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Quarterman shares anecdotal history of the Mississippi state flag and Confedarate symbols. He describes the movement towards flag change in Mississippi as he has experienced it and his design process to systematically create 150+ mock-ups of a new Mississippi state flag. He reports on the current state of flag change legislation.

Chart that shows flags that can be flipped in different ways, but still look the same. Categories include flags that can be flipped horizontally or vertically; those that are identical when flipped horizontally; flags that are identical when flipped vertically; and flags that can't be flipped.

The creative process and principles informing the design of some special purpose and other flags lead to conclusions for flag design in general. The dynamics of metaphor and shapeshifting are considered. The scope for greater pageantry and innovation in flag design is explored. Current national flags of complex or awkward design present a challenge. Possible remedies are suggested. To paraphrase a famous utterance, the known delivers the unknown, and as at least one national flag of recent vintage demonstrates, the unknown can lead to an unforeseen, but serendipitous result. Among the many instances of how not to design a flag, how to is more worthwhile. Vexillologists have higher standards.

After delivering my paper, “The Voice of Vexillology”, at the Yokohama congress, my radio broadcast vexillological chronicles continue, reaching number 204 in 5 seasons. In the past three years, I have been experimenting with new Initiatives (“I”s or “Eyes”) beyond the radio program, to make Vexillology better known.

As NAVA’s 2004 American City Flags Survey has provided us with design ratings for 150 flags, comparison of any other flag with those 150 flags would allow determining a likely rating for that flag. A more general method would be to derive a set of criteria that, when applied to a flag of United States local government, would yield a rating in line with those in that survey. Are such criteria possible, and what are the limitations of such a method?

Flag designs will come into their own if the special qualities of flags are taken into account. The wind plays an important role in that. So, horizontal patterns will wave better than vertical ones if the flag flies from a vertical mast. Objects moved to the hoist will have better visibility. Using the practice of pars-pro-toto makes flags simpler and more readily recognizable from a distance. And complicated symbols or human figures on coats-of-arms can be translated into clear symbolism. This is how Dutch local flags were and still are designed and can be seen in many examples. This way of designing local flags can now also be seen in abundance in Flanders, the Czech Republic, some parts of Spain, and Puerto Rico.

As we head to Boston in October 2017, we mark a significant historic occasion for our Association—the fiftieth annual meeting. It takes on even greater importance, however, as it is also the first formal gathering of the group since the passing of the Association’s Founder, Whitney Smith, on November 16, 2016, at the age of 76. This year in particular we should all pause to realize the extraordinary magnitude of Dr. Smith’s accomplishment. We should honor his memory by being diligent and thoughtful vexillologists.

An article by Dr. Smith (from 1967) addresses the difference between the flag as designed (the ideal flag) and the flag as manufactured (the real flag). It was originally printed in The Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Vexillology: Recueil du IIe Congrès International de Vexillologie Zurich 1967 (Zurich: Société Suisse de Vexillologie, 1968). The copyright notice for that volume of the Proceedings is: © 1968 reserved for all the authors by the SOCIÉTÉ SUISSE DE VEXILLOLOGIE Zurich (Switzerland). To capture the spirit of Dr. Smith’s article, the original formatting has been retained.

The proportions of a flag are an integral part of a flag’s design. In some cases, the proportions are the only way to distinguish between otherwise identical flags, such as Monaco (16:21) and Indonesia (2:3). This flag investigates the variations in flag proportions, including the influence of colonial flags on the flags of modern independent nations.

Among the most common motifs in U.S. state flag design is the placement of a state seal or achievement of arms on an undivided field. Vexillographically speaking, however, sigillary flags fail the tests of distinctiveness and visibility. As an exercise in flag design that may prove both vexillologically and heraldically sound, as well as more politically palatable than a de novo design, we present the designs for armorial banners of U.S. states – both in square form and in the 2:3 ratio likely to be used if a state were to adopt an armorial banner as its state flag.

Sentell summarizes his teaching of a vexillology unit in grade 7-12 classes in Georgia, USA. He lists test questions he asks the students and shares some flag designs that students came up with for their final projects, including explanations of symbolism.

The world of vexillology has seen two important debates in recent years. The first debate concerns the proper scope of vexillology, in particular whether it should be defined essentially as the “scientific” or “scholarly” study of flags. The second debate concerns the usefulness or desirability of efforts such as Ted Kaye’s criteria for “good flags” and “bad flags” as the primary guides to proper flag design. This paper considers and connects both questions. It argues that most vexillological work is not “scholarly” in the sense that term has come to be understood, but that this is just fine. Nevertheless, to the extent that vexillology does aspire to be a serious scholarly enterprise, the most promising scholarly model for that enterprise is not history or sociology (though a good deal of important historical and sociological work about flags has been done and remains to be done), but aesthetic criticism—art, architecture, literature, music, and the like. But if that’s true, then we need to welcome a rich set of aesthetic, critical, conversations. And that conversation must go way beyond the limits of a single pamphlet.

Over 300 American cities and towns are known to have adopted new or redesigned flags to represent their communities between 2015 and 2022. In late 2022, NAVA conducted an online survey asking respondents to rate those flags’ designs on a 0–10 scale. The 2,852 respondents (308 NAVA members and 2,544 public participants) selfreported from 90 countries (71% from the U.S.); their ages distributed widely. Afterwards, NAVA blanketed the country—especially the cities with flags in the survey—with press releases yielding wide media coverage. With average ratings converted to a letter grade, over 30% of the flags got an A or a B, but over 60% of the flags got a D or an F. Analysis of the results not only showed a range of design quality, but also provided insights into how perception of the designs varied across respondent ages, locations, and NAVA membership.

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.

Use 5 basic principles to create an outstanding flag for your organization, city, tribe, company, family, neighborhood, or even country! NAVA's classic guide, "Good" Flag, "Bad" Flag (GFBF) was updated and expanded in 2020. This simple, straight-forward guide was first introduced in 2001, published in hard-copy in 2006, and is now available in multiple languages.

Russian translation of "Good Flag, Bad Flag" by Ted Kaye. Используйте эти 5 простых принципов, чтобы создать выдающийся флаг для своей семьи, фирмы, города, и даже страны!

Portuguese translation of "Good Flag, Bad Flag". Utilizando 5 princípios básicos, podemos criar uma bandeira memorável para uma associação, cidade, empresa, família, clube, ou até mesmo um país!

Spanish translation of "Good Flag, Bad Flag". Utilizando 5 principios básicos, se puede lograr una bandera original para asociaciones, municipios, provincias , empresas, familias, y hasta la bandera de un país!

French translation of "Good Flag, Bad Flag". Utilisez 5 principes de base pour créer un remarquable drapeau pour votre organisation, ville, tribu, société, famille, quartier, ou même pays!

Italian translation of "Good Flag, Bad Flag". Segui i 5 princìpi base per disegnare una eccellente bandiera per la tua organizzazione, città, gruppo, azienda, famiglia, quartiere, e persino per lo stato!