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The study of Haitian Vodou—imagining its historical development, interpreting the poetics of its mythology, analyzing its social functions—leads, almost invariably, to the consideration of the effects of hegemony. The symbolic representations and actual manifestations of local and global power have continually impacted Vodou. The aesthetics and ritual implications of Vodou flags (drapo Vodou) in many ways encapsulate the social and political history of Haiti; a past marked by displacement, fragmentation, simulation, and hybridization. This dissertation is presented as a focused study of drapo Vodou in which I examine how the flags embody or signify the adaptive merging of African and European cultural behaviors. In my analysis, I concentrate on evolution and iconography of drapo Vodou and the stylized ways that banners are paraded during ceremonies. These foci offer perhaps the most direct means of getting at the full historical, social, and theological implications of the flags. My central thesis is that, in both form and function, drapo Vodou are patterned after the banners used by the institutional centers of power (e.g. the military and the church) that have dominated Haitian society since the colonial period. I argue that the national and regimental standards carried by colonial and post-colonial military forces, the processional banners employed by Catholic religious orders, and the ensigns used by Masonic lodges have all served, to varying degrees, as models for drapo Vodou. Each of these root traditions, it can be argued, is patently European in origin. Nonetheless, as used in Vodou rites, ceremonial flags play a crucial role in the continued recognition and worship of African or African-inspired deities (lwa ) within Haiti. For this reason, I believe that the study of drapo provides a unique opportunity to delve into the processes by which Vodou practitioners (Vodouists) have transformed European material representations of power (both mundane and otherworldly) into symbolic manifestations of the lwa. The hypotheses regarding the evolution, iconography, and ritual significance of drapo Vodou presented in this dissertation are based on data generated from library and museum research in the United States and fieldwork in Haiti.

This paper is a semiotics analysis of national symbols, especially national flags, seeking to insert its emergence in the context of the formation of the modern National States. The methodological approach is critical and interdisciplinary, capitalising on the contributions of Semiotics, History, Sociology and Philosophy. The flag of Brazil is analysed in a detailed manner, as a complex symbol, formed of shapes, colours, natural elements and words. From the historical point of view, the flag of Brazil is a symbol, which safeguards the past of the Brazilian Empire inside the symbol of the Republic of Brazil. From the semiotic point of view, one can see in the plan of expression a set of symbols, which allows us to realise the level of significance, there lying the dialectical conflicts of the history of Brazil. From the point of view of the current political scene, it seeks to analyse the new and main role played by the national flag, in its re-emergence among many demonstrations, and the rebirth of nationalism, within the context of economical, moral and political crises. This allows us to assess the meaning of Brazilian modernity and its future challenges.

The symbolic functioning of flags is related to many large topics in philosophy and in social sciences. My interest here is in the dialectics of how flags mean. Flags are polysemic and ambiguous, a kind of symbolic nodes grouping several layers of signification. Flags are not images, though, but objects made to be used not contemplated. Once raised, flags may talk. But what they say when talking depends upon the modes of use in communal practices. When used, flags contribute to the staging of an event. They are performative utterances in a specific situation. The paper begins with a short review of modern discourses on the nexus between light, colour, and emotion as unreflective forms of perceiving the world. Drawing upon studies on the contemporary production and reproduction of ways of seeing the chapter then explores in greater detail specific aspects of the dialectics of sense-making through flags. Aside from symbolising as well as iconic and spectacular modes of use banal forms of performance are taken into account. Once there, flags are signs of their own context. What they promote, the paper suggests, is not unity but configurations of common differences. Finally, the article addresses the role of flags for the assemblage of cultural identities of populations connected by digital media and the formation of society in the age of globalisation.

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.

Chapters: What is American civil religion?; America: the name, the concept, and the word; Jamestown and its anniversaries; The Mayflower Compact ; Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims, and the Indians; City on a hill: from Jesus to Winthrop, Kennedy, and Reagan; The Freedom Trail and Boston Common; The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the slave quarters ; The flag; The Declaration of Independence; The Great Seal and the dollar bill; The Constitution; Washington, D.C.: the city, the Capitol, and the White House; The Star-Spangled Banner; The Washington Monument; The Battle Hymn of the Republic; Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address; Lincoln's second inaugural address; Arlington National Cemetery; The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; America the Beautiful; The Lincoln Memorial; Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills; God Bless America ; This Land is Your Land; The four freedoms; Iwo Jima: the picture, the monuments, and the battle; Disney parks; The Kennedy inaugural; Kings' speeches: the Mall (1963) and Memphis (1968); Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Transforming the National Mall; Ground zero, martyrdom, and empire; Conflict, consensus, and the future

Despite the visibility of the Mexican flag within its country and to its neighbors, in the English-speaking world there are elements of the flag’s design that are not well-known, yet which are important parts of the flag’s meaning and importance to citizens of Mexico. The Aztec symbolism embedded in the flag tells a story about not only the early history of the country, but also its modern search for a national identity.

Reproduces the abstracts of five articles on varying topics.

In his provocative think piece, “Flagging Enthusiasm,” Tony Burton muses on the eternal questions of vexillology: what is a flag and what does it do? While not avoiding the simple answers, he unfurls the flag as a symbolic and material object, allowing it to reveal itself as a complicated, challenging, and controversial creature.