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This essay explores the creation and rise in popularity of a British comedy website called Worldface, which parodied the Facebook phenomenon while providing an opportunity to celebrate or castigate national identities and traditions through interactive engagement and the use of flags. Begun in November 2009, the site soon drew fans and users from around the world. Its popularity grew faster than a support system to sustain it, and the quality of the site was also affected by what originator Phil Cooper labeled “idiot” postings. Worldface often provided sophisticated commentary on politics, history, and international relations before it shut down in July 2010, its demise due in part to the rise of an anime subculture. Its creators, Team Fishcake, also did clever satires called “Alternative World Cup” flags, and other Facebook parody websites have appropriated flag use to good effect, often while teaching history or geography.

Presents full text of the papers presented to the 24th International Congress of Vexillology in Washington, DC (2011).

This paper details and documents the issues, efforts and outcomes ensuing from the adoption of Utah House Concurrent Resolution 2 and Utah House Bill 490 and analyzing their effects. In 2011 the 59th General Session of the Utah State Legislature met during a time of budgetary challenges and intense political controversy. Despite dealing with a heavy legislative schedule, the House and Senate considered and passed two measures concerning the Utah State Flag—House Concurrent Resolution 2, which urged that newly manufactured flags accurately reflect the statutory description, and House Bill 490, which provided for the annual commemoration of Utah State Flag Day. The North American Vexillological Association has participated in efforts to redesign the state flags in Utah and Oregon. However, neither attempt resulted in legislative adoption. Nonetheless, the experience gained in Utah does provide valuable insights that could be useful in obtaining adoption of new flag designs. Issues were raised that should be considered in order to make adoption of flag-related legislation possible. Plans, procedures, and strategies were employed that could be useful in other venues. Additionally, there were other benefits gained that support vexillology as a scholarly discipline and raised its exposure.

Published in Chicago in 1861, “Down with the Traitors’ Serpent Flag” is one of thousands of political parlor songs from the American Civil War. Many of these songs are unremarkable musically and were preserved in homes, archives, and museum collections largely for their vibrant illustrations. In my presentation I examine this song’s lithographic cover illustration—a Union soldier grinding a Confederate flag into the dust—within a broader discourse of Civil War flag imagery taken from songs, political cartoons, and cartes-de-visite. Compelling secrets exist within this colorful image that may not first meet the eye; to uncover these meanings along with the ways in which they operated for 19th-century audiences, I address how citizens used flags as material objects and signs in a wider social context. I argue that this defiled flag can be seen as a symbol of nation and state, as a reminder of the female presence in war, and as a surrogate for the wounded or even deceased human body. By utilizing flag culture to interrogate objects in an art historical or visual culture context, this presentation argues that vexillology should be accepted by the larger scholarly community not only as an independent discipline but as a theoretical approach to the allied fields of art history, material culture, and cultural studies.

San Diego County, California is the southwestern-most mainland county in the United States. It is home to one of America’s top ten cities and sun-drenched beaches and is the classic example of what might be called the “California life-style”. The county is also home to more federally recognized tribes than any other in the United States. This paper will present a brief history of the reasons behind the abundance of tribes and will present brief histories of some of those tribes. As symbols of the various tribes, their flags will be shown and their symbolism explained. It will show how the modern tribal emblems were created based upon their distinct and shared histories. While time constricts the number of tribes that can be detailed, flags of other San Diego and Southern California tribes will at least be shown.

In 1989 the first new political parties were formed in Croatia after almost half a century of the single-party system and in 1990 the multiparty elections were held. The re-born democracy quickly produced dozens of new parties, most of which started using logos and symbols and many of them flags. In the last 20 years some of the parties were disbanded, others newly established, some have united, others split—the total number of parties registered at any given time has averaged about 100, although probably only a score or two had any significant influence in the country’s political life. With the different ideologies and interests, parties chose different flags and emblems depicted in them, some based on the national flag, on the chequy arms, on other national symbols, while other chose elements of regional and local identity, European and global symbols as well as other more particular ones. This paper systematically presents the flags of various parties in Croatia in the last 20 years with an emphasis on the identity symbols they use.

I have questions about flags. Looking for answers, I went not to vexillological papers, but to scientific publications in other scientific fields. What follows is a taste of what I found.

Modernism (Modern Style, Modernisme, or Art Nouveau) was an artistic and cultural movement which flourished in Europe roughly between 1880 and 1915. In Catalonia, because this era coincided with movements for autonomy and independence and the growth of a rich bourgeoisie, Modernism developed in a special way. Differing from the form in other countries, in Catalonia works in the Modern Style included many symbolic elements reflecting the Catalan nationalism of their creators. This paper, which follows Wladyslaw Serwatowski’s 20 ICV presentation on Antoni Gaudí as a vexillographer, studies other Modernist artists and their flag-related works. Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Josep Llimona, Miquel Blay, Alexandre de Riquer, Apel·les Mestres, Antoni Maria Gallissà, Joan Maragall, Josep Maria Jujol, Lluís Masriera, Lluís Millet, and others were masters in many artistic disciplines: Architecture, Sculpture, Jewelry, Poetry, Music, Sigillography, Bookplates, etc. and also, perhaps unconsciously, Vexillography. This paper highlights several flags and banners of unusual quality and national significance: Unió Catalanista, Sant Lluc, CADCI, Catalans d’Amèrica, Ripoll, Orfeó Català, Esbart Català de Dansaires, and some gonfalons and flags from choral groups and sometent (armed civil groups).

This year’s international congress of vexillology, held in the capital of the United States of America, fits neatly into the context of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the autonomy and independence of the Republic of Slovenia. 2011 also marks the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Slovene national flag. The design of such an important and recognizable national symbol such as a Slovene flag can be traced to the 7th century, the period of the earliest Slavic state—the Duchy of Carantania. It is exactly through Carantania and its unique system of inaugurating dukes at Gosposvetsko polje (Maria Saal)—a practice which continued in the Slovene language until 1414—that another interesting connection emerges between the Slovenes and the U.S.A. The influence of the installation of dukes in Carantania can be clearly observed in the Declaration of Independence, 1776. Since the flags in their original concept illustrate the colors of an emblem, the first symbol of this kind in the history of Slovene people was the Carantania’s panther. Today’s Slovenian flag developed from this early symbol.

The Confederate commerce raider CSS Shenandoah visited Melbourne in 1865 for repairs and provisions, the only port-visit on its around-the-world mission: a journey that became famous for the Shenandoah being the ship that fired the last shot of the American Civil War. The paper focuses on its Australian visit and the Shenandoah’s use of the Stainless Banner and the naval use of other Confederate flags. The paper is sourced from extensive contemporary local newspaper articles and illustrations, archives, memoirs and several books. The visit created a considerable impact in Australia that indirectly led to the development of the Victorian colonial navy, which required a navy ensign. The Victorian flag evolved to become the current Australian national flag.

Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, is presented by means of geographic data and an historic overview. The history of the symbols of this territory began in 1502 when Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella granted the coat of arms of Gibraltar. Further development of the coat of arms is then described until the present day. The first flag used in Gibraltar, in 1870, was the colonial flag of the Government. Other flags from later periods are described down to the present. Other symbols used in Gibraltar, such as police emblem and flags of the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club, are also described. There is also further demonstration of the use of various symbols in practice, such as on coins, banknotes, and stamps, and in houses, gardens, and public places.

In 1947 the Japanese Mandate on the South Islands became the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until the Trust Territory was dissolved on 10 July 1987. On 22 December 1990 the U.N. Security Council ratified the termination of trusteeship, the last step toward independence of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. During that era three flags flew in the Islands: the United Nations, USA and later TTPI flags. The Trust Territory adopted its own flag in 1962, a light blue flag with six white stars representing the six districts. From the end of the 1970s each district organized its own way to the future, in association with the USA or full independence. In this lecture I will speak mainly on the Federated States of Micronesia. The flag of the Federation is similar to the TTPI flag but with 4 stars. Each of the four states—Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap—have adopted their own flags using local symbols. Laws were promulgated about the protocol and the use of these flags. Some municipalities have adopted a flag but it was impossible to find information about their symbolism.

A handkerchief made in the early days of the American Revolution features George Washington on horseback. Of vexillological interest, it contains four flags: a 25-striped rebel flag (13 red and 12 white), a rattlesnake flag, a pine tree flag, and a final mystery flag. The final flag has been repeatedly misidentified as a British Ensign, but evidence to the contrary shows that it is, rather, a completely different flag. Furthermore, this article retells the story and people associated with the genesis of this mysterious handkerchief. This includes the wife of George Washington—Martha Washington—and the printer responsible for it, John Hewson. A recent colonial immigrant from England, Hewson proudly carried republican views, had connections with Benjamin Franklin, fought for American Independence, and was a descendant of another John Hewson who signed the death warrant of King Charles I in 1649.

Stained glass windows make an impression by pictorial and symbolic means and communicate many things to many people. These windows—first used in churches to teach the gospel story to laypeople—have evolved from a solely religious form of devotion into the secular world. Memorial windows have been commissioned in colleges, libraries, state capitols, museums, and memorials to convey the spirit of their time period. These “tapestries of colored lights”, which use images of flags, coats of arms, and other symbols, tell a story—speaking to all generations—maintaining present the history of the past.

The American writer Washington Irving is well-known for his Knickerbocker’s History of New York, published in 1809. His claim was that this material was derived from ancient Dutch manuscripts dealing with the history of the colony of New Netherlands, 1623–1664, and its capital, New Amsterdam, now New York City. Scholars have debated this claim ever since and none of the manuscripts he cites as sources have ever been discovered to exist.

The presentation begins with the (accepted) date of 1199, the death of King Richard I, the first king known to have used the three gold lions on red. It continues to show how King Edward III added the French Royal Arms, consequent to his claim to the French throne. There is then the change from “France Ancient” to “France Modern” by King Henry IV in 1405, which set the pattern of the arms and the standard for the next 198 years. The story then proceeds to show how, over the ensuing 234 years, there were no fewer than six versions of the standard until the adoption of the present pattern in 1837. The presentation includes pictures of all the designs, noting that, in the early stages, the arms appeared more often as a surcoat than a flag. There is also some anecdotal information regarding the various patterns.

According to historians, twelve American astronauts explored the surface of the Moon between 1969 and 1972. During their time on the lunar surface each Apollo crew deployed a special flag pole, leaving a total of six American flags on the surface of the Moon. Or did they? Since the 1970s conspiracy theories have emerged which claim that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) faked the moon landings. Much of the evidence used by the conspiracy theorists consists of photographs and films released by NASA during the Apollo Program. Not surprisingly, the flags have played a major role in the argument that the moon landings were an elaborate hoax. This paper will examine the claims of the conspiracy theorists, especially those related to flags, and will provide explanations in support of the historical reality of the Apollo missions.

On certain days of the year the Dutch celebrate their royal family, the House of Orange, by flying an orange pennant above their national flag. The Netherlands is the only country in the world which extends its flag with such an added stripe. It is a reminder of the unsolved question; what is the correct colour of the top stripe of the national flag—red or orange? Orange was the original 16th-century colour, to represent Willem of Orange. About fifty years later the top stripe changed to red—and ever since, the Dutch have been divided on this question. The orange pennant, in Dutch a ‘wimpel’, came into use after the Netherlands regained independence in 1815. The ‘old’ republican red, white, and blue flag was reinstated by the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands. Half a century later, it became fashionable to show allegiance to the royal family by adding an orange stripe as a pennant attached to the flag. The orange pennant started a new Dutch flag tradition, as nowadays other things fly with the flag as well.

Over one hundred municipal flags have been recorded from the four Atlantic provinces of eastern Canada. Recognising that not all communities in the Atlantic Provinces “face the sea”, an analysis was undertaken to determine the significance of the major categories of local enterprise, and from that the effect of these enterprises in the design of the flags. The analysis included elements from the arms or municipal seal commonly displayed on the flags. The analysis of these flags and the communities they represent reveals that the flags reflect the industries that dominate the economy of the municipalities, especially those that are coastal communities, chief among which are maritime enterprises.

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.