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Flag designers often need to decide how to convey the idea of facing or moving “forward”. An effective solution depends on the representational traditions and the psychology of flag perception. These are surprisingly complex matters, however, as people may bring multiple ways of projecting the idea of “forward” onto a flag, ways which can reinforce or contradict one another. This paper lays out five different ways people may impose a sense of horizontal directionality to a flag.
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The American Thin Blue Line flag is a black-and-white version of the United States flag with the white stripe immediately below the canton replaced with a blue one, expressing support for police. It first appeared in December 2014 near the beginning of the most recent phase of political and often violent turmoil in the U.S. over relations between the police and communities of color. Since its introduction by a young entrepreneur in Michigan, the flag rapidly grew in prominence, particularly following the killing of police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, Texas, in 2016. In terms of widespread adoption and emotional response (positive and negative), the flag is a remarkable entrepreneurial success story. This paper explores some of the reasons underlying its success. These correspond to different ways of understanding a flag: as a commercial product, as a graphic design, as a component of mourning rituals, as viral internet content, and as a carrier of contested meaning that benefits from institutional and rhetorical support. The case of the American Thin Blue Line flag raises important theoretical and practical questions for vexillology: What constitutes success, and what makes a flag successful?
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Flag-related scholarship takes place in many disciplines and is published in many places, beyond those sponsored by NAVA or other members of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV). Periodically* Raven provides a bibliography of these works to call attention to the breadth and depth of vexillology (by this or any other name). Although numerous on-line collections have been consulted, this list is certainly not comprehensive. Nevertheless, hopefully it gives a sense of the many aspects of flags, their effects and uses, and how much more there is to be known.
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- Journal Article (3)
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- American Thin Blue Line Flag (1)
- analyzing flags (1)
- Andrew Jacob (1)
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- law enforcement flags (1)
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