The ; IFoVA (; FIAV) is an international federation of 53 regional, national, and multinational associations and institutions across the globe that study

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. A person who studi ...

, which FIAV defines in its constitution as "the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge."

History

The study of flags, or vexillology, was formalised by

Whitney Smith Whitney Smith Jr. (February 26, 1940 – November 17, 2016) was an American vexillologist. He coined the term ''vexillology'', which refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags. He was a founder of several vexillology organizat ...

in 1957. He then moved to organize various flag organisations and meetings including the first International Congress of Vexillology in 1965 and International Federation of Vexillological Associations. The FIAV was provisionally organized on 3 September 1967, at the Second International Congress of Vexillology held in

Rüschlikon Rüschlikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Horgen District, Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the west shore of Lake Zürich. Coat of ar ...

, Switzerland, and officially created on 7 September 1969, at the Third International Congress of Vexillology held in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, US. The

vexillological symbol Vexillological symbols are used by vexillologists to indicate certain characteristics of flags, such as where they are used, who uses them, and what they look like. The symbols were created by vexillologist Whitney Smith and then adopted by the ...

s were created by vexillologist

and then adopted by the FIAV in the early 1970s.

Governance

FIAV has a three-person Board consisting of a President, Secretary-General, and Secretary-General for Congresses. The Board manages the current affairs of FIAV and convenes the biennial sessions of the General Assembly, which are held during each International Congress of Vexillology. The FIAV General Assembly is composed of a delegate from each of FIAV's members. The General Assembly elects the Board and is responsible for setting policy.

Officers

The current members of the FIAV Board are: * Željko Heimer (President) * Bruce Berry (Secretary–General) *

Graham Bartram The Flag Institute is a membership organisation and UK-registered educational charity devoted to the study and promotion of flags and flag flying. It documents flags in the UK and around the world, maintains a UK Flag Registry, and offers advic ...

(Secretary–General for Congresses)

Past officers

Office of FIAV President was previously held by: * Louis Mühlemann, 1969 to 1973 ( ) *

Ottfried Neubecker Ottfried Neubecker (22 March 1908 – 8 July 1992) was a German Vexillology, vexillologist and modern Heraldry, heraldist. He studied multiple disciplines, including Religious symbol, religious symbolism and Emblem, emblematics. He left a ...

, 1973 to 1981 ( ) * Hugh Boudin, 1981 to 1993 ( Flag of SVB

) * William G. Crampton, 1993 to 1997 ( Flag of the FI

) * Michel R. Lupant, 1997 to 2019 ( Flag of CEBED

) Louis Mühlemann was also the honorary president from 1973 to at least 1988.

Members

The current members of FIAV are:

International Congresses of Vexillology

The International Congress of Vexillology is a week long biennial conference. A Congress consists of vexillology presentations, FIAV's General Assembly and flag display tours. Since 1969, FIAV has sponsored the biennial International Congresses of Vexillology (ICV) with assistance of a local organizing committee. The Congresses have been held in: *

Muiderberg Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos. Geography Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of ...

, Netherlands (1965) *

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

(1967) *

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

(1969) *

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

(1971) *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(1973) *

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

(1975) *

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(1977) *

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(1979) *

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

(1981) *

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(1983) *

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

(1985) *

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(1987) *

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

(1989) *

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(1991) *

(1993) *

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(1995) *

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

(1997) *

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

(1999) *

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

(2001) *

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

(2003) *

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(2005) *

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(2007) *

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

(2009) *

(2011) *

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

(2013) *

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

(2015) *

(2017) *

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

(2019) *

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

(2022) *

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

(2024) ICV 31 is planned to be held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France in 2026.

FIAV flag

The FIAV flag was initially designed by Klaes Sierksma and slightly modified by the organizing committee of the Second International Congress of Vexillology. The flag was introduced on 3 September 1967. Its description is, "On a blue field, extending horizontally from hoist to fly, two yellow

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term "halyard" derives from the Middle English ''halier'' ("rope to haul with"), with the last syllable altered by association with the E ...

s forming two interlaced loops." The knot formed is a

sheet bend The sheet bend (also known as weaver's knot and weaver's hitch) is a bend knot. It is practical for joining lines of different diameter or rigidity. It is quick and easy to tie, and is considered so essential it is the first knot given in the ...

. The color blue is defined as

Pantone Matching System Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is an American limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color order system used in a variety of industries, notably gr ...

U293 and the color yellow is defined as Pantone Matching System U123. Flags for the three officers were approved in 1999, having been designed by the former FIAV president,

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 governm ...

FIAV honours and medals

Many awards and medals are given out to members of the FIAV or members of an FIAV associated Organization for various reasons. The two medals that come with

post-nominals Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

are the LAUREATES OF THE FEDERATION who get LF and the FELLOWS OF THE FEDERATION who get FF. In 1989, FIAV established The Vexilon, an award given for the most important contribution to vexillology in the two years before an International Congress of Vexillology. As of 2024, 17 awards have been given out to notable vexillologists such as

, and

Alfred Znamierowski Alfred Znamierowski (21 June 1940 – 23 October 2019) was a Polish Vexillology, vexillologist, heraldry, heraldist, illustrator, and journalist. During his career he published several books and designed hundreds of coats of arms, flags, banner ...

Frederick Brownell Frederick Gordon Brownell } (8 March 1940 – 10 May 2019) was a South African herald, vexillologist, and genealogist. He designed the flag of South Africa and claimed to have designed the flag of Namibia. Family and early life Brownell was ...

, who designed the

South African flag The national flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, during South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the previous flag used from 1928–1994. The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) an ...

, received the award twice.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:International Federation of Vexillological Associations Organizations established in 1967 Vexillological organizations Organizations based in Houston International organisations based in London