The Flag Research Center

The Flag Research Center Founded Feb. 1, 1962, by Whitney Smith; since March 15, 2014, a component institution of The Trust for Vexillology.

10/07/2026

Fellows & Friends Online Event - The Lord Lyon: A Perspective on Sc...

Dr. de La Condamine is a research scholar at The Flag Research Center.
10/03/2026

Dr. de La Condamine is a research scholar at The Flag Research Center.

10/03/2026

Con motivo del Día Mundial de la Vexilología, la Fundación de Estudios Vexilológicos ( Fundesvex ) tiene el honor de anunciar la concesión de la cuarta edición del Premio José Luis Brugués de Vexilología a D. Rafael Luis Gómez Herrera por su obra "Banderas en murales bélicos del siglo XVI". La entrega del galardón por parte del presidente de Fundesvex se efectuará el 24 de octubre, en el transcurso del XLI Congreso Nacional de Vexilología.

10/03/2026

A very rare, important, and incredibly generous donation was recently made to Save the Flags. The descendants of General James Harvey Kidd of Ionia, who commanded the Sixth Michigan Cavalry Regiment, donated the flag carried by Company E of the Sixth during the Civil War. See the flag and read the story here: https://capitol.michigan.gov/post/civil-war-flag-donated-to-the-flag-collection

10/01/2026

ČESKY (English in comments)
🛣️ ULICE SE JMÉNEM ČESKÉHO VEXILOLOGA 🚩

K dnešnímu mezinárodnímu dni vexilologie nám letos Praha nadělila dobrou zprávu. V Britské čtvrti na Praze 13 (obvod Praha 5) vzniknou dvě nové ulice, z nichž jedna ponese jméno vexilologa Pavla Fojtíka. Pojmenování schválila Rada hlavního města Prahy s následujícím doplněním:
„Pavel Fojtík, 1954-2023, český historik a vexilolog specializovaný na historii pražské hromadné dopravy. V letech 2005-2019 byl vedoucím archivu Dopravního podniku hlavního města Prahy.“
Budoucí ulice již byla zanesena do katastrální mapy. Vychází severním směrem z Bessemerovy východně od jejího zalomení k jihu, prochází křižovatkou s ulicí Lubomíra Kysely (nová ulice) a slepě končí na severní hranici parcely č. 329/7.
Pavel Fojtík zemřel v březnu roku 2023. Rozhodnutí pojmenovat po něm pražskou ulici velice vítáme a vnímáme je jako vhodnou připomínku jeho celoživotní práce pro město i pro vexilologii. Se zájmem budeme sledovat rozvoj ulice a jejího okolí.

Světový den vexilologie připadá na 1. říjen. Před 65 lety, 1. října 1961, bylo vydáno první číslo časopisu The Flag Bulletin, který byl prvním časopisem zaměřeným na studium vlajek. Datum se proto považuje za zrod moderní vexilologie.

🇬🇧 ENGLISH
🛣️ STREET NAMED AFTER A CZECH VEXILLOLOGIST 🚩

For World Vexillology Day this year, Prague has given us good news. Two new streets will be created in the British Quarter in Prague 13 (district of Prague 5), and one of them will bear the name of the vexillologist Pavel Fojtík. This was approved by the Prague City Council with the following explanation:
"Pavel Fojtík, 1954–2023, Czech historian and vexillologist specialising in the history of Prague public transport. From 2005 to 2019 he was head of the archive of the Prague Public Transport Company."
The future street has already been entered in the cadastral map. It runs northwards from Bessemerova Street, east of the point where the latter bends southwards, passes through the junction with Lubomíra Kysely Street (new street) and ends in a dead end at the northern boundary of plot no. 329/7.
Pavel Fojtík passed away in March 2023. We warmly welcome the decision to name a Prague street after him and regard it as a fitting tribute to his lifelong work for the city and for vexillology. We will follow the development of the street and its surroundings with interest.

The World Vexillology Day is celebrated on October 1. 65 years ago, on October 1, 1961, the first issue of The Flag Bulletin, the first journal dedicated to the study of flags, was published. This date is therefore recognised as the birthday of modern vexillology.

10/01/2026

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[version française]

⚠️ Aujourd'hui est une journée spéciale! Oui, le 1er octobre, c'est la journée internationale de la vexillologie!

🥳 Nous célèbrons donc la Science, l'Histoire et le symbolisme des drapeaux au sens large et dans le monde entier.

🇫🇷 Pour l'occasion, la Société française de vexillologie vous invite à pavoiser pour redonner vie à nos façades!

📸 Que ce soit le drapeau national, régional, historique ou même une création originale, accrochez un drapeau à votre balcon ou fenêtre, prenez une photo, et partagez en nous taguant SFV - French Society of Vexillology et utilisant le hastag

==============
[English version]

⚠️ Today is a special day! Indeed, October 1st is the International Vexillology Day!

🥳 We are celebrating the Science, History, and symbolism of flags all around the World.

🇫🇷 To mark the occasion, the French Vexillological Society invites you to fly your flags and bring our facades back to life!

📸 Whether it is a national, regional or historical flag, or even an original creation, hang a flag on your balcony or window, take a picture, and share it by tagging us SFV - French Society of Vexillology and using the hashtag.

Today, October 1, is World Vexillology Day. It is recognized by the Fédération internationale des associations vexillol...
10/01/2026

Today, October 1, is World Vexillology Day. It is recognized by the Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques (FIAV) as a day to promote vexillology as defined in the FIAV Constitution, which is “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.”

The day celebrates the publication of the world’s first vexillological publication, The Flag Bulletin, on October 1, 1961, by Whitney Smith and Gerhard Grahl. Four months later The Flag Research Center was established, which publishes The Flag Bulletin.

October 1, 1961 was the beginning of the effort by the founder of vexillology, Whitney Smith, to organize the serious study of flags and to achieve recognition of vexillology as a legitimate sub-discipline of the social sciences. Dr. Smith achieved that goal, as shown both by the increasing number of doctoral level works in vexillology and by the placement of the Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

Dr. Smith was careful to distinguish vexillology, the scholarly study of flags, from designing, collecting, or promoting flags. He did so not because he thought those things were bad, but because he understood the need for a social scientist to strive to be objective. Dr. Smith wore other hats as a flag designer and collector, but was careful when speaking as a “vexillologist” to not use that title as a platform for his personal likes and dislikes.

He spoke with a prophetic voice on the need to take flags seriously. Few objects engender so much passion. People fight for flags, people die for flags. Yet his vision could easily have gone nowhere. It’s simple to trivialize flags, but difficult to understand and explain the deep emotion they can invoke.

Dr. Smith’s single-minded determination to make vexillology a reality was an amazing combination of genius and relentless effort. He was the chief herald of vexillology in the modern age. We are forever in his debt.

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