International Federation of Vexillological Associations

The International Federation of Vexillological Associations (French: Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques; FIAV) is an international federation^[4] 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 body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge."^[5]

International Federation of
Vexillological Associations

The flag of the FIAV[1]
Formation	7 September 1969; 55 years ago (1969-09-07)
Type	International association
Headquarters	Houston, Texas, U.S. London, England, UK[1]
Membership	51 associations and institutions[2]
Official languages	English, French, German, Spanish[1]
President	Željko Heimer[3]
Website	fiav.org

Michel R. Lupant, former president of FIAV.

History

The study of flags, or vexillology, was formalised by Whitney Smith in 1957.^[6] He then moved to organize various flag organisations and meetings including the first International Congress of Vexillology^[6] in 1965^[7] and International Federation of Vexillological Associations.^[6]

The FIAV was provisionally organized on 3 September 1967, at the Second International Congress of Vexillology held in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, and officially created on 7 September 1969, at the Third International Congress of Vexillology held in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The vexillological symbols were created by vexillologist Whitney Smith and then adopted by the FIAV in the early 1970s.^[8]

Governance

FIAV has a three-person Board consisting of a President, Secretary-General, and Secretary-General for Congresses.^[1] The Board manages the current affairs of FIAV and convenes the biennial sessions of the General Assembly,^[1] which are held during each International Congress of Vexillology.^[9] 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.^[1]

Officers

The current members of the FIAV Board are:

• Željko Heimer (President)
• Bruce Berry (Secretary–General)
• Graham Bartram (Secretary–General for Congresses)^[3]

Past officers

Office of FIAV President was previously held by:

• Louis Mühlemann, 1969 to 1973 (Honorary President from 1973 until 1988+)   Switzerland
• Ottfried Neubecker, 1973 to 1981  Germany
• Hugh Boudin, 1981 to 1993  Belgium
• William G. Crampton, 1993 to 1997 (died in office)  UK
• Michel R. Lupant, 1997 to 2019  Belgium

Members

The current members of FIAV are:^[2]

Abrv.	Name	Country (& Territory)	Date of Admission
AAV	Argentina Vexillology Association	Argentina	August 23, 1993
ACV	Catalonian Vexillological Association [ca]	Spain ( Catalonia)	May 28, 1985
BDA	Burgee Data Archives	Canada	August 14, 1997
BHVS	Bulgarian Heraldry and Vexillology Society [bg]	Bulgaria	August 6, 2013
BS	Bandiere Storiche ONLUS	Italy	August 6, 2013
CBFA	Chesapeake Bay Flag Association	United States ( Delaware,  Washington DC,  Maryland,  New Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  West Virginia)	July 3, 1995
CEBED	Belgo-European Studies Center for Flags	Belgium	August 23, 1993
CFA	The Canadian Flag Association	Canada	August 23, 1993
CIDEC	Foundation Interdisciplinary Center for Cultural Studies	Argentina	August 23, 1993
CISV	Italian Centre of Vexillological Studies	Italy	September 14, 1973
CONAVEX	Corporación Nacional de Vexilología de Chile [es]	Chile	July 16, 2019
CVS	Czech Vexillological Society [cs]	Czech Republic	August 23, 1993
DGF	German Vexillological Association [de]	Germany	August 12, 1997
FHF	Flag Heritage Foundation	United States	July 28, 2003
FI	The Flag Institute	United Kingdom	June 24, 1971
FOTW	Flags of the World	Worldwide (Based in  Canada)	July 23, 2001
FRC	The Flag Research Center [es]	United States	September 7, 1969
FSA	Flag Society of Australia	Australia	May 28, 1985
GHVI	Institute of Genealogy, Heraldry and Vexillology	Lithuania	July 12, 2022
GSI	Genealogical Society of Ireland	Ireland	May 28, 1985
GWAV	Great Waters Association of Vexillology[a]	United States ( Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Michigan,  Ohio)	July 29, 1999
HGZD	Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Association	Croatia	August 7, 2007
HS	Heraldica Slovenica	Slovenia	August 23, 1993
HVK	Heraldic Society "The Clover Leaf" [de]	Germany	August 23, 1993
IHW	Institute of Heraldry and Vexillology [pl]	Poland	July 23, 2001
IVA	Indian Vexillological Association	India	August 7, 2007
JAVA	Japanese Vexillological Association	Japan	July 23, 2001
KVV	Breton Vexillology Society [fr]	France ( Brittany)	August 12, 1997
NAVA	North American Vexillological Association	North America ( United States &  Canada)	September 7, 1969
NEVA	New England Vexillological Association	United States ( Connecticut,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  New Hampshire,  Rhode Island,  Vermont)	July 29, 1999
NF	Nordic Flag Society	Nordic Europe ( Denmark,  Finland,  Iceland,  Norway,  Sweden)	September 14, 1973
NVvV	Dutch Association for Vexillology [nl]	Netherlands	September 7, 1969
NZFA	New Zealand Flag Association	New Zealand	July 3, 1995
MGD	Macedonian Heraldic Society	North Macedonia	July 16, 2019
PFA	Portland Flag Association	United States ( Oregon)	August 6, 2013
PTW	Polish Vexillology Society [ru]	Poland	July 3, 1995
RCVH	Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry	Russia	July 28, 2003
SAVA	Southern African Vexillological Association	Southern Africa ( Angola,  Botswana,  Lesotho,  Madagascar,  Malawi,  Mozambique,  Namibia,  South Africa,  Eswatini,  Zambia,  Zimbabwe)	July 2, 1991
SCHG	State Council of Heraldry at the Parliament of Georgia	Georgia	August 2, 2011
SEV	Spanish Society of Vexillology	Spain	June 29, 1979
SFV	French Society of Vexillology	France	July 1, 1991
SGHAPG	Society of Genealogy, Heraldry and Archivist "Paul Gore"	Moldova	July 23, 2001
SSV	Swiss Society for Vexillology	Switzerland	September 7, 1969
SVB	Belgium Vexillology Society	Belgium	June 29, 1979
SVI	Flag Data Center	Czech Republic	July 28, 2003
SVPR	Rotterdam Flag Parade Foundation [nl]	Netherlands	August 2, 2011
THVA	Transylvanian Heraldic and Vexillological Association	Romania ( Transylvania)	July 12, 2022
UHT	Ukrainian Heraldry Society	Ukraine	July 3, 1995
VAST	Vexillological Association of the State of Texas	United States ( Texas)	July 23, 2001
VRCC	Vexillological Research Center of China	China	July 16, 2019
VSS	Vexillological Society (Singapore)	Singapore	July 12, 2022
WVRI	World Vexillological Research Institute	Germany	August 23, 1993

International Congresses of Vexillology

Argentinian flags and flags of FIAV members during the 21st International Congresses of Vexillology in Buenos Aires

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.^[9]

Since 1969, FIAV has sponsored the biennial International Congresses of Vexillology (ICV) with assistance of a local organizing committee.^[10] The Congresses have been held in:

• Muiderberg, Netherlands (1965)
• Zürich and Rüschlikon (1967)
• Boston (1969)
• Turin (1971)
• London (1973)
• IJsselmeer (1975)
• Washington, D.C. (1977)
• Vienna (1979)
• Ottawa (1981)
• Oxford (1983)
• Madrid (1985)
• San Francisco (1987)
• Melbourne (1989)
• Barcelona (1991)
• Zürich (1993)
• Warsaw (1995)
• Cape Town (1997)
• Victoria, British Columbia (1999)
• York (2001)
• Stockholm (2003)
• Buenos Aires (2005)
• Berlin (2007)
• Yokohama (2009)
• Washington, D.C. (2011)
• Rotterdam (2013)
• Sydney (2015)
• London (2017)^[11]
• San Antonio (2019)^[12]
• Ljubljana (2022)^[13]
• Beijing (2024)

ICV 31 is planned to be held in Paris, France in 2026.^[14]

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 halyards forming two interlaced loops." The knot formed is a sheet bend. The color blue is defined as Pantone Matching System 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.^[15]

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.^[16] The two medals that come with post-nominals 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 William Crampton, Whitney Smith, and Alfred Znamierowski.^[17] Frederick Brownell, who designed the South African flag,^[18] received the award twice.^[17]

Notes

1. Defunct since April 4, 2013

References

1. "FIAV Constitution". FIAV. 2009-09-11. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
2. "FIAV Membership List". FIAV. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
3. "FIAV Officers". FIAV. 2009-09-11. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
4. "About vexillology". Vexillology. The Flag Institute. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
5. "FIAV home page". Retrieved 10 February 2024.
6. Vulliamy, Elsa (December 15, 2015). "Which flag is it? Take our quiz to find out". The Independent. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
7. "Consider Vexillology". SemiotiX. Semioticon. May 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
8. "FIAV Flag Information Symbols". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
9. Koziol, Michael (September 1, 2015). "World experts fly the flag in Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
10. Mercer, Phil (14 July 2015). "What do our flags say about us?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
11. "ICV27 - London 2017". 27th International Congress of Vexillology. Flag Institute. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
12. Biediger, Shari (July 4, 2019). "Dixie Flag Stitches Banners with Pride and Patriotism". Rivard Report. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
13. "ICV29 - Ljubljana 2022". 29th International Congress of Vexillology. Heraldica Slovenica. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
14. "International Congresses of Vexillology". FIAV. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
15. "FIAV - Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques". Flags of the World. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
16. "Awards and Honors". North American Vexillological Association. Archived from the original on Aug 17, 2021.
17. "The Vexillon". International Federation of Vexillological Associations. July 14, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
18. "Fred Brownell: The man who made South Africa's flag". BBC News. 26 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved May 21, 2024.

External links

• Official website