September/October1999

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Vol. 32 • No. 5 September/October 1999

CHANGES IN NAVA NEWSYou may have noticed the last few

issues of this journal have had morecolor in them, thanks to a generousdonation from Taiji Tanaka of theTanaka Flag Company in Osaka,Japan. Again we express our sincerethanks for this underwriting. Theresponse has been positive aboutthis change.

As discussed in Victoria, the Boardhas decided to reduce the frequencyof NAVA News to quarterly in favorof longer issues with color as a stan-dard feature. This will allow us tokeep the same budget for layout anddesign, printing and mailing. It is feltthat longer issues, such as the Janu-ary-April 1999 double issue, allowmore space for in-depth vexillologicaltopics to be explored.

The change will also reduce theamount of “overhead” space eaten up

by the masthead, publisher’s noticeand addressing block since these willappear only four times a year ratherthan six. As it stands now, a typicalNAVA News issue is 8 pages long withapproximately 1!/3 pages being de-voted to the masthead, advertising,addressing block and notice. Six is-sues per year yields a total of 48pages with 8 of them lost tovexillology by such necessary fea-tures, net total of 40 pages ofvexillology. If we go to a quarterly of16 pages, the total number is 64pages, with just 5!/3 pages lost to thenecessary features, yielding 58@/3pages of vexillology per year. Plus wewill gain 16 pages of color!

This change is slated to go into ef-fect after the last issue of the presentvolume. We are trying to get back on

schedule and apologize for the late-ness of this issue. The November-December 1999 issue should be outbefore the end of December or veryearly in January at the latest. Ourschedule for next year under the newplan will be Jan.-March 2000 (pub-lished in Feb.); April-June 2000(May); July-Sept. 2000 (August); andOct.-Dec. 2000 (November). Readerscan assist by sending in articles,clippings, drawings, reports on theiractivities, etc. We need your help!

We hope you will approve of thesechanges. Enclosed with this issue isa survey put together by our mem-bership committee which will go along way towards helping us makefuture decisions. Your input is es-sential. Please feel free to add anyadditional comments before you re-turn it. Thanks.

Above, the staff of Tanaka Flag in Osaka,Japan with “Enjoy Flags” flag in front ofthe office where 30 people work. Annualsales are US$12,000,000. NAVA is indebtedto Mr. Taiji Tanaka for his donation thatmakes the color in this issue of NAVA Newspossible.

STUDENT RESISTANCE IN SERBIAStudents of Serbian Universities

have formed a political organizationcalled “Otpor” (Resistance). Theydemonstrate against the actual re-gime in Serbia.

Their flag is white, with black fistin black-outlined circle. Flag photos

could be seen onhttp://www.otpor.com .

Greetings fromwindy Belgrade,

Ivan Sarajcic,geographer

Belgrade, Serbiasara@tehnicom.net

NAVA News 32/5

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CONSERVING AMERICA’S “CIVIL WAR” FLAGSIt streamed across many a bloody

battlefield, and if dropped it waspicked up to fly again. Its capturewas deemed a disgrace, but if carriedto the enemy it was planted with thekind of hubris that only a victor cansummon. It was considered anhonor to carry it into battle, but italways meant that the bearer wouldbecome a most conspicuous target.Its purpose was utilitarian, but inthe end it embodied the very soul ofwho you were and what you stoodfor. Perhaps more than any otherartifact of the Civil War, flags werenot only symbols of valor, they werein many cases the cause of valor.Even today Civil War flags can stillbring out the passion in a humanheart; and they are considered oneof the most desirable of collectableartifacts.

Few history buffs own Civil Warflags, and the relative rarity of theseitems insures their value. Most of uswill have to be content to visit amuseum to see one, and even thenit is usually removed from our im-mediate presence by a pane or twoof glass. In many cases it’s a tributeto the museum professional thatthey exist at all. Made in a hurry,sometimes of fragile material, theywere rushed into a harsh environ-ment consisting of rain, wind, cold,heat and, not surprisingly, smokeand bullets. After the war theyweren’t necessarily treated any bet-ter; many just “hung around,” orwere furled tightly on their pikes andleft to bake in hot display cases foryears. Even well made flags had tosuffer certain indignities; during the1940’s, in an attempt to stabilizethem, many flags underwent a spe-cial sewing technique. This “conser-vation stitching” process causedthousands of holes to be poked intothe fabric while a patented quiltingstitch was applied across the face ofthe flag. Afterward the flags becamea sort of esoteric curiosity, and wereof interest only to dedicated histori-ans and vexillologists.

But fifty years later, spurred on bypopular movies, television programsand the reenactment hobby, a re-newed interest in all things “CivilWar” has again drawn public atten-tion to flags. Both public and pri-vate museums have spent consid-erable sums to preserve and protecttheir flag collections. The Common-wealth of Pennsylvania was one of

the first public entities to employtextile professionals to conserve theirState issued Civil War colors, and theMuseum of the Confederacy in Rich-mond, Virginia, recently began aconservation project focusing ontheir collection of fragile silk flags.1But just what is “conservation,” andhow does it differ from “restoration?”

Restoration is that process bywhich an artifact undergoes treat-ment in order to make it look like itsoriginal condition, while conserva-tion is an environmental control pro-cess that conserves the artifact inits present condition but preventsfurther deterioration. Conservationallows flags to be cleaned and stabi-lized, but does not try to make theflag “look new.” Fonda Thomsen, di-rector of Textile Preservation As-sociates in Sharpsburg, Maryland,says modern textile conservationbegan when scientists employed thenewly invented x-ray machine topeer beneath the surface of oldpaintings. “The first x-rays of paint-ings were done in 1910. It was dis-covered that many original paintingshad been painted over in an effort tofix damage on the original surface.Scientists then asked the question,‘what caused the original damage?’They found that these works of arthad deteriorated because of the en-vironment in which the paintingswere kept. They had been subjectedto too much light, extremes in tem-perature, mold and mildew. By 1950an international congress of art sci-entists met with the express purposeof creating a professional organiza-tion to deal with works of art. The artscientists felt so strongly that theenvironment was the chief cause ofdeterioration that they decided to dis-tance themselves from the word “res-toration,” which implies ‘fixing it up’to look like the original. They choseinstead to be called conservators.”(Conservation is a material science,and professional conservators arescientists. Graduate programs inconservation require a double ma-jor in art and science.) In the case offlags, conservation starts with deter-mining what kind of fiber was usedto make the material. An experi-enced professional can often look ata flag and tell what kind of fabricwas used in its construction, butsometimes a microscope is requiredto make that determination. Conser-

vators look for signs of powdering,acidity and brittleness in the fibers,and then determine the appropriatesteps to be taken to preserve the flag.

Museums usually take this lightexposure business very seriously,limiting the amount of time theirflags are exhibited, and rotating theirartifacts every six months or so.Light is such an important consid-eration that Ms. Thomsen’s recom-mendation to private owners of CWflags is never exhibit them! “Silk isone of the most fragile materials wehave today. We have silks from 2000BC from the Chinese tombs in beau-tiful condition. Why? Because in atomb it’s dark; the environment (of theChinese tombs) was stable; therewasn’t fluctuating temperature andhumidity; there was no light; thepieces were lying flat, they were fullysupported, there were no insects, andthere were no people handling them.”

Rebecca A. Rose, Flag Curator atthe Museum of the Confederacy inRichmond, Virginia, echoes thesesentiments, and has this advice forthose who own CW or very old flags:“The best way to store your flag isflat, in a dark, temperature controlledenvironment. Avoid large extremes oftemperature and humidity; don’tstore it in the attic or basement wherethere are extremes in temperatureand moisture, and mildew can be aproblem. Storage in the main livingareas of a home is preferable, as cen-tral heating and air conditioning havemade these areas a temperature con-trolled environment.” If a flag is large,flat storage may not be practical. Inthis case the best way to store it isto roll the flag on a tube, bufferingthe fabric with an acid-free, archi-val tissue. If the flag cannot be storedflat or properly rolled then the pre-ferred method, using archival qual-ity materials, is to fold the flag andstore it in a box; but if you must dothis be sure to buffer the flag, andavoid boxes with an acidic pH level.Acid-free archival tissue paper andstorage boxes are available at mostquality art or framing stores. If youwant to occasionally bring your flagout of storage and display it Ms.Thomsen has this alternative: “Iwould suggest that the flag be rolledbetween two layers of a sheer film.[Textile Preservation Associates] usesa clear polyester film called Mylar;what they encapsulate paper in.

September/October1999

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When someone wants to see it theflag can be unrolled off the tube, andit’s fully supported; no one has totouch it.” Like archival tissue, Mylaris available at better art and archi-tectural supply stores.

If your flag is particularly dirtyyou’ll want to get a professional tex-tile conservator to clean it (or at leastadvise you before you try cleaning ityourself!). Never throw it in thewashing machine, and never sendit out to be dry-cleaned. At the Mu-seum of the Confederacy cleaningmethods vary from a “dry” cleaning(not to be confused with chemicaldry-cleaning at your local cleaners)and a “wet” cleaning (again, not tobe confused with the washing ma-chine variety). Museum “dry” clean-ing often involves vacuuming; acoated screen is placed between thefabric and the vacuum wand to pre-vent the fabric from being stressedby the suction. Lose dirt particlesare pulled off the surface withoutdamaging the material. This is notyour ordinary home vacuum cleaner;it’s a special low-pressure unit, withinterior filters that collect the dirt forfuture analysis. “Wet” cleaning, acomplicated process that shouldonly be performed by a professionaltextile conservator, takes into con-sideration such factors as fabric typeand condition, and the type of dyeused to color the fabric.2 In onemethod the flag is given a “bath” inde-ionized water. The water isflushed and its pH level is monitored.When the pH level stabilizes the pro-cess is complete. Flags with paintedartwork are particularly difficult toclean. At Textile Preservation Asso-ciates painted flags undergo a hu-midification process in order to re-store pliability to the artwork andrelax the fibers in the material. Hu-midification requires a special cham-ber and monitoring sensors, as theprocess must not only control thehumidity (between the range of 75%-80%) but also temperature and time.Caution: don’t try this at home! Asteam iron is not a replacement fora humidity chamber! In fact, one ofthe worst things you can do to anold flag is to iron it. Rebecca Roseagrees. “Sometimes people will seewrinkles in these old flags, and theywant them to look nice; but that’sextremely damaging, particularly tosomething that’s 130-140 years old.”

Speaking of painted flags, some of

the artwork on Union or Confeder-ate flags was done by noted artistsof the time and rival a fine qualityoil painting. The paint used wasnatural resin paint, and the pre-ferred media was Silk. The complex-ity of the painting and the require-ment for a different device displayedon the back made for some interest-ing techniques. Some flags were sim-

ply “back-painted” so that the ob-verse painting appeared backwardson the reverse side of the flag. Some-times a flag was made with a doublecanton, making it easier to makedifferent paintings on the front andback. Other flags had a different sealpainted on each side of one-layerSilk, making them particularly frag-ile. Some Union Infantry flags haddouble-pieced fourth red stripes, sothat the gold-painted unit namewould appear correctly on bothsides. In some isolated cases, par-ticularly with respect to civilian flagsof the time, painting or lettering wasdone on cotton, which was then ap-pliqued to a wool flag.3

So now you know how to care foryour old flag, and you’ve seen whatmuseums do to care for theirs. Buthow do you know if you’ve got the“real thing?” What are some of theclues you can look for to determinewhether your flag is Civil War era orsomething else altogether? RebeccaRose looks for 1) zig-zag stitching,because Civil War flags did NOT useit, and 2) the restricted use of metalgrommets. The zig-zag stitch firstappeared on flags in the 1890’s. Ifyou have a wool flag with zig-zagstitching it may be one of the manyVeterans Flags that were madearound that time. Metal grommets

were used on SOME Civil War flags;as an example, oversized flags of 8feet x 12 feet or larger, such as Navyor Garrison flags (and not all ofthem). But Ms. Rose says she doesnot have one example of any flagsmaller than 8 feet on the hoist withmetal grommets. One other item tolook for is the quality of the “white”fabric in your flag; if it’s “photocopypaper white” it isn’t 19th Centurymaterial. Finally, while the Museumof the Confederacy will not authen-ticate or appraise your flag, they cantell you things about it that are con-sistent with the Civil War period ornot. They try to help people do theirown research so that they can es-tablish a link between the originalowner and the Civil War. Ms. Rosesays she often sees flags that turnout to be post Civil War; it might bea reunion flag, or a Veterans flag,etc. If you do find out your treasureis post-Civil War take heart; theseflags are finally beginning to get therecognition they deserve, and theirprices are going up.

Sources:An interview with Ms. Fonda Thomsen,Director, Textile Preservation Associates

An interview with Ms. Rebecca A. Rose,Curator, The Museum of the Confed-eracy

“Advance the Colors” by Dr. Richard A.Sauers, Ph.D., The Capitol PreservationCommittee

“Colours of the Gray” by Rebecca A.Rose, The Museum of the Confederacy

Brenda Giles, Director, Greene CountyHistorical Society, Waynesburg, PA

Research materials of Richard R. GideonFlags

Notes:1 The first phase of this process – astorage facility to store the Silk flags flat– has been completed.2 Wet cleaning at the Museum of theConfederacy involves misting fabric withdeionized water and drying under glassweights.3 An interesting example of thistechnique may be seen at the GreeneCounty Historical Society inWaynesburg, Pennsylvania.

About the author:A former teacher and broadcaster, Rich-ard R. Gideon is a vexillologist, and ownsRichard R. Gideon Flags, an enterprisespecializing in reproductions of historicflags. In addition to writing about flagshe is currently working on a flag bookabout America’s other “Civil War” – theWhiskey Rebellion of 1794.

WHAT MUSEUMS DO TO PRESERVE THEIR TREASURES, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PRESERVE YOURS! by Richard R. Gideon

Canton of the 36 Star Civil Flag at theGreene County Historical Society – Photoby Richard R. Gideon Flags

NAVA News 32/5

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THE FLAG AND BANNER OF THE INTERNATIONALFEDERATION OF VEXILLOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

The FIAV flag was introduced at theSecond International Congress ofVexillology in 1967: on a blue field, ex-tending horizontally from hoist to fly, twoyellow halyards forming two interlacedloops. The halyards allude to the studyof flags and banners. The blue field andhalyards evoke the maritime origins ofthe first flags. The interlaced loops re-call the love-knots well-known toheraldists and symbolize the friendshipwhich unites vexillologists of all lands.

The loops formed by the halyards re-semble two hemispheres and in addingthe four ends of the halyards, we arriveat the number six, standing for the sixparts of the world. These elements of theflag thus underline the internationalcharacter of our Federation. It may alsobe recalled that blue appears in the flagsof a number of international organiza-tions. The fact that the halyards extendacross the whole flag and disappear be-yond either end express the considerable- almost infinite - extent of vexillologicalstudies in time and space.

The initial design was created by KlaesSierksma and slightly modified by theCongress Committee; the final designwas realized by Peter Krog. In 1967,President Mühlemann presented theoriginal FIAV flag to Whitney Smith. Theflag is now a part of the collection of theFlag Research Center.

On July 29, 1999, the 16th Session ofthe FIAV General Assembly amended ar-ticle 24 of the FIAV Constitution to de-fine the color blue as Pantone MatchingSystem (PMS) U293 and the color yellowas PMS U123. The officers’ flags were alsoadopted by the 16th Session of the FIAVGeneral Assembly. The color specifica-tions for the flags are as above plus red(PMS 192C).

Information supplied by Michel Lupant,FIAV President, and Charles Spain, FIAVSecretary-General. Graphics by GrahamBartram, FIAV Secretary-General forCongresses.

SYMBOLS OF FIAV MEMBERSARGENTINAAsociación Argentina de Vexilología(association [A])The seal of the Association bears itsacronym and a depiction of theArgentine National Flag. Theinscription reads “ASOCIACIONARGENTINA DE VEXILOLOGIA”around the top and “Resolución N° 60- I.G.J. 1988” around the bottom. TheAssociation has no flag.Information supplied by Gus Tracchia,Jiri Tenora and Petr Exner.

Centro Interdisciplinario deEstudios Culturales (A)The width of the arms of the cross are1/3 of the hoist and the upright crossarm is placed the same distance fromthe hoist. Overall proportions are 9:14.Information supplied by Gus Tracchia,US Representative of CIDEC.

AUSTRALIAFlag Society of Australia Inc. (A)Designed by Antony C. Burton andadopted 26 September 1989. Thekangaroo design and the SouthernCross denote Australia, the flag devicerepresents vexillology and the blue andgold reflect FIAV. Blue and white recalla strong Australian flag designtradition. Proportions are 5:8 and thecolors are PMS 281 (Union Jack Blue),White, PMS 300 (Queens Award) andPMS 116 (Golden-yellow).Information supplied by Ralph Bartlett,Secretary of the FSA.

BELGIUMCentre Belgo-Européen d’Étudesdes Drapeaux (institution [I])The flag combines the Belgian tricolorwith the European flag.Graphic adapted from the masthead of“Gaceta de Banderas.”

Societas Vexillologica Belgica (A)The white flag bearing a red saltirerecalls the flag of urgundy which haslong historical traditions in Belgium.At the hoist is a black triangle and ayellow “V”, thus incorporating thenational colors of Belgium as well as asymbol of dedication to vexillology.From the Flag Bulletin, Vol. XVII No. 1.

CANADABurgee Data Archives (I)The mathematical sign for infinity inblue on a white pennant (2:3) centeredon a green rectangular flag (2:3). Thehoist of the pennant 2/3 of the hoistof the rectangular flag. The infinity signrepresents the infinite number ofdesigns that can be placed on thedistinguishing flag (i.e. a burgee,usually pennant [triangular] shaped)of a recreational boating club orassociation.Granted by the Canadian HeraldicAuthority, September 18, 1995.Flag designed and informationsupplied by Peter B. Edwards, Directorof BDA.

Canadian Flag Association/L’Association canadienne devexillologie (A)The provisional flag of the CFA has 1:1proportions, the border mesuring 1/8or 1/9 of the height and forming a redC around the flag. This flag was firstintroduced at a CFA meeting inScarborough in 1993.Information from the CFA/ACV webpage, <http://pages.infinit.net/avosco/acv-cfa>.

CZECH REPUBLICVexilologicky klub (A)The Club´s flag was adopted on 6March 1976 and consists of a red field(2:3) charged with a white triangleextending to the fly. Another bluetriangle is laid on the white one. Itstop extends to half of the length of theflag. Designer of the flag is Zbysek

Svoboda.Information supplied by Petr Exner.

FINLANDPartioheraldikot r.y. (A)Comprising a banner of their arms, themain charge is a cross, blue on white,representing Finland with a chief ofgreen bearing a fleur-di-lis and a trefoilin white, representative of worldscouting.Information gathered from “LiehuvatVärit,” No. 1/95.

FRANCESociété française de vexillologie (A)The colors are those of France and thewhite cross was for centuries thenational emblem of that country.Graphic from the Flags of the World website.

FRANCE: BrittanyKevarzhe Vannielouriezh Vreizh/Société bretonne de vexillologie (A)The flag was designed by Divi Kervella.Its field is white, charged with a blacksaltire. The triangle at the pole isermine. The flag is based on the letter“V” (Victor) of the international codeof the signals (white flag charged witha red saltire); “V” as in “vexillology”thus, the designer’s concept isvexillology in black and white, i.e.Breton vexillology. The saltire can beseen also like two letters “V” joined bytheir bases, that is to say, the initialsof VEKSILLOLOGIEZH VREIZH(Breton vexillology).This flag was chosen during themeeting of the K.V.V./S.B.V. inQuimper on November 10, 1996, from27 proposals submitted.Information supplied by Michel Bolloré-Pellé.

GERMANYDeutsche Gesellschaft fürFlaggenkunde e.V. (A)The DGF flag shows the German colorsblack, red and golden yellow forminga V for “vexillology”. The curved knotssymbolize the sciences of vexillology.Information from the DGF web site,<http://www.flaggenkunde.de>.

Heraldischer Verein “ZumKleeblatt” von 1888 zu Hannovere.V. (I)This seal is displayed on theirpublication, “Kleeblatt: Zeitschrift fürHeraldik und verwandteWissenschaften.” No information wasprovided.

Mauritius Buch Verlag GmbH (I)Logo of the firm as displayed in theprospectus sheet for “Das GroßeFlaggenbuch.”

World Vexillological ResearchInstitute (I)On a field of UN Blue is a white circlerepresenting the world, bearing fiveoverlapping “Vs” in a triangle and inthe principal flag colors.Information supplied by Jiri Tenora andPetr Exner.

September/October1999

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HUNGARYZászlókutató Intézet/Flag ResearchInstitute (A)The ZI Flag is 2:3 ratio, 6 verticalstripes (red, white, green, yellow, blackand blue). Red-white-green are theHungarian colors; 3 colors are addedto represent the 6 continents.Information supplied by Sándor Kiss.

ITALYCentro Italiano Studi Vessillologici(I)Designed by Aldo Ziggioto and adoptedin 1973. Ratio 2:3.Information from the CISV web site< h t t p : / / w w w . a g o r a . s t m . i t /al.martinelli/cisv.htm>.

MALTA, G.C.Heraldry and Vexilology Society ofMalta (A)The HAVSOM Flag is based on thewhite-red national flag of Malta, witha counter-changed “pile” or “V” toindicate vexillology. Upon the V is acounter -changed shield, with a“George Cross” which ends up as thenational shield of arms of Malta, toindicate the interest in heraldry.Use of the George Cross is restrictedby law, therefore the Society had toobtain official permission from thePrime Minister of Malta, granted inFebruary 1997.Information supplied by AdrianStrickland, President of HAVSOM.

NETHERLANDSNederlandse Vereniging voorVlaggenkunde (A)The flag is 2:3, white with 4 trianglesof 2 equal sizes, base to the hoist andtop on the fly edge. The base length is1/4 of the flag height. The colors ofthe triangles are (from top to bottom)red, blue, red and blue. The flag hascolors red-white-blue indicating thatthe NVvV is a Dutch association. Toplace 4 different colored pennants ona flag indicates that the members ofthe NVvV are interested in a variety offlags and/or vexilloids.The flag, a design by Henk ‘t Jong, wasadopted at a meeting in Delft on March28, 1987.Information supplied by Daan vanLeeuwen, Treasurer of the NVvV.

NEW ZEALANDNew Zealand Flag Association (A)The New Zealand Flag Association hasno flag.Information supplied by John Moody,Secretary of NZFS, courtesy of JonRadel.

NORTH AMERICANorth American VexillologicalAssociation (A)The colors are those found in the flagsof the United States of America andCanada. The white “V” (and invertedchevronel in heraldic terms) stands for“vexillology.”The flag was designed by Harry F.Manogg of Kankakee, Illinois, andadopted in 1967. It’s proportions are2:3. The NAVA Flag may not be used

for commercial or personal purposes.Information from NAVA News, Vol. I, No. 1.

POLANDCentrum Flagi Ziemi/Earth FlagCentre (I)Consisting of the Polish National Flagwith a counterchanged “C” for “Center”and a blue globe with white meridiansrepresenting the Earth.Information supplied by Jiri Tenora andPetr Exner.

Flag Design Center (I)Designed by Alfred Znamierowski inAugust 1978. Combines the colors ofPoland with those of the USA, wherethe FDC was established in 1978 andlocated there until 1994. The “V”stands for Vexillology, the Bald Eaglethe spirit of flying.Information supplied by AlfredZnamierowski.

Polskie TowarzystwoWeksylologizne (A)Designed in 1997 by AndrzejBeblowski after a suggestion by Dr.Ottfried Neubecker. White and red arethe colors of Poland and “W” standsfor “weksylologia” (vexillology inPolish). Proportions 5:8.Information supplied by AlfredZnamierowski.

ROMANIASocietatea Româna de Vexilologie(A)The Societatea Româna de Vexilologiehas provided no flag information.

SCANDANAVIANordisk Flaggselskab/NorrænaFánafélagd/NordiskaFlaggsällskapet/PohjoismaidenLippuseura/Nordisk Flag Selskab (A)The red cross on yellow is the flagsupposedly used by King Erik asNordic “colors of the realm.” It isdisplayed in the form of the FIAVhalyard and knot.Illustration adapted from “NordiskFlagkontakt.”

SLOVENIAHeraldica Slovenica (A)The flag is a banner from the arms ofthe society and recalls the NationalFlag and Arms of Slovenia.Coat of arms illustrated on HS webpage, <http://genealogy.ijp.si/hslov/hs.htm>.

SOUTHERN AFRICAThe Southern African VexillologicalAssociation (A)At least one of the colours in this flagwill be found in the national flag ofevery state in southern Africa. The goldinverted chevron alludes to a “V” forvexillology. The five white stars, whichare derived from the Southern Cross,and the white chevron, allude tosouthern Africa.Adopted November 1990 with theformal establishment of SAVA.Designed by Frederick Brownell, StateHerald of South Africa and firstChairman of SAVA. Proportions 2:3.Information supplied by Bruce Berry,Secretary/Treasurer of SAVA.

SPAINSociedad Española de Vexilología(A)Based on traditional historical flagsthat bore a saltire, the arms of thetruncated cross are displayed in theSpanish National colors.Illustration adapted from masthead of“Gaceta de Banderas.”

SPAIN: CataloniaAssociació Catalana de Vexil.lología(A)The flag is based on the traditional flagof Catalonia.Illustration from the ACV web page,<http://www.acv.ptv.es>.

SRI LANKAFlag Research Centre of Sri Lanka(I)The center emblem in black, consistingof a saltire combined with a crosswhose ends terminate in arrowheads,represents the flow of vexillologicalinformation to and from the eightcorners of the compass. The flag is 1:2and bears two horizontal red stripesto honor all those millions who fromtime immemorial have laid down theirlives for flags of various causes all overthe world. The ratio of the white andred stripes is 4:1:5:1:4. Designed byKumaran Fernando.Information from the Flag Bulletin, Vol.XVII, No. 1.

SWEDENVästra Sveriges Heraldiska Sällskap(A)This association provided noinformation. The image was taken fromthe “Vexilologicky Lexikon” by PetrExner and Jiri Tenora published in1996.

SWITZERLANDSchweizerische Gesellschaft fürFahnen- und Flaggenkunde/SociétéSuisse de Vexillologie/SocietàSvizzera di Vessillologia (A)Flag: Red with a white cross (extendingto the edges of the flag). Along eachdiagonal a yellow bar which ends in afleur-de-lys. Extending from the cross8 yellow flames (one to the left and tothe right of each diagonal cross bar)and 4 red flames (covering partly eachdiagonal cross bar). As a real Swissflag it has square shape.Information from the Flags of the Worldweb site.

UKRAINEUkrayins’ke Heral’dychneTovarystvo/The Ukrainian HeraldrySociety (A)The flag was adopted on November 10,1995. Designed by VolodymyrDenysov. Flag has Ukrainian Nationalcolours, stylised Trident andabbreviation “UHT” (in Cyryliccharacters).Information supplied by AndriyGrechylo, President of UHT.

UNITED KINGDOMFlag Institute (A)The Flag Institute flag depicts the

NAVA News 32/5

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Cross of Saint George on a white V onblue, the international symbol forVexillology. The flag was designed bythe late director of the Flag Institute,Dr. William Crampton.Information from the FI web site,<http://www.flaginst.demon.co.uk>.

USAFlag Research Center (I)The emblem of the FRC, designed byLouis Loynes, incorporates a zephyr(gentle breeze) in the form of a shipbearing a flag. The zephyr isrearguardant, symbolizing researchwhich involves looking back intohistory. The proportions are 1:2 withthe indentations being one-sixth of thelength of the flag from the fly and one-third of the hoist in distance from thetop to the bottom.Information supplied by Whitney Smith,Director of the FRC.

National Flag Foundation (A)The logo was taken from the NFF website, <http://www.icss.com/usflag/nff.html>.

Tumbling Waters Museum of Flags(I)Designed by Charles E. Brannon,adopted April 10, 1972. Seven starswhich encircle the script letter “W”represent the seven stars in the Cityof Montgomery flag; the UN blue panelforms the Tumbling Waters “wave” andrepresents the rivers of America; thebrown symbolizes Alabama’s rich soil,and the gold the rich heritage of theregion. The two large stars representthe main purposes of the museum, to“Explore and Enlighten” while orangeis associated with festivity, pageantryand glory. Red represents the flag ofthe State of Alabama, and thecomplicated flag design represents thecomplexity of flag study, while the goldborder forms an “M” for Montgomery.Information supplied by Charles E.Brannon, President, Board of Trustees.Illustration from NAVA News, Vol. XI,No. 3.

United States Flag Foundation (A)No information was provided by theorganization.

USA: Connecticut, Maine, Massachu-setts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,VermontNew England VexillologicalAssociation (A)The NEVA Flag is based on thetraditional flag of England (whitebearing a red St. George’s cross), thenamesake of the New England regionof the United States. In the center isa white diamond edged in blue andagain in white, emblazoned with agreen pine tree. The pine tree is thetraditional synmbol of New England,while the blue fimbriation representstwo “V’s”, one inverted over the other,representing Vexillology. The red-white-blue colors recall the colors ofthe United States Flag and the red-white-green colors recall the colors ofthe traditional New England Flag.

Information supplied by DavidMartucci, NEVA Secretary/Treasurer.

USA: Delaware, District of Columbia,Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylva-nia, VirginiaChesapeake Bay Flag Association(A)The blue colors recall the bay that isthe namesake of the association. Thestars represent the states thatcomprise the territory of its operations.The two dark blue stripes on light blueare similar to the two red stripes onwhite from the Washington DC Flag.Information supplied by NickArtimovich, President of CBFA and JonRadel.

USA: Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio,MichiganGreat Waters Association ofVexillology (A)The Great Waters flag, designed byJohn M. Purcell, was adopted in 1991as a result of a contest among themembership. The blue field of the flagsuggests the blue of the waters of theGreat Lakes and the Ohio River forwhich GWAV is named. The stripes,one for each of the states that makeup the region of membership, arealternately red and white (from the top)and symbolize the first letter ofVexillology. Proportions are 2:3.Information supplied by Peter J.Kinderman, President of GWAV.

THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FLAGSA brand-new encyclopedia of world

flags, authored by AlfredZnamierowski, the best on the sub-ject in two decades, has been printedand is available from

Flag Research CenterPO Box 580

Winchester MA 01890-0880 USATel: (781) 729-9410Fax: (781) 721-4817

According to the FRC, “The hard-cover volume contains 256 pages,averaging more than 8 color illus-trations per page and covering alltypes of flags throughout world his-tory plus complete text.”

Prices are (anywhere in the world):1 copy by surface mail.....$441 copy air mail.................$493 copies by surface mail...$853 copies by air mail..........$95

VISA and Master Card accepted.The author of the book sends the following:

“The book looks very good, never-theless I am unhappy that there areso many errors. Since I am the au-thor, I owe an apology to the poten-tial readers and an explanation whyit happened. After receiving the co-lour proofs I checked them carefullyand sent to the editor a list of some

hundred and twenty errors to becorrected.

Unfortunately I did not receive anyfurther proofs, and until I receivedmy copy of the book I was not awarethat more than two dozen errors hadnot been corrected, and the comput-er artist had added another one (onpage 232 he has removed the flag ofOuarzazate and has put in its placeremnants of the flag of EastFlanders). There are seven othermajor errors — misrepresentationsof some national and subnationalflags, as well as more than a dozenminor errors in text, captions, andindex.

Here is a list of flags which areshown incorrectly:

Page 57 - Francois Mitterand (theemblem should be golden yellow),

Page 103 - Civil ensign of Malta(the white border is missing),

Page 148 - South Holland (the roy-al flag of Scotland is shown),

Page 158 - Gagauzia (the threewhite stars are missing),

Page 165 - Palestine (the civil flagof Spain is shown),

Page 176 - Taiwan (the Tainwanesejack is shown),

Page 228 - Portugese LanguageCommunity (blue border is missing).

The errors on pages 103 and 228were not spotted by me when Ichecked the colour proofs. Neverthe-less the artwork at the computerartist’s disposal was correct, and heis to blame for removal of the bor-ders.

The errors in text which have notbeen corrected are as follows:

Page 155 - Serbian Republic -should be ‘National Flag’ not ‘Stateand National Flag.’

Page 185 - Tuvalu - should be‘Vaitupu’ not ‘Vaitupua.’

Page 206 - Curaçao - should be‘Flag of the Islands’ not ‘Island.’

Page 210 - captions above stamps- ‘Amazonas’ not ‘Amazonias.’

Page 242 - captions - ‘Anarchosyn-dicalists’ not ‘Anarchosyndacilists.’

Page 244 - captions - ‘Welt-Han-delsflotte’ not ‘welt-Handelsflotte.’

Also nine of my changes and addi-tions to the index have been ignored,and one new error has been made(see Castiole under Catalonia insteadof Castilla-León).”

Alfred Znamierowski

continued from page 5

September/October1999

—9—

NAVA NewsPublished bimonthly by the North

American Vexillological Association(NAVA), PMB 225, 1977 N Olden Ave Ext,Trenton NJ 08618-2193 USA. ISSN1053-3338. Material appearing in NAVANews does not necessarily reflect thepolicy or opinion of NAVA, the executiveboard or of the editor.

Please send articles, letters to the edi-tor and inquiries concerning advertisingrates and permission to reprint articlesto:

David Martucci, Interim Editor240 Calderwood Rd

Washington ME 04574-3440 USA(207) 845-2857pres@nava.org

Articles may be submitted in hard copyor in any Macintosh or PC format (ex-cepting Lotus Word Pro) on 3.5” diskettesor Zip disks. A hard copy showing allformatting preferences should accom-pany the disk. Articles and/or disks ac-companied by a SASE will be returned.

Please send copies or originals of anyflag-related newspaper and magazineclippings to the Vexi-Bits editor:

John H. Gámez5335 NW Loop 410 #513

San Antonio TX 78229-5529 USA(210) 256-9701

jhgvexistud@stic.net

Please send all non-NAVA News relatedcorrespondence, including change ofaddress or changes in email status tothe Association’s permanent address:

NAVAPMB 225

1977 N Olden Ave ExtTrenton NJ 08618-2193 USA

treas@nava.org

Visit NAVA on the web athttp://www.nava.org/

©1999 NAVA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THE ORIGINS OF FIAVmembership. The provisional cre-ation of FIAV was announced in Sep-tember 1967 at the 2nd Interna-tional Congress of Vexillology inZurich, Switzerland and the actualfoundation of the Federation was on7 September 1969 at the 3rd Con-gress held in Boston, Massachu-setts, USA. Its charter membershipnumbered 12 (of which 6 are nolonger in existence) and today itsmembership stands at 42, encom-passing organizations and institu-tions on each continent except Asiaand Antarctica.

NAVA News salutes FIAVon its 30th Birthday!

Editor’s note: The following is anabridged version of a piece originallypublished in NAVA News, Vol. XXIX,No. 1 (Jan-Feb 1996), pages 3-4.

I had been in correspondence withKlaes Sierksma of the Netherlandsabout a meeting of vexillologists inhis country. In September 1965 wewere jointly able to realize the 1stInternational Congress ofVexillology. In the little town ofMuiderberg 19 participants fromEurope, plus myself and a man fromSouth Africa, spent two days dis-cussing flags and enjoying tours,films, lectures, and exhibits. Aftergetting to know each other, on thesecond day we discussed the futuredevelopment of our nascent “scienceof vexillology.”

Everyone agreed congressesshould continue to be held on a regu-lar basis for our mutual enrichment,moving from country to country bothto encourage wide participation andto give us access to the vexillologicaltreasures of diverse cultures. We alsoneeded some kind of internationalassociation to coordinate our activi-ties. Responsibility for creating theassociation was placed in the handsof myself, Sierksma, and LouisMuhlemann, who was to organizethe 2nd Congress of Vexillology inZurich in 1967.

During the course of correspon-dence between the three of us thepresent International Federation ofVexillological Associations (FIAV) wasdeveloped. We quickly realized thatthe original concept of an “Interna-tional League of Vexillologists” wouldpresent many difficulties due to thesmall number of individuals aroundthe world interested in flags, the tre-mendous distances involved, and thefact that very few of us had any pos-sibility of getting financial supportfor vexillology from our occupations.If the only gathering of vexillologiststook place at the biennial con-gresses, decisions would be heavilyweighted in favor of the natives ofthe host country. Moreover, thosewho for any reason could not attendmight well find the possibility ofmeeting other vexillologists only oncea decade or less often.

For these reasons it was decidedthat FIAV would be a federation link-ing associations and institutions,rather than individuals. The creationof associations would allowvexillologists in each country or re-gion to organize themselves as theysaw fit—with their own meetings,publications, and activities suited tolocal circumstances. This also elimi-nated the necessity of a budget forFIAV and the complications whichmight arise from trying to determinea fair assessment of money, propercontrol over its spending, and theuneven benefits that might result.

Thus it was decided that the corepurpose of the new internationalorganization would be to provide aforum every two years for memberassociations and institutions to meetand discuss mutual problems. Whenappropriate, this would result in in-ternationally-binding decisions. Inaddition, sponsorship of the Inter-national Congresses of Vexillologywas to be an important ongoing re-sponsibility for FIAV.

While there was general agreementthat national associations wouldprovide the regular opportunities forindividual vexillologists to meet, ex-change information, publish, anddevelop their interests, in fact na-tional associations did not exist in1965. Thus the decision to consti-tute FIAV as a federation ofvexillological associations was aprime factor leading to the creationof associations. Things would haveworked out very differently if theoriginal concept of an InternationalLeague of Vexillologists had been fol-lowed.

The Netherlands Association ofVexillology (NVVV) was the first na-tional association of vexillology,founded in 1966 by the Dutch. TheFrench Association of InternationalVexillological Studies (no longer inexistence) was the second organiza-tion formed, later that same year.The North American VexillologicalAssociation (NAVA), the thirdvexillological association, created in1967, has always had the largest

by Whitney Smith

NAVA News 32/5

—10—

FLAG SYMPOSIUMIN BALTIMORE

Working title - “Early AmericanFlag Makers and Their Flags” or“Colours for All Nations” (RebeccaYoung’s 1803 Directory listing inPhiladelphia)

Purpose of Symposium1. What was the nature of flag mak-

ing in the early years of our coun-try (before the Civil War)

2. Who made the flags?3. Rebecca Young was commissioned

to make American Ensigns in 1781and 1782 - what would they havelooked like?

4. What was the purpose of flags?Specifics about the Symposium

Saturday March 11, 2000 from9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Admiral Fell Inn in Fells Point, 888South Broadway, Baltimore MD21231 phone (410) 558-1013 http://www.AdmiralFell.com

Cost : $35 per person will includelunch

Symposium followed by walkingtour of Fells Point and/or tour of theFlag House

The Admiral Fell Inn canaccomodate up to 100 peopleThe following are lined up to speak

at the Symposium:Whitney Smith - Overview of the

political perspective of early flagsHoward Madaus - Other 15 star

FlagsFonda Thompson - The Gostelowe

StandardsPat Pilling - Rebecca Flower Young,

Mary Pickersgill, William Young-Early American Flag Makers

Other speakers are being arranged.For more information, contact

Sally Johnston <sally@flaghouse.org> at the Star Spangled BannerHouse in Baltimore.

OHIO CIVIL WARFLAGS CONFERENCE

The Civil War Institute and theSave the Ohio Flags Committee ofthe Ohio Historical Society are go-ing to present a two day Civil Warflags symposium on September 8and 9th, 2000.

This is a Friday/Saturday arrange-ment. Friday will concentrate on theflag professionals of this study area-conservators, curators, etc. Lecturesas well as panel discussions are be-ing planned. This will also be usedfor any museum staff member tospeak on their ongoing flags projectsin their respective state/institution.

Saturday will be a more historicallyoriented program with lectures onOhio’s CW flags, the flags of a singleOhio regiment, Ohio flagmakers aswell as some lectures on Southernflags. We plan on a full range of CWflags topics.

Please pass this along to anyoneyou think would be interested in at-tending or speaking at this function.Greg Biggs of the Save The OhioFlags Committee is in charge of theprogramming for this event. Sugges-tions are indeed welcomed!

For more info, contact:Greg Biggs

Save The Ohio Flags CommitteeBiggsk@aol.com(419) 586-5294

FLAG DESIGN CONTESTThe Municipality of Szekesfehervar

announces a Flag Festival will be heldin Szekesfehervar, Hungary during thecelebration of the birth of the Hungar-ian state (1,000 years) beginning in May2000. The selected and realized actualflags will decorate the streets ofSzekesfehervar at least for 2-3 weeks.These flags should reflect or refer to thehistory of the history of Hungary, or thecity of Szekesfehervar and/or themillenium.

The actual flag’s size should be nomore than 300 cm (width) [9’10”] and250 cm (length) [8’2”]. The material ofthe flag will have to survive 3 weeks out-side.

The entry should be a detailed flag-description with illustrations (max: 5entries are accepted). The winning flagdesigns will get financial support to pro-duce the flag itself, so a budget wouldhave to be enclosed with the entry.

The proposed flags’ designers will getan Invitation to the festival (please notethat it does not mean that the travel andother costs would be covered - TR)

Prizes:I. 100.000,- HUF (USD 410)II. 70.000,- HUF (USD 285)III. 50.000,- HUF (USD 205)

and a few flags will be purchased forthe owner.

The deadline: the entries must arriveby 31 January, 2000.

Submit your entry to the followingPostal address:

Pelikan GaleriaKossuth u. 15.

SZEKESFEHERVARHungary 8000

If you have any questions I offer myhelp. Send your questions to:flag@free.netlap.hu, or call the organiz-ers: +36-1-22-329-431. Please note thatI have no official connection or any con-tract to this event’s organizers, but Ithink the flag-designers andvexillologists from all over the worldshould get a chance to participate in anopen contest. I put the Flag festival de-scription onto our homepage aswell.<http://free.netlap.hu/flag/> Thearticle appeared in the “Fehervari Polgar”the official magazine of Municipality ofSzekesfehervar <http://www.fehervar.hu/HIVATAL/polgar/>(Hungarian only).Email: ugyfelszolgalat@mail.datatrans.hu.

Tamas RumiNAVA member

Founder of Flag Research Institute(Hungary)

Zaszlokutato Intezet<flag@free.netlap.hu>

RAVEN 6 ERRATADue to a printing error in Raven

6, the text on pages 50 and 51 wasreversed. The text will read correctlyin this order: page 49, 51, 50, 52.Copies of Raven 6 can be correctedby writing “to page 51” at the bot-tom of page 49, “to page 50” on thebottom of page 51, and “to page 51”at the bottom of page 50. We apolo-gize to the author and to the read-ers for this error.

Readers are advised that thetraditional flag of Brittany, thebanner of arms, was shownincorrectly in NAVA News Vol. 32,No. 1-2 (January-April 1999). Thecorrect design is shown above. Weregret the error.

September/October1999

—11—

NIFDA ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON’AWARDED TO WHITNEY SMITH

PRIVATE FLAGS -PUBLIC FORUM

THE PERSONAL FLAGSOF NAVA’S MEMBERSNAVA is proud to offer display

space on our web site for our mem-bers’ private flags. All flags shownare completed flags or drawings(photos of actual flags get priority)and were designed by our members.NAVA provides this space forvexillological purposes only and doesnot endorse any particular flag.

Members are encouraged to sub-mit their personal or family flag de-signs. For information on how tosubmit your flag for publication onour web site contact webmaster@nava.org or mail your inquiry to theNAVA News Editor:

David Martucci240 Calderwood Rd

Washington ME 04574-3440 USAMembers flags currently displayed

on the web site are David Martucci,Washington, Maine USA; Dean Tho-mas, Pasadena, California USA; Dr.Whitney Smith, Ph.D, Winchester,Massachusettes USA; Ted Kaye,Portland, Oregon USA; John Purcell,Middleberg Heights, Ohio USA; Ri-chard R. Gideon, Pittsburgh, Penn-sylvania USA; Tamas Rumi,Szekesfehervar , Hungary; DevereauxD. Cannon Jr., Portland, TennesseeUSA; and Jose C. Alegria, Gijon,Spain.

We hope to get many more. In ad-dition, if there is enough of a re-sponse, we hope to print the designsin the Membership Directory.

On September 25, 1999 the Na-tional Independent Flag Dealers As-sociation (NIFDA) of the USA pre-sented its first “George WashingtonAward for Excellence” to NAVA mem-ber and founder, Whitney Smith,director of the Flag Research Cen-ter. The award, presented by NIFDA’spresident-elect Jim Eggleston of FortWorth, Texas, is a replica of a lifesize bust of George Washington, thefirst president of the USA and heroof the American Revolution executedby Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785.

The George Washington Award isNIFDA’s preeminent recognition fora man or woman who has offered aprolonged period of service to the flagindustry. It is bestowed upon thosewho have set an example in theirbusiness dealings of excellence, in-tegrity and professionalism. Theaward further recognizes those whohave given above and beyond the callof duty in terms of time, advice, andwisdom to others, within and with-out the flag industry.

According to Eggleston, “TheAward’s first recipient certainly ex-emplifies each and every character-istic NIFDA’s board was attemptingto recognize in creating the Awardand bestowing it upon worthy recipi-ents. Just as George Washington ishailed as the ‘Father of our Coun-try,’ Whitney Smith is truly hailedas the ‘Father of Vexillology,’ the

study of and science concerningflags.” He further commented aboutSmith, “Throughout his life, he hasbeen a pioneer in the field and hasprovided the bulk of the tremendoussubstance now known in today’sstudy of flags, what he reverentlyand lovingly refers to as the ‘Fabricof Our Dreams.’”

In making the announcement ofthe inaugural recipient, NIFDA’sboard stated, “Whitney Smith will domore to give honor and prestige toour first George Washington Awardthan this Award will do for him. Weare truly honored to have him ac-cept this Award, to care for the trea-sures that he does, and to have himserve so humbly and so expertly forso many years. We are even morehonored to have him as our friend.Dr. Smith is to our industry whatgreat icons and leaders such as Gen-eral Washington have been to ourcountry and its revolutionary spirit.”

Additional 1999 recipients of theGeorge Washington Award in recog-nition of their prior receipt ofNIFDA’s “Golden Grommet Award”were NAVA members Randy Beard,Sr., Chairman of Annin & Co.; andJim Van Gundy, Martin’s Flag Co.,Fort Dodge, Iowa; and former NAVAmembers Joe McIntyre and BillSpangler of the Dettra Flag Co. andJim Timberlake of the Flag Center.Congradulations to all.

U.S. BURIAL FLAGI was speaking to a group of re-

tired persons in Southampton PA.At the conclusion a man asked,“What should I do with my father’sburial flag?” I answered “Fly It! — Ifyou love and respect his memory —FLY IT! Don’t let it sit in a drawerand end up in a yard sale some day.”

A women in the group got up andsaid that she was told not to fly theburial flag! “Who told you that?” wasmy response. She replied, “The gov-ernment, when I received the flag.” Itold her that I had never heard ofthat but I would check it out. No-body in the audience had ever heard

of that either.I called two sources, The Veterans

Administration and The AmericanLegion. It gets a little confusing buthere is what it boils down to: youare allowed to fly the Burial Flag (andare encouraged to do so). The VA firsttold me “No, you should not fly theBurial Flag.” “Why?” I asked, “Has itanything to do with flag etiquette orrespect for the Veteran?” “No.” “Wellthen why?” “The Flag should not beflown because the material is ‘notwaterproof,’ the size is cumbersomeand does not lend itself to outdoor

flying.” Understand that it took mea long time (several minutes) to fi-nally get this response out of theman who answered the phone.

I called the American Legion, toldhim my story and he was livid! “FLYTHE FLAG” he shouted. Are thosepeople in Washington too cheap tospend the money to buy our Veter-ans a decent flag that can be flownoutside? He went on to tell me thatthe Legion has adopted a 30 day pro-gram of flying the Flag to honor theVeteran.

Gerry McCavera<gerflags@bellatlantic.net>

NAVA News 32/5

—12—

Raven 1 (1994)Moon � Alamo

Vexillaria � CanadaEvolutionary � Nevada

US $12 postpaid

Raven 3/4 (1996-97)Flags of Native Peoples

of the United StatesUS$25 postpaid

Raven 2 (1995)Desecration � BoatingWhaling Stations

Israel � TurkmenistanUS$12 postpaid

Raven 5 (1998)The United States

FlagUS$20 postpaid

Send order to:RAVENPMB 225

1977 N Olden Ave ExtTrenton NJ 08618 USA

Please make checks payable to NAVA

NAVASHOPPER

Dr. Peter OrenskiPMB 225

1977 N Olden Ave ExtTrenton NJ 08618 USA

24-magnet setsall NAVA meeting flags

including NAVA 33/ICV 18US$45 postpaid

Embroidered Highest-qualitywhite or sky blue

NAVA-flag polo shirtsXL and a few L

US$33.20 postpaid

Jewelry-qualityNAVA seal lapel pins

24K high-polish gold finishUS$7.50 postpaid

NEW EDITOR SOUGHTNAVA News is looking for a new edi-

tor. Duties to include determining edi-

torial content with the advice of the

NAVA Publications Committee, arrang-

ing for layout and design of each issue

in a timely manner, receiving and re-

sponding to authors and letters to the

editor, determining articles and columns

for each issue, arranging for production

and mailing of each issue.

Those who may be interested in this

volunteer position may contact the

NAVA President:

David Martucci240 Calderwood Rd

Washington ME 04574

(207) 845-2857

pres@nava.org

Re: VEXILLONYou might note that the FIAV

Board chooses the recipient of theVexillon award. For the 1999 award,the FIAV Board intentionally decidednot to identify the Raven editorialboard and staff by name. This wasdone in order to keep the primaryfocus on Don Healy, while still rec-ognizing the collaborative nature ofthe final product. It’s accurate tostate that the award was given to

FIAV PRESIDENT MICHEL LUPANT’S REMARKS ON PRESENTING THE 1999 VEXILLONAt the suggestion of the Flag Society

of Australia, FIAV established theVexillon Award in 1989 to recognize theperson or persons who have made themost important contribution tovexillology during the two years preced-ing the International Congress ofVexillology. Since 1989, the Flag Societyof Australia has graciously provided theplaque for the Vexillon, and the FIAVBoard has selected the recipient of theVexillon.

This year FIAV bestows the Vexillon fora unique contribution to vexillology, onewhich was the work of several people.“Flags of the Native Peoples of the UnitedStates,” published in volumes 3 and 4

of Raven: A Journal of Vexillology, wasthe result of years of work by the au-thor, Donald T. Healy, and the Raveneditorial board and staff. This work con-stitutes the first serious look at the flagsof the indigenous peoples of the UnitedStates, and it is an original and signifi-cant contribution to vexillology. For thisoutstanding achievement, FIAV recog-nizes the author, Don Healy, and allother individuals who contributed to thesuccess of this important work.

The FIAV Board asks Dr. John Purcell,chair of the editorial board of Raven, tocome forward and accept the Vexillon onbehalf of both Mr. Healy and the Ravenboard and staff.

Don and the editorial board and staffof Raven, and then identify whothose board and staff members are;however, it’s inaccurate to state thatthe award was given to Don and spe-cifically named individuals or tostate that the award was given toNAVA.

Attached are President Lupant’sremarks at the presentation.

Sincerely,Kin Spain

FUR FLAGS

� Student Resistence in Serbia� Tanaka Flag Company� Changes in NAVA News� Conserving America’s Civil War Flags� The Flag of FIAV� Symbols of FIAV Members� World Encyclopedia of Flags� The Origins of FIAV� Flag Symposium in Baltimore� Ohio Civil War Flags Conference� Raven 6 Errata� NAVA News Correction� Flag Contest� NIFDA Award to Whitney Smith� US Burial Flag� Private Flags - Public Forum

Sept/Oct 1999INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

I have a customer who wants some“Fur Company” flags made. Hewants: American Fur Company,Hudson Bay Company, and NorthWest Fur Company.

Do you know what the North WestFur Company flag looked like?Thanks! Richard R. Gideon Flags

520 Oxford BlvdPittsburgh PA 15243-1562 USA

412-276-7689http://www.gideonflags.com

Visit NAVA’s Award-winning Web Sitehttp://www.nava.org