Tag: VexTab63

Learning from Labrador

By Scott Mainwaring
Vexilloid Tabloid #63

The flag of the Canadian region of Labrador—the mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador—is enjoying a resurgence of interest and adoption, flying at the border crossings with Quebec and at the city hall of the provincial capital of St. Johns.

The flag is documented particularly well in the online Flags of the World database (crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ca-nl-lb.html), thanks to a concise 2002 essay posted there by its designer, Labradorian and former provincial legislator Michael S. Martin.

The case of Labrador’s flag provides a number of useful lessons for flag adoption.

First, the 1974 flag was a labor of love by Martin, his wife Patricia, and a close circle of friends—not the result of a bureaucratic process or referendum.

Second, the Martins did not initially make just a few flags to display.  Patricia, “the Betsy Ross of Labrador”, sewed 64—enough for every town and village in Labrador… and then some!

Last, it provides a word of caution about copyrighting a flag.

ca-nl-lb
A copyright-avoidant variant

Annoyed by sloppy versions being used on souvenir items, Martin attempted to enforce conformity to the original design by copyrighting it.  But this only resulted in manufacturers purposely varying the design to avoid infringement, resulting in confusion and inconsistency.

(The holders of the flag’s copyright actually encourage people “to use the flag whenever and wherever possible”.)

See also:

Vexilloid Tabloid #63

The Portland Flag Association publishes its newsletter, The Vexilloid Tabloid, every two months. In the latest issue you will find:

  • Learning from Labrador (Scott Mainwaring)
  • A Flag for Kaiapoi, Canterbury, New Zealand (John Moody)
  • The Wavy Symbolism of Potamological Vexillology–in Puerto Rico (Carlos Alberto Morales Ramirez)
  • An Enormous Romanian Flag Made of Light (Ted Kaye)
  • Burgees of the Portland Area
  • Art in Second Life (David Koski)

And, as always, it includes the What’s That Flag? quiz, Flags in the News (news stories featuring flags), Flutterings (highlights from the last PFA meeting), and Portland Flag Miscellany (news about Portland’s city flag).  Each new issue is sent out to our email subscribers list as a PDF attachment.  If you would like to be added to that list, just email subscribe@portlandflag.org and let us know your name, contact info (address and e-mail) and interest in flags.

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