in the United States, celebrating the official adoption of the national flag on 14 June 1777 as the Second Continental Congress decreed: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing… Continue reading Flag Day, *DC* Flag Day
Roundup (from VexTab #52)
From Vexilloid Tabloid #52 Note: “Roundup” — of flag related items sent to the editor — is a regular feature in The Vexilloid Tabloid. Finally, coming up this year are two major vexillological events. PFA members will attend both!
Flutterings (from VexTab #52)
from Vexilloid Tabloid #52 Note: "Flutterings" — notes from the editor on our last meeting — is a regular feature in The Vexilloid Tabloid. May Flutterings You Need to Know In our May meeting, hosted by John Schilke, 18 PFA members and guests enjoyed a lively 3-hour evening of flags and other wide-ranging topics. As the host,… Continue reading Flutterings (from VexTab #52)
Mars (and Kaye) Bring Vexillology To TED
This March design celebrity and charismatic podcaster Roman Mars gave the first ever TED talk on vexillology (the scholarly study of flags and their design), entitled Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed. This marked a milestone in visibility for vexillology. Mars calls his design podcast 99% Invisible, and "99% Invisible" is actually not a bad characterization of vexillology.… Continue reading Mars (and Kaye) Bring Vexillology To TED
Portland Flag Association 