# Vexillography

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{{Short description|Art and practice of designing flags}}
thumb|Parts of a flag, labeled.
'''Vexillography''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|v|ɛ|k|s|ɪ|ˈ|l|ɒ|ɡ|r|ə|f|i}} {{respell|VEK|sih|LOG|rə|fee}}) is the art and practice of designing flags; a person who designs flags is a '''vexillographer'''. Vexillo''graphy'' is allied with [vexillo''logy''](/source/vexillology), the scholarly study of flags, but is not synonymous with that discipline.<ref>Smith, Whitney. Flag Bulletin XL:202 (2001).</ref>

==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](/source/Mass_production)) 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](/source/logo) 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](/source/Pan-African_colours), the [Pan-Arab colors](/source/Pan-Arab_colors), the [Pan-Slavic colors](/source/Pan-Slavic_colors), the [Nordic Cross flag](/source/Nordic_Cross_flag) and the [Ottoman flag](/source/Ottoman_flag).

Certain cultures prescribe the proper design of their own flags, through [heraldic](/source/Heraldry) or other authoritative systems. Prescription may be based on religious principles: see, for example, [Islamic flags](/source/Islamic_flags). Vexillographers have begun to articulate design principles, such as those jointly published by the [North American Vexillological Association](/source/North_American_Vexillological_Association) and the [Flag Institute](/source/Flag_Institute) in their ''Guiding Principles of Flag Design''.<ref name="navaDesign">{{cite web |url=https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Flag_Design_Commission_Report.pdf |title=Flag Design |publisher=North American Vexillological Association / Association nord-américaine de vexillologie |access-date=2016-08-21 }}</ref>

==Prominent vexillographers==
* [Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro](/source/Columbano_Bordalo_Pinheiro), designer of the [flag of Portugal](/source/flag_of_Portugal)
* [Luis](/source/Luis_Arana_(politician)) and [Sabino Arana](/source/Sabino_Arana), designers of the [Ikurriña](/source/Ikurri%C3%B1a) (the flag of the [Basque Country](/source/Basque_Country_(autonomous_community)))
* [Graham Bartram](/source/Graham_Bartram), designer of the [flag of Tristan da Cunha](/source/flag_of_Tristan_da_Cunha) and others
* [Manuel Belgrano](/source/Manuel_Belgrano), designer of the [flag of Argentina](/source/flag_of_Argentina)
* [Frederick 'Fred' Brownell](/source/Frederick_Brownell), designer of the flags of [South Africa](/source/South_Africa) and [Namibia](/source/Namibia)
* [Ron Cobb](/source/Ron_Cobb), designer of the American [Ecology Flag](/source/Ecology_Flag_(American))
* [John Eisenmann](/source/John_Eisenmann), designer of the [flag of the U.S. state of Ohio](/source/Flag_of_Ohio)
* [Mohamed Hamzah](/source/Mohamed_Hamzah), designer of the [flag of Malaya](/source/flag_of_Malaya)
* [Quamrul Hassan](/source/Quamrul_Hassan), designer of the [flag of Bangladesh](/source/flag_of_Bangladesh)
* Cederic Herbert, designer of the flag of the short-lived [Zimbabwe Rhodesia](/source/Zimbabwe_Rhodesia)
* [Francis Hopkinson](/source/Francis_Hopkinson), generally acknowledged designer of the [American flag](/source/Flag_of_the_United_States)
* [Friedensreich Hundertwasser](/source/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser), designer of a [koru flag](/source/Hundertwasser_koru_flag), among others
* Susan K. Huhume, designer of the flag of [Papua New Guinea](/source/Papua_New_Guinea)
* [Sharif Hussein](/source/Hussein_bin_Ali%2C_Sharif_of_Mecca), designer of the flag of the [Arab Revolt](/source/Arab_Revolt)
* [James I of England](/source/James_I_of_England), designer of the first [flag of Great Britain](/source/Union_Flag)
* [Syed Amir-uddin Kedwaii](/source/Syed_Amir-uddin_Kedwaii), designer of the [flag of Pakistan](/source/flag_of_Pakistan)
* [Lu Haodong](/source/Lu_Haodong), designer of the [Blue Sky with a White Sun](/source/Blue_Sky_with_a_White_Sun) flag of the [Republic of China](/source/Republic_of_China)
* [Nicola Marschall](/source/Nicola_Marschall), designer of the "[Stars and Bars](/source/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America)", the First National Flag of the [Confederate States of America](/source/Confederate_States_of_America)
* [John McConnell](/source/John_McConnell_(peace_activist)), designer of a flag of the Earth
* [Fredrik Meltzer](/source/Fredrik_Meltzer), designer of the [flag of Norway](/source/flag_of_Norway)
* [Raimundo Teixeira Mendes](/source/Raimundo_Teixeira_Mendes), designer of the [flag of Brazil](/source/flag_of_Brazil)
* [William Porcher Miles](/source/William_Porcher_Miles), designer of the [battle flag of the Confederate States of America](/source/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America)
* [Francisco de Miranda](/source/Francisco_de_Miranda), designer of the [flag of Venezuela](/source/flag_of_Venezuela), upon which the present flags of [Colombia](/source/flag_of_Colombia) and [Ecuador](/source/flag_of_Ecuador) are based.
* [Theodosia Okoh](/source/Theodosia_Okoh), designer of the [flag of Ghana](/source/flag_of_Ghana)
* [Christopher Pratt](/source/Christopher_Pratt), designer of the [flag of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador](/source/flag_of_Newfoundland_and_Labrador)
* [Orren Randolph Smith](/source/Orren_Randolph_Smith), citizen of [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina) who is co-credited as being the father of the "Stars and Bars" flag, along with Nicola Marschall.
* [Whitney Smith](/source/Whitney_Smith), designer of the [flag of Guyana](/source/flag_of_Guyana) and other flags
* [George Stanley](/source/George_Stanley), designer of the [flag of Canada](/source/flag_of_Canada)
* [Joaquín Suárez](/source/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Su%C3%A1rez), designer of the [flag of Uruguay](/source/flag_of_Uruguay)
* [Pingali Venkayya](/source/Pingali_Venkayya), designer of the [flag of India](/source/flag_of_India)
* [Robert Watt](/source/Robert_Watt_(officer_of_arms)), designer of the [flag of Vancouver](/source/flag_of_Vancouver), British Columbia, Canada
* [Oliver Wolcott Jr.](/source/Oliver_Wolcott_Jr.), designer of the flag of the [United States Customs Service](/source/United_States_Customs_Service)
* [Zeng Liansong](/source/Zeng_Liansong), designer of the [flag of the People's Republic of China](/source/flag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China)
* [İsmet Güney](/source/%C4%B0smet_G%C3%BCney), designer of the [flag of Cyprus](/source/flag_of_Cyprus)
* Nguyen Huu Tien, designer of the [flag of Vietnam](/source/flag_of_Vietnam)
* [Gilbert Baker](/source/Gilbert_Baker_(artist)), designer of the [rainbow flag](/source/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT_movement)) symbol of the [LGBT Movement](/source/LGBT_Movement)
* Alexander Baretich, designer of the Cascadian bioregional flag AKA [Doug flag](/source/Doug_flag)
* [Ralph Eugene Diffendorfer](/source/Ralph_Eugene_Diffendorfer), co-designer of the [Christian Flag](/source/Christian_Flag)
* [Christopher Gadsden](/source/Christopher_Gadsden), designer of the [Gadsden flag](/source/Gadsden_flag)
* [Monica Helms](/source/Monica_Helms), designer of the [Transgender flag](/source/Transgender_flag)
* [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler), designer of the [flag of Nazi Germany](/source/flag_of_Nazi_Germany), the ''[Reichskriegsflagge](/source/Reichskriegsflagge)'' and [his personal standard](/source/Personal_standard_of_Adolf_Hitler)
* [Betsy Ross](/source/Betsy_Ross), designer, according to legend, of the [American flag](/source/Flag_of_the_United_States) during the [American Revolution](/source/American_Revolution)
* [Theodore Sizer](/source/Theodore_Sizer_(art_historian)), designed of the [flag of St. Louis](/source/flag_of_St._Louis)
* [Gerard Slevin](/source/Gerard_Slevin), former [Chief Herald of Ireland](/source/Chief_Herald_of_Ireland) reputed to have helped design the [flag of Europe](/source/flag_of_Europe).
* [Emilio Aguinaldo](/source/Emilio_Aguinaldo), 1st president of [the Republic of the Philippines](/source/Philippines), along with the designer of the countries' flag.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}{{Vexillology}}

Category:Vexillography

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vexillography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vexillography) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vexillography?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.