[This is an update to a 2015 posting about NAVA.] NAVA is the North American Vexillological Association, the world’s oldest organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It publishes the peer-reviewed journal Raven, as well as a newsletter and the periodical Flag Research Quarterly (FRQ); and holds an annual meeting, the “largest conference of vexillologists (flag scholars),vexillographers (flag […]
The annual meetings of NAVA, the North American Vexillological Association, are fantastic events for anyone interested in flags, attracting all flavors of vexillologists — historians, activists, collectors, vendors, designers, and general enthusiasts — from the US, Canada, and beyond. 2016 is a milestone year for NAVA, as it celebrates a half-century of these meetings. NAVA 50 takes place […]
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 […]
Jeopardy challenge: Flags for 1000, Alex. A: This man coined the word vexillology and helped organize flag studies into an global research community of that name. Q: Who is Dr. Whitney Smith? Correct! Today is Whitney Smith’s 76th birthday. He was born 26 February 1940 in Arlington, Massachusetts to a family of teachers and became fascinated as a child of […]
Hello Internet (hellointernet.fm, @HelloInternetFM) is a podcast by prolific YouTube celebrities C. G. P. Grey and Brady Haran. Vexillology appears to be a recurring theme. For example, the current episode, H.I. #51: Appropriately Thinking It, includes discussion of the Fiji flag referendum and a design contest they are running to create a Hello Internet flag. As […]
It was 57 years ago this month that the word vexillology first appeared in print, in an article by the founder of flag studies, Whitney Smith, in the now discontinued journal The Arab World. Here is a transcription of the article. FLAGS of the ARAB WORLD By WHITNEY SMITH, Jr. One of the most interesting phases […]
Vexillology may have more fame as an answer to a trivia question than as an serious topic of conversation, but Roman Mars is changing that. In May we reported on the release, on TED.com and YouTube, of the video of his March 2015 TED Talk. On TED.com it’s titled Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing […]
NAVA is the North American Vexillological Association, the world’s oldest organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It publishes the peer-reviewed journal Raven, as well as a newsletter and the periodical Flag Research Quarterly (FRQ); and holds an annual meeting, the “largest conference of vexillologists (flag scholars),vexillographers (flag designers), vexillophiles (flag collectors and hobbyists), flag conservators, and […]
We’d like to pass along this invitation from NAVA’s Ken Reynolds. (And please note that early-bird registration ends in less than a month.) Hello everyone, I hope that each of you will consider attending NAVA‘s 49th annual meeting from October 16-18, 2015. It’s been a dozen years since the Association held its annual meeting in […]
Flag scholar and NAVA vice president Annie Platoff was on the Pacifica radio network yesterday discussing vexillology, the Confederate flag, roots of people’s attachment to flags, the Apollo flags on the moon, and Russian and Ukrainian flags. She was a guest on Brad Friedman’s “BradCast” at bradblog.com/?p=11241. (Skip 8:40 into the broadcast to hear the flag segment.)
Portland Flag Association 