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This research examined the psychological underpinnings of concern for national symbols and ritualistic-ceremonial activities or "symbolic involvement." We propose and test a distinction between symbolic and "instrumental" involvement or concern for the functionality of national institutions and their capability to provide instrumental benefits to citizens. Items comprising the two constructs were found to be empirically distinct, evidenced by statistically reliable and orthogonal dimensions in exploratory factor analysis. Moreover, evidence based on divergent patterns of relations with various forms of national membership indicates that symbolic and instrumental involvement are rooted in distinct motivational concerns related to identity expression and object appraisal, respectively. These findings suggest that national symbolism evokes a psychological attachment to the nation as an abstracted social entity, but not as a concrete functional system.

Michael Billig's book, Banal Nationalism, published in 1995, has a significant international reputation and is one of the books most commonly quoted in Anglophone studies on nationalism. This article follows on from the various books and articles that were published for the 20th anniversary of the book and underlines the way in which the posterity of this thesis is partly based on a misunderstanding, or a misappropriation. In a context in which the end of nations seemed imminent, Banal Nationalism aimed to demonstrate that, on the contrary, nationalism was indeed spread massively and invisibly throughout the world, and particularly in established Western democracies. Yet today this book is considered one of the founding texts of the bottom-up approach to national identity, which puts individuals at the heart of the fabrication of nations. This article discusses how this interpretation has come about.

Artefacts containing national or ethnic symbols, such as flags and maps, are frequently used by 14-year-old youth in a multiethnic, suburban municipality in Stockholm. Appearing as ornaments or trinkets to outsiders, to the initiated they are distinctive group markers displaying multiple political and ideological affiliations. As visual symbols these artefacts invoke communicative, but non-verbal, processes: they interpellate viewers who answer with their reactions. Thus these objects serve to both banally reproduce nationalism and ethnicity and to serve as identity markers. These identities are primarily inclusive and non-aggressive. The symbols do not seem to be a sign of resistance to mainstream Swedish society in line with much work in the field of youth culture. Instead, they are used as a proud, visual display of additional identities complementing a Swedish identity. Ethnicity research often covers linguistic markers or ethnic and national identities. In contrast, the area of youthconsumptionof nationalism, in the form of objects featuring national, ethnic and religious symbols, is as yet not well documented. Based on a year-long fieldwork in a junior high school, this paper documents ways in which minority group students handle material artefacts and what these symbols involved mean to them.

Сонцето и лавот како симболи се појавуваат во материјалната и духовната култура во Македонија од памтивек. Предмет на истражување во оваа теза се лавот и сонцето како симболи, со посебен осврт на нивната употреба на знамиња и грбови поврзани со Македонија. Истражувањето опфаќа два периода, периодот пред формирањето на Македонската држава, до 1944 година и периодот до денес. Темата е мултидисциплинарна, па затоа се земаат предвид етнолошки, историски, социјални, социолошки, правни и политички аспекти. Целта на истражувањето е да се опише и класифицира типологијата на атрибутите на сонцето и лавот и на тој начин да се провери нивниот континуитет до денес, како симболи за идентификација на територијата и колективот, изразени на грбови и знамиња. Лавот како симбол се среќава на грбовите и знамињата, главно од средниот век до почетокот на 20 век, поврзан со припишаниот грб на Александар Македонски. Сонцето како симбол се наоѓа на грбовите и знамињата во Македонија од почетокот на 20 век, главно како симбол на слободата и новиот свет (систем). The sun and the lion as symbols appear in the material and spiritual culture in Macedonia from time immemorial. The subject of research in this thesis is the lion and the sun as symbols, with particular reference to their use on flags and coat of arms connected to Macedonia. The research covers two periods, the period before the formation of the Macedonian state, until 1944 and the period until the present. The topic is multidisciplinary, so ethnological, historical, social, sociological, legal and political aspects are taken into account. The purpose of the research is to describe and classify the typology of the attributes of the sun and the lion and thus to check their continuity to date, as symbols for identification of territory and collective, expressed on coats of arms and flags. The lion as a symbol is found on the coats of arms and flags, mainly from the Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century, connected with the attributed coat of arms of Alexander the Great. The sun as a symbol is located on the coats of arms and flags in Macedonia from the beginning of the 20th century, mainly as a symbol of freedom and the new world (system).

A classic article which examined American civil religion and triggered an academic discussion about civil religion in multiple countries. This is a reprint version of the article that appeared first in Daedalus, volume 96 #1 (Winter 1967), pp. 1-21.

This study examined children's conceptions of flags as social conventions and understandings of the symbolic and psychological consequences associated with transgressions toward flags. Seventy-two children, at 6, 8, and 10 years, answered general questions about flags as social conventions and judged flag-burning scenarios in which intentions of agents and consequences for recipients were varied. Flag-burning acts were motivated by symbolic, accidental, or instrumental intentions and occurred in public or private. Children at all ages viewed flags as social conventions (i. e., alterable), and symbolic acts of flag-burning occurring in public locations were judged more negatively than private transgressions. Age differences were found in evaluations of instrumental violations and in justifications used to evaluate flag-burning incidents. Overall, findings suggest that despite age-related increases in understanding of flags as meaningful collective symbols, children at all ages considered transgressions to be important and to have moral consequences (i. e., psychological harm).

Accounts of the relationship between flags and the law have focused on a narrow strain of contentions drawn from debates about political expression. This essay seeks to bridge the gap between cultural studies’ insight into nationalism and its symbolics, and the flag’s legal status, to better understand the unique position occupied by national flags. Flag ‘waving’ has become more prevalent in many liberal democracies. In such societies, flags occupy not a religious role, but a quiet and quotidian place in what Billig terms ‘banal nationalism’. As a cipher for the whole, a particular flag’s design is relatively unimportant; what lends it power is a mix of the gravity bestowed by its official designation and the easy commodification lent by a flag’s easy reproducibility and portability. Unlike other state symbols such as the currency, coat of arms and honorifics, the state does not seek to monopolise the flag’s use, let alone define its meaning. An analysis of the laws in several countries governing flag designation, observance and ‘desecration’ reveals that the law accords the flag distinct status yet only equivocal protection. While the state may crave its citizens’ fealty, a flag is not a symbol of some distant governmentality. Rather, it is gifted to ‘the people’ and relies for its relevance on its organic proliferation. As both object and image, people attribute a power to the flag – a power they recognise over themselves and others with whom they share a body politic. A key source of this fetishisation is its official, legal designation. Though it embodies no particular values, a flag is valued, even fetishised, by flag-wavers and flag-burners alike.

Vexillology is defined by many organizations - including the lnternational Federation of Vexillological Associations and the North American Vexillological Association - as the "scientific study of flags." Exactly what that means is not clear to many. This article presents an overview history, exemplifying many of the issues involved in vexillologicalstudy and suggesting options for future development.

The object of this thesis is to demonstrate that non-verbal symbols, and in particular national flags, have an essential part in the establishment and management of national identity. It is contended that political legitimacy is derived in part from the national self-presentation and that this presentation can be managed by exploiting the full rangeof the national panoply, i.e., the full range of non-verbal symbols available. In terms of penetration and reciprocation as they form a discourse between the elite and the population flags and related items form a body of material that is easy to handle and to comprehend. But they are also capable of being charged with affective overtones which require care and skill in handling. Key concepts with regard to symbols as hitherto dealt with in social science will be derived from a number of authors who have dealt with the nature of identity and identity crises as part of the modernisation process applicable to nation states. These include Edelman and Pye and the contributors to the 'Crises and Sequences' school of political science. In addition the work of Mosse, Firth, Weitman, Zelinsky, Hobsbawm and Ranger, and other authors who have come closest to the subject under review, will also be examined for contributions in the form of concepts and analytical tools. Also to be examined is the work of modern professional image-makers operating in the commercial world to see what techniques and methods they can deploy successfully. The next stage will be to examine three major identity crises, as exemplified by the American, French and Russian Revolutions to see what efforts, if any, were made by the elite to control and shape their self-presentation and what reciprocation they evinced from their populations.

Michael Billig presents a major challenge to orthodox conceptions of nationalism. While traditional theorizing has focused on extreme expressions of nationalism thus making it an exotic and remote concern, Michael Billig turns his attention to the everyday, and so less visible, forms that are deeply ingrained in contemporary consciousness. Banal Nationalism asks why people do not forget their national identity. It contends that nationalism is constantly "flagged" in the media through routine symbols and habits of language. In a well-thought-out analysis, the author shows how assumptions of nationhood are regularly conveyed, often through small familiar turns of phrase, and how these reminders operate mindlessly beyond the level of conscious awareness, like the flag, which hangs unnoticed outside a public building. Banal Nationalism addresses these core features of nationalism while providing the reader with meaningful insights into their own nationality. Billig's elegantly written and broad-ranging book argues forcefully that nationalism continues to be a major ideological force in the contemporary world and will be essential reading for students and academics across the social sciences.

In the mid-twentieth century scholars in the United States began to examine American society through the lens of civil religion, a term first coined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the eighteenth century. Although much of the discussion focused on civil religion in the US, other scholars began to recognise that a civil religion also existed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. While American civil religion developed organically within all strata of society, it can be argued that in the Soviet Union there was a deliberate strategy to use civil religion as a tool to replace established religion, and to create a single sense of Soviet identity among a geographically-dispersed and ethnically-diverse population. Most studies on Soviet civil religion have focused on communist rites and rituals, and the ‘cult’ of Lenin. Few scholars have examined the elaborate system of symbols that were essential to reinforcing Soviet civil religion so that it became an everyday aspect of life in the USSR. This thesis seeks to fill that gap by examining the simvolika, or set of symbols, of the Soviet Union. While the official state symbols included the Soviet flag, state emblem, and national anthem, the set of symbols that were vital to the practice of Soviet civil religion was much more extensive. This study will examine the usage of an array of flags, seals, symbolic elements, imagery, and motifs that were essential to the socialisation of children and the reinforcement of Soviet civil religion in adulthood. Finally, it will examine the symbolic legacies of the USSR in the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

This thesis provides an analysis of the history of the new South African flag of 1994. It presents an overview account of the South African flag legacy from the early colonial period through to the first national flag of the Union of South Africa in 1928. Its main concern however is the process which culminated in the raising of a new national flag on 27 April 1994. It shows how the flag issue was integral to the negotiations aimed at addressing South Africa’s political future and it is within this context that it sets out the steps taken to address the matter. It also recounts how the process initially floundered before the current design - which has become one of the primary graphic symbols of identification for the new South Africa and its people - finally came into being. Despite the initial reaction to the design, it unpacks the extent to which the flag has been embraced by the South African population at large which has far exceeded expectation. Apart from its visual success, the flag is symbolic of the convergence and unification which is inextricably linked to the freedom and democracy which the new political dispensation encapsulated.

This thesis analyses the symbolic changes in the expression of white Rhodesian identity from the arrival of the settlers in 1890 and subsequent establishment of the Colony until the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. It examines the concepts of ‘nation’ and ‘identity’. It is generally agreed that national symbols, such as flags, anthems, coats of arms, and the like, not only represent the ‘nation’ but also condense and express the values, history and memories associated with it. The thesis argues that initially Rhodesians considered and identified themselves to be quintessentially British and loyal members of the Empire which was demonstrated through the use of Imperial symbols such as the Crown and the Union Jack. However, following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in November 1965, the need for a more distinctive local identity became more acute as the country moved to sever its imperial links and became ostracised on the international stage. A new panoply of symbols was adopted to reflect this change, the most visible and long-lasting of which was the new Rhodesian flag. The flag continues to be the most emotional and contested symbol of post-UDI Rhodesian identity to this day.

The central themes of this thesis are to highlight the importance of national symbols and ceremonies in the formation of nations and national identities, and examine how they contribute to the expressions of nationhood. The research has been conducted by means of a systematic investigation of national symbols and ceremonies, analysed as an integral part of identity-making, maintenance and change. The focus is on the contemporary European nations, and conclusions have been drawn with regard to their symbolism and ceremonies. The overall study has been complemented by three case studies; of Britain, France, Norway, with Germany as an analytical counter-case. Throughout this thesis evidence will be provided to the effect that national symbols and ceremonies express deeper aspects and meanings of the nation, and function as integrative and/or divisive forces. Moreover, national symbols and ceremonies form a central part of a `secular' religion which provides anchorage in a dynamic world. National symbols and ceremonies also have an effect upon the community they represent; that is, they raise collective consciousness of `who we are' and `where we are from'. Finally, it has been argued that nations cannot be dated in a precise manner since they come into being by stages, marked by the adoption of national symbols, such as the national flag and the national day. These stages have been linked to three main symbolic regimes (termed `old', `modem' and `new') and understood as a function of national independence and continuity, the implication being that the whole process of nation building forms a complex that is constituted along a continuum of re-discovery and invention.

Proceedings of the tenth International Congress of Vexillology (ICV 10) -- Oxford, England, 25-30 September 1983.

Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress of Vexillology (ICV 3), Boston, Massachusetts, 5-7 September 1969

Filatelistička izložba Zmajevci u filateliji upriličena je kao dio predstavljanja zajedničkog izdanja poštanskih maraka Hrvatske pošte d. d. Zagreb i Hrvatske pošte Mostar d. o. o. u povodu 1100 godina Hrvatskog Kraljevstva. Izložba je izvorno postavljena u Zmajskoj dvorani u Kuli nad Kamenitim vratima, sjedištu Družbe „Braća Hrvatskoga Zmaja“ gdje je održana svečanost predstavljanja zajedničkog izdanja maraka 23. svibnja 2025. godine. Ovom prigodom izložba gostuje po prvi puta izvan Zagreba. Izložba prikazuje marke i filatelističke objekte Republike Hrvatske, ali i nekih drugih zemalja, kao i prethodnih poštanskih uprava na prostoru Hrvatske, a koji prikazuju portrete i radove članova Družbe, marke koje su dizajnirali članovi Družbe, te koje se na neki drugi način izravno odnose na djelovanje Družbe „Braća Hrvatskoga Zmaja“ od njezine uspostave 1905. do zabrane 1946. godine te nakon obnove 1990. godine. Družba tako ove godine obilježava ne samo veliki jubilej 1100. obljetnice Hrvatskoga Kraljevstva, enogo i svoje dvije godišnjice – 120 godina osnivanja i 35 godina obnove. Tim trima obljetnicama Družba je ove godine posvetila i svoj tri izdanja dragovoljnih doplatnih maraka (tzv. „pepeljuga“) kojima prikuplja sredstva za obilježavanje obljetnica. The philatelic exhibition Dragons in Philately was organized as part of the presentation of the joint issue of postage stamps of the Croatian Post d. d. Zagreb and the Croatian Post Mostar d. o. o. on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the Croatian Kingdom. The exhibition was originally set up in the Dragon Hall in the Tower above the Stone Gate, the headquarters of the Society of the Brothers of the Croatian Dragon, where the ceremony of presenting the joint issue of stamps was held on May 23, 2025. On this occasion, the exhibition is visiting for the first time outside of Zagreb. The exhibition presents stamps and philatelic objects from the Republic of Croatia, as well as some other countries, as well as previous postal administrations in Croatia, which depict portraits and works of Society members, stamps designed by Society members, and which in some other way directly relate to the activities of the Society of the Brothers of the Croatian Dragon from its establishment in 1905 to its ban in 1946 and after its restoration in 1990. This year, the Society is not only celebrating the great jubilee of the 1100th anniversary of the Croatian Kingdom, but also its two anniversaries – 120 years of its foundation and 35 years of its restoration. The Society has dedicated its three issues of voluntary surcharge stamps (so-called "Cinderellas") to these three anniversaries, with which it is raising funds to mark the anniversaries.