The William Crampton Library, so named in honour of Dr

William Crampton William George (Bill) Crampton (5 May 1936 – 4 June 1997) was a British vexillologist. His chief legacy, the Flag Institute, has hundreds of members in the UK and overseas. He was recognised as Britain's foremost authority on flags by governme ...

, founder of 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 ...

, is the United Kingdom's largest single library devoted to the subject of

vexillology Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. The word is a synthe ...

. Opened by the Lord Mayor of

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

and William's daughter Elanor in May 1999, The William Crampton library of the Flag Institute was originally located in the James Ricket Library Building in Hull. In November 2006 it moved premises to the Hull Business Centre Building. It is available for use by members of the Institute by prior appointment with the librarian. The library collection contains books on flags and associated topics, sets of flag magazines and journals from other vexillological societies, posters, wallcharts, and actual flags numbering over 40,000 volumes.

External links

The Flag Institute
Buildings and structures in Kingston upon Hull Crampton, William Library Libraries in the East Riding of Yorkshire Education in Kingston upon Hull Research libraries in the United Kingdom {{flag-stub