Whitney Smith Jr. (February 26, 1940 – November 17, 2016) was an American vexillologist. He coined the term ''

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 refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags. He was a founder of several vexillology organizations. Smith was a Laureate and a Fellow of the

International Federation of Vexillological Associations The ; IFoVA (; FIAV) is an international federation of 53 regional, national, and multinational associations and institutions across the globe that study vexillology, which FIAV defines in its constitution as "the creation and development of a ...

Early life and education

Whitney Smith Jr. was born on February 26, 1940, to Mildred and Whitney Smith. As a youth, he lived in Lexington and

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capit ...

. Smith credited his interest in flags to his memories of Massachusetts Patriots' Day celebrations and a gift of ''The Golden Encyclopedia'' when he was about 6 years old. At Harvard, he studied political science and received a bachelor's degree in the field in 1961. During his time at Harvard, Smith designed the

flag of Guyana The flag of Guyana, known as the Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag of Guyana since May 1966, when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It was designed by Whitney Smith, an American vexillologist (though originall ...

after corresponding with Guyanese premier Cheddi Jagan via mail. He received his doctorate in political science at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 196

political symbolism was the subject of his dissertation.

Career

Smith had his first article published at age 18. By 1960, he was consulting with the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

''. In 1961, Smith and colleague Gerhard Grahl co-founded ''The Flag Bulletin'' (), the world's first journal about flags. The following year, Smith established The Flag Research Center at his home and was its director. Smith worked with Klaes Sierksma to organize the First International Congress of Vexillology ( Muiderberg, Netherlands) in 1965. They joined Louis Mühlemann in founding the International League of Vexillologists and were members of its Governing Board on September 5, 1965, and operated until September 3, 1967. The league was replaced by the

(known by its French acronym FIAV) with Smith as vice-president of the Provisional Council as of September 3, 1967. In 1969, Smith moved from being FIAV Provisional Council vice-president to being the first Secretary-General of FIAV. Smith was also responsible for founding the

North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith, and others. Its membership of 1,100+ comprises flag s ...

(NAVA) and the Flag Heritage Foundation. On August 28, 1981, he was elected the second Secretary-General for Congresses, ending his multiple terms as FIAV Secretary-General. Smith served in that office until he returned to the FIAV Secretary-General position on September 29, 1983. Smith quit his full-time professorship at Boston University in 1970. By 1985, he had written 19 books. On July 5, 1991, Smith was named by the FIAV a Laureate of the Federation and left the office of FIAV Secretary-General. He was given the honor of Fellow of the Federation on July 27, 2001. In 2006 he was the joint author of '' The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict'' In 2013 he transferred The Flag Research Center's library and archives to The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. On November 17, 2016, Smith died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

at the age of 76.

Bibliography

Smith wrote 27 books on the subject of flags, notably ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World,'' ''The Flag Book of the United States,'' and ''Flag Lore of all Nations.'' He was the designer of the national

, 21

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

n navy flags and served as a vexillographer (flag designer) to a number of governments and organizations. In 1981, Smith was part of a committee that developed the flag of Bonaire and assisted in the design of the flag of Aruba. Smith also wrote over 250 articles for the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. *

References

External links

A Guide
to the Dr. Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection at Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

The Flag Bulletin #234
In Memoriam: Whitney Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Whitney 1940 births 2016 deaths Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Boston University faculty Harvard University alumni People from Arlington, Massachusetts People from Winchester, Massachusetts Flag designers Vexillologists Writers from Massachusetts Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Massachusetts Boston University alumni

Early life and education

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links