Comprehensive Study Guide: How to Design a Great Flag (and Identify) a Great Flag

Design Contributors and Organizational Context

  • Contributors to Design Wisdom: The principles outlined in this guide represent a distillation of wisdom from numerous experts in the field, including:     - Philippe Bondurand     - Frederick Brownell     - William Crampton     - Michael Faul     - Jim Ferrigan     - Richard Gideon     - Kevin Harrington     - Lee Herold     - Ralph Kelly     - Rich Kenny     - David Martucci     - Clay Moss     - Peter Orenski     - Whitney Smith     - Steve Tyson     - Henry Untermeyer     - Alfred Znamierowski
  • The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA):     - Definition: An international, non-profit, scholarly organization dedicated to vexillology.     - Vexillology: The study of flags and their cultural, historical, political, and social significance.     - Membership: Comprises flag scholars, designers, collectors, conservators, educators, merchants, manufacturers, historians, and hobbyists.     - Resources: Publishes periodicals such as Raven (a journal of vexillology) and Vexillum.     - Website: www.nava.org
  • Document Metadata:     - Compiler: Ted Kaye (former editor of RAVEN).     - Designer: Melissa Meiner.     - Copyright: © 2006, 2020 NAVA.     - ISBN-13: 978−0−9747728−1−3978-0-9747728-1-3     - ISBN-10: 0−9747728−1−X0-9747728-1-X

The Nature and Purpose of Flags

  • Definition: A flag is a representation of a place, organization, or person, typically on a rectangular piece of cloth.
  • Functional Requirements:     - Must be seen from a distance.     - Often seen moving.     - Must be reproducible in quantity and in various sizes.
  • Historical Evolution:     - Origins: Began thousands of years ago for military use on land and identifying signals at sea.     - Expansion: Evolved to represent royal houses, countries, government levels, businesses, military ranks, sports teams, and political parties.     - Design Contexts: Designs must consider various displays: flying from a pole, hanging downward, draping limp, or appearing as small lapel pins or massive football-field-sized displays.
  • Heraldry Influence: Flag design (vexillography) grew out of heraldry (the practice of designing coats of arms) and shares many of its principles.
  • The William Porcher Miles Standard (1861): A successful flag should be:     - Simple and readily made in bunting.     - Unique from any other country or people.     - Significant and distinguishable at a distance.     - Well-contrasted with durable colors.     - Effective and handsome.

Anatomy of a Flag

  • Canton: The upper-left corner of the flag; considered the "point of honor."
  • Hoist: The side of the flag nearest to the flagpole.
  • Field: The main background or area of the flag.
  • Fly: The half of the flag furthest from the flagpole; the part that flaps in the wind.

The Five Basic Principles of Flag Design

1. Keep It Simple

  • The Child Test: The design should be simple enough that a child can draw it from memory.
  • Reasons for Simplicity:     - Flags flap and drape, obscuring complex details.     - They must be recognizable from a distance and from the opposite (reverse) side.     - Complicated designs increase manufacturing costs, limiting widespread adoption.
  • Design Guidance: Focus on a single symbol, limited colors, and large shapes. Avoid including a symbol for every group/interest. Ideally, designs should be reversible or recognizable from both sides.
  • Examples:     - Bangladesh (Good): Uses two strong colors and a single symbol (rising sun of independence) slightly offset to the hoist.     - Republic of the Congo (Good): Features bold, contrasting colors and large shapes/parallel lines.     - Alaska, USA (Good): Uses stars to form the "Big Dipper" and the North Star.     - Turkmenistan (Bad): Features five traditional rug patterns that are too complicated; would be better with just the moon and stars.     - West Virginia, USA (Bad): Uses a complex seal and a generic white background that mirrors other state flags.     - Bey of Tunisia (Bad): Overwhelmed by stars, crescents, and the Sword of Ali.

2. Use Meaningful Symbolism

  • Application: Symbolism applies to the "charge" (main graphic), colors, or the layout/shapes.
  • Symbol Selection: Choose symbols with historical, cultural, or emotional resonance. Stylized or silhouette symbols are generally more successful than realistic depictions.
  • Color Meanings:     - Red: Blood or sacrifice.     - White: Purity.     - Blue: Water or sky.
  • Examples:     - Italy (Good): Vertical stripes based on the French revolutionary flag, challenging horizontal European trends.     - Iroquois Confederacy, USA (Good): Features "Hiawatha’s Belt" on traditional wampum shell blue.     - Ukraine (Good): Light blue (sky) over yellow (wheat fields).     - Libya 1977–2011 (Bad): A solid green field is too simple to represent a country and is meaningless in grayscale.     - Navajo Nation, USA (Bad): Over 20 graphic elements overwhelm the viewer.     - Organization of American States (Bad): Depicts the flags of all member countries; requires a redesign every time a member joins or changes their flag.

3. Use 2–3 Basic Colors

  • Standard Palette: Red, blue, green, black, yellow, and white. Occasionally purple, gray, or orange are used but are rarely necessary.
  • Contrast Rules: Separate dark colors with a light color (and vice versa). Effective designs should reproduce well in grayscale.
  • Practical Limitations: More than four colors make a flag hard to distinguish and increase fabric costs.
  • Examples:     - Dominican Republic (Good): High contrast leaving a white cross as "negative space."     - Amsterdam, Netherlands (Good): Strong contrast even though red and black are adjacent.     - New Mexico, USA (Good): Uses red and yellow (Spanish heritage) and the Zia Indian sun symbol. Voted best U.S. state flag by NAVA.     - Dominica (Bad): Uses all six basic colors, creating unnecessary complexity (e.g., the red/black parrot eye is invisible at distance).     - Chinese Admiral 1882 (Bad): Too many colors; dark colors are not separated by yellow or white.     - Virginia, USA (Bad): Official specifications include 18 different colors, driving up manufacturing costs.

4. No Lettering or Seals

  • Rationale: A flag is a graphic symbol, not a document. Lettering is impossible to read from distance, difficult to sew, and becomes illegible when reduced to lapel pins.
  • Reversibility: Words are not reversible, requiring double- or triple-thickness fabric to read correctly on both sides.
  • Flags vs. Banners: Banners (marching bands, speaker platforms) are viewed close up and don't flap. Flags must be readable while flapping.
  • Seals: Designed for paper and close-up reading; usually too detailed for flags.
  • Examples:     - CAtes d’Armor, France (Good): Uses a stylized seagull in the shape of its coastline rather than a logo.     - South Carolina, USA (Good): Uses a palmetto tree and crescent rather than the state seal.     - Loir-et-Cher, France (Bad): Overloaded with words and an indistinguishable gray shape.     - South Dakota, USA (Bad): Uses both a seal and lettering (the state name appears twice).     - Peguis Nation / Ft. Providence (Bad): Features seals that are virtually indistinguishable on cloth.

5. Be Distinctive or Be Related

  • The Challenge: Avoiding duplication (e.g., Indonesia and Monaco are identical except for proportions) while using similarities to show heritage (e.g., Liberia and the USA).
  • Examples:     - Acadia, Canada (Good): Adds a yellow star for St. Mary to the French flag.     - Ghana (Good): Uses Pan-African colors to show connection to neighbors.     - Liberia (Good): Uses a design similar to the US flag to reflect its founders' heritage.     - Manitoba, Canada (Bad): Only distinguished from the British Red Ensign by a small shield; the bison should be the main symbol.     - Vermont, USA (Bad): Indistinguishable from 20 other U.S. state flags (seal on blue field).

Practical Design Considerations

  • Proportions: Standard rectangular proportions are between 1:1.51:1.5 and 1:21:2. Canadian flags are typically 1:21:2. US flags are usually 1:1.51:1.5 or 1:1.671:1.67.
  • Fabrication and Wear:     - Retain rectangles for longevity; the "fly end" wears out first. Rectangles allow for repeated hemming.     - Avoid symbols at the extreme fly end.     - Curved lines and "swallow-tail" shapes increase cost and fray more easily.
  • Point of Honor: The "canton" (upper-left) is the most important area as it is visible even when the flag hangs limp.
  • Visibility: The center or left-of-center area is the most visible when the flag is flying.
  • Notable Exceptions to Rules:     - Colorado: Stunning graphic "C".     - Maryland: Memorable but complex heraldry.     - California: Retains historical 1846 relic design.     - South Africa: Successfully uses six colors for deep symbolic meaning.
  • Process Recommendation: Do not allow a committee to design a flag. Instead, empower individuals to design, and let the committee select the best option.
  • Animal Orientation: Traditional heraldic rule dictates animals should look toward the hoist.