Vexillography is the art and practice of ''designing flags''; a person who designs flags is a vexillographer. Vexillo''graphy'' is allied with vexillo''logy'', the scholarly study of flags, but is not synonymous with that discipline.Smith, Whitney. Flag Bulletin XL:202(2001).

Background of flag design

Flag designs exhibit a number of regularities, arising from a variety of practical concerns, historical circumstances, and cultural prescriptions that have shaped and continue to shape their evolution. Vexillographers face the necessity for the design to be manufactured (and often

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

) into or onto a piece of cloth, which will subsequently be hoisted aloft in the outdoors to represent an organization, individual, idea, or group. In this respect, flag design departs considerably from

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

design: logos are predominantly still images suitable for reading off a page, screen, or billboard; while flags are alternately draped and fluttering images - visible from a variety of distances and angles (including the reverse). The prevalence of simple bold colors and shapes in flag design attests to these practical issues. Flag design has a history, and new designs often refer back to previous designs, effectively quoting, elaborating, or commenting upon them. Families of current flags may derive from a few common ancestors - as in the cases of the

Pan-African colours Pan-African colours is a term that may refer to two different sets of colours: * Green, yellow and red, the colours of the flag of Ethiopia, have come to represent the pan-Africanist ideology due to the country's history of having avoided being ...

, the

Pan-Arab colors The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs and their history. The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun Calip ...

, the Pan-Slavic colors, the Nordic Cross flag and the

Ottoman flag The Ottoman Empire used various of flags, especially as naval ensigns, during its history. The star and crescent came into use in the second half of the 18th century. A ' (decree) from 1793 required that the ships of the Ottoman Navy were to u ...

. Certain cultures prescribe the proper design of their own flags, through

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

or other authoritative systems. Prescription may be based on religious principles: see, for example, Islamic flags. Vexillographers have begun to articulate design principles, such as those jointly published by the

North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. It ...

and the

Flag Institute The Flag Institute is a UK membership organisation headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, England, concerned with researching and promoting the use and design of flags. It documents flags in the UK and internationally, maintains a UK Flag Regi ...

in their ''Guiding Principles of Flag Design''.

Principles of design

In 2006, the

published a booklet titled ''Good Flag, Bad Flag'' to aid those wishing to design or re-design a flag. Taking a

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

approach, the booklet lists five basic flag design principles which have become a standard reference in the vexillographer community. In 2014, the North American Vexillological Association, alongside the Flag Institute created an updated booklet titled ''The Commission's Report on the Guiding Principles of Flag Design'', which addresses issues present in ''Good Flag, Bad Flag'', and goes more in-depth on the ideas laid forth in the aforementioned booklet. The guidelines in this booklet can be summarized as follows:

Basics

#Keep in mind the physics of a flag in flight when designing a flag #Simple designs are more easily remembered #Flags should have distinctive designs that separate them from others #Designs and trends should be avoided if there is a possibility that they can date quickly

Color

#Using fewer colors keeps designs simple and bold #Contrast is important; use light on dark and dark on light #Modern printing techniques have made more shades of color available than previously, and this can be used advantageously #Designs should make the edge of a flag be well-defined so as to not get visually lost in the background of where it is flying

Structure

#Charges are best placed in the canton, hoist, or center of a design as these are the most visually prominent areas #Flag designs are usually longer than they are tall #Having different designs on the obverse and reverse of a flag undermines recognition and increase cost of production

Devices

#A single device used in a prominent position ensures recognizability when the flag is in flight or at rest #When multiple devices are used, different background colors can be used to "anchor" the devices into the overall design #Devices should be stylized graphical representations as opposed to realistic renderings #Writing on flags is difficult to read in flight; Parade Banners and Military Colors are usually more rigid than normal flags, making text more commonplace on them #Charges with directionality traditionally face towards the hoist, or flagpole #Seals, coats of arms, or logos are usually too complex to be used effectively on a flag, although exceptions exist

Symbolism

#Symbols should be both distinct and representative #A flag should represent the totality of any given community as opposed to its individual parts #A flag should emphasize its own identity over higher-level groupings, otherwise distinctiveness is lost #Symbolism relating to other entities should only be used if there is a clear, direct relevance #Designers should avoid representing any particular reference in multiple ways, and instead try to make a single definitive reference

Prominent vexillographers

* Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, designer of the

flag of Portugal The national flag of Portugal ( pt, Bandeira de Portugal) is a rectangular bicolour with a field divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms of Portugal ( armillary sphere and Portuguese ...

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

and

Sabino Arana Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri (in Spanish), Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri (in Basque), or Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (self-styled) (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was a Basque writer and the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) ...

, designers of the Ikurriña (the flag of the Basque Country) * Graham Bartram, designer of the

flag of Tristan da Cunha The flag of Tristan da Cunha was adopted on October 20, 2002, in a proclamation made by the Governor of Saint Helena under a Royal Warrant granted by Queen Elizabeth II. The flag is a blue ensign design, defaced with the coat of arms of Trista ...

and others *

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

, designer of the

flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by ...

* Frederick 'Fred' Brownell, designer of the flags of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Ron Cobb Ronald Ray Cobb (September 21, 1937 – September 21, 2020) was an American-Australian artist. In addition to his work as an editorial cartoonist, he contributed to major films including '' Dark Star'' (1974), '' Star Wars'' (1977), '' Alien'' (19 ...

, designer of the American Ecology Flag *

John Eisenmann John Eisenmann (March 26, 1851 – January 6, 1924), was an architect in Cleveland, Ohio. As part of Eisenmann & Smith he designed the Cleveland Arcade in downtown Cleveland. He also designed the Main building for Case School of Applied Scie ...

, designer of the flag of the U.S. state of Ohio * Mohamed Hamzah, designer of the flag of Malaya * Quamrul Hassan, designer of the

flag of Bangladesh ) , Morenicks = , Use = 111000 , Symbol = , Proportion = 3:5 , Adoption = , Design = A red disc slightly off center to the left defacing a dark green banner. , Designer = Quamrul Hassan , Type = National , I ...

* Cederic Herbert, designer of the flag of the short-lived

Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, and sometimes as Rhobabwe, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was p ...

Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinso ...

, generally acknowledged designer of the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 February 2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (), was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection ...

, designer of a koru flag, among others * Susan K. Huhume, designer of the flag of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Sharif Hussein Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after procl ...

, designer of the flag of the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

, designer of the first

flag of Great Britain The flag of Great Britain, commonly known as King's Colours, the first Union Flag, the Union Jack, or the British flag, was used at sea from 1606 and more generally from 1707 to 1801. It was the first flag of Great Britain. It is the precursor ...

* Syed Amir-uddin Kedwaii, designer of the

flag of Pakistan The flag of Pakistan ( ur, ) traces its current form back to a meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, three days before the Partition of British India, when it was adopted by the All-India Muslim League as the of ...

Lu Haodong Lu Zhonggui (30 September 1868 – 7 November 1895), courtesy name Xianxiang, better known as Lu Haodong, was a Chinese revolutionary who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for designing the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag that beca ...

, designer of the

Blue Sky with a White Sun The Blue Sky with a White Sun () serves as the design for the party flag and emblem of the Kuomintang, the canton of the flag of the Republic of China, the national emblem of the Republic of China, and as the naval jack of the ROC Navy. In th ...

flag of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

Nicola Marschall Nicola Marschall (March 16, 1829 – February 24, 1917) was a German-American artist who supported the Confederate cause during the American Civil War. He designed the original Confederate flag, the Stars and Bars, as well as the official ...

, designer of the " Stars and Bars", the First National Flag of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

* John McConnell, designer of a flag of the Earth * Fredrik Meltzer, designer of the

flag of Norway The national flag of Norway ( nb, Norges flagg; nn, Noregs flagg; ) is red with a navy blue Scandinavian cross fimbriated in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style ...

Raimundo Teixeira Mendes Raimundo Teixeira Mendes (5 January 1855 – 28 June 1927) was a Brazilian philosopher and mathematician. He is credited with creating the national motto, "Order and Progress", as well as the national flag on which it appears. Teixeira M ...

, designer of the

flag of Brazil The national flag of Brazil ( pt, bandeira do Brasil), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "''Ordem e Progresso''" ("Order and Progress"), within a ...

William Porcher Miles William Porcher Miles (July 4, 1822 – May 11, 1899) was an American politician who was among the ardent states' rights advocates, supporters of slavery, and Southern secessionists who came to be known as the " Fire-Eaters." He is notable for h ...

, designer of the

battle flag of the Confederate States of America A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...

, designer of the flag of Venezuela, upon which the present flags of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

are based. *

Theodosia Okoh Theodosia Salome Okoh (born 13 June 1922 – 19 April 2015) was a Ghanaian teacher and artist known for designing Ghana's national flag in 1957. She exhibited her artwork internationally. She also played a leading role in the development of h ...

, designer of the

flag of Ghana The national flag of Ghana consists of a horizontal triband of Red, Gold, and Green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's Blue Ensign. The flag was adopted upon the independence of the Dominion of Ghana on March 6, 1957. I ...

* Christopher Pratt, designer of the flag of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador * Orren Randolph Smith, citizen of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

who is co-credited as being the father of the "Stars and Bars" flag, along with Nicola Marschall. * Whitney Smith, designer of the flag of Guyana and other flags * George Stanley, designer of the

flag of Canada The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...

* Joaquín Suárez, designer of the flag of Uruguay *

Pingali Venkayya Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1876/8 – 4 July 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter and a Gandhian. He was the designer of the flag on which the Indian National Flag was based. He was also as a lecturer, author, geologist, educationalist, agricu ...

, designer of the

flag of India The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present fo ...

Robert Watt Robert Douglas Watt, (born 1945) is a former Canadian museum curator and officer of arms who served as the first Chief Herald of Canada. He was appointed at the foundation of the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 1988, and he was succeeded by Cla ...

, designer of the

flag of Vancouver The flag of Vancouver was adopted by the Vancouver City Council on May 17, 1983. It was designed by Robert Watt, the director of the Vancouver Museum at the time, and later the Chief Herald of Canada. It features a white field with five wavy ...

, British Columbia, Canada *

Oliver Wolcott, Jr. Oliver Wolcott Jr. (January 11, 1760 – June 1, 1833) was an American politician and judge. He was the second United States Secretary of the Treasury, a judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, and the 24th Governor of Co ...

, designer of the flag of the United States Customs Service * Zeng Liansong, designer of the

flag of the People's Republic of China The National Flag of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Five-star Red Flag, is a Chinese red field with five golden stars charged at the canton. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in an arc set off to ...

İsmet Güney İsmet Vehit Güney (15 July 1923 – 23 June 2009) was a Turkish Cypriot artist, cartoonist, teacher and painter. He is best known as the designer of the modern flag of the Republic of Cyprus, the country's coat of arms and the original Cyprus ...

, designer of the flag of Cyprus * Nguyen Huu Tien, designer of the

flag of Vietnam The flag of Vietnam, officially the National Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (), or (), also (), was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against the French in southern Vietnam that year. The red background symbolizes revolut ...

* Gilbert Baker, designer of the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognize ...

symbol of the

LGBT Movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in th ...

* Alexander Baretich, designer of the Cascadian bioregional flag AKA

Doug Flag The Doug flag, also referred to as the Cascadian flag or the Cascadia Doug flag and nicknamed "Old Doug" Note: Reprinted by the Discovery Institute. or simply "the Doug", is one of the primary symbols and an unofficial flag of the Cascadia biore ...

* Ralph Eugene Diffendorfer, co-designer of the Christian Flag *

Christopher Gadsden Christopher Gadsden (February 16, 1724 – August 28, 1805) was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadie ...

, designer of the

Gadsden flag The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a timber rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words: " TREAD ON ME". Some modern versions of the flag include an apostrophe. The f ...

Monica Helms Monica F. Helms (born 8 March 1951) is an American transgender activist, author, and veteran of the United States Navy. She is the creator of the Transgender Pride Flag. Education Helms received a General AA Degree and an AA in Industrial Te ...

, designer of the

Transgender pride flag The first transgender flag is a pride flag having five horizontal stripes of three colors—light blue, pink and white. It was designed by American trans woman Monica Helms in 1999 to represent the transgender community, organizations, and in ...

* Catherine Rebecca Murphy Winborne - the "Betsy Ross of the Confederacy" - also co-credited as the designer of the "Stars and Bars" flag *

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, designer of the

flag of Nazi Germany The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the ...

, the ''

Reichskriegsflagge The term Reichskriegsflagge (, ) refers to several war flags and war ensigns used by the German armed forces in history. A total of eight different designs were used in 1848–1849 and between 1867–1871 and 1945. Today the term refers usually ...

'' and his personal standard *

Betsy Ross Elizabeth Griscom Ross (née Griscom;Addie Guthrie Weaver, ''"The Story of Our Flag..."'', 2nd Edition, A. G. Weaver, publ., 1898, p. 73 January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn an ...

, designer, according to legend, of the

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

* Theodore Sizer, designed of the flag of St. Louis *

Gerard Slevin Gerard Slevin (1 November 1919 – 18 January 1997) was born in Cork, Ireland. Slevin was assistant to Edward McLysaght, the Chief Herald of Ireland, from 1944 to 1954, at which time he succeeded McLysaght. He held this position for 27 years until ...

, former

Chief Herald of Ireland The Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland ( ga, Príomh Aralt na hÉireann), the authority in Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Herald ...

reputed to have helped design the

flag of Europe The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

Notes

{{Vexillology