North American Vexillological Association

Flag of the North American Vexillological Association.

The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA; French: Association nord-américaine de vexillologie) is an American and Canadian membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith and others.

The association publishes Raven: A Journal of Vexillology, an annual peer-reviewed journal, the Flag Research Quarterly, for vexillological topics and inter-disciplinary discussion, and NAVA News, a quarterly newsletter.^[1]

The association honors achievement in the field with several honors and awards:

Whitney Smith Fellows: an individual who makes an outstanding contribution to North American vexillology may be elected to this honor by the association's executive board. An honoree is entitled to use the postnominals "WSF";
Honorary membership: an individual who renders distinguished service to the association that otherwise furthers the purposes of the association may receive this honor. It is restricted to persons who are not members and past presidents of the association;
Captain William Driver Award: presented to the individual who presents the best paper at the Association's annual meeting;
Kevin Harrington Award: presented to the individual who authors the best article to appear in a non-vexillological publication during the preceding year;
John Purcell Award: presented to an individual for an exemplary contribution that promotes public understanding of vexillology in North America;
Doreen Braverman Award: presented to an organizational member who supports the association’s mission by making a significant contribution to the vexillological community; and
Presidential citations: presented to members who make significant contributions to the association or to vexillology but whose accomplishments do not fall within the criteria for other awards.^[2]

The association is a charter member of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, and is among the largest vexillological organizations.

Principal officers

(As of 2014)

President: John M. Hartvigsen
First Vice President: Anne M. Platoff, M.S., M.A., FF
Second Vice President: Kenneth W. Reynolds, Ph.D.
Secretary: Steven A. Knowlton M.L.I.S
Treasurer: Christopher P. Bedwell
Editor, Raven: A Journal of Vexillology: Kenneth W. Reynolds, Ph.D.
Editor, Flag Research Quarterly: Kenneth A. Hartvigsen, Ph.D.
Editor, NAVA News: Byron DeLear

Organization flag

The association's flag consists of a large white "V" (an inverted chevron) separating a blue triangle above from two red triangles on either side. The length of the top side of the blue triangle is the same as the width of the flag. (Note that a flag's "width" is its vertical dimension when flying from a flagpole.) The flag proportion is 2:3.

The "V" represents vexillology. The colors are taken from the flags of the two countries covered by the Association: Canada (red and white) and the United States (red, white, and blue).

Annual meetings and meeting flags

Since 1967, the Association has held annual meetings across the United States and Canada for all those interested in flags to present and discuss research and to honor vexillological achievement. Since 1977, it has marked each meeting with a distinctive flag.

Name	Location and dates	Meeting flag	Designer(s)	Meeting flag description
NAVA 0	Boston, MA 3 June 1967	none	n/a	The flag of the Flag Research Center was used for this meeting.
NAVA 1	Purchase, NY 18 November 1967	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 2	Chillum, MD 12–13 October 1968	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 3	Boston, MA 6–7 September 1969	none	n/a	As the site for ICV 3, that meeting flag was used.
NAVA 4	Pittsburgh, PA 10–11 October 1970	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 5	Ottawa, ON 23–24 October 1971	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 6	Chicago, IL 28–29 October 1972	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 7	Valley Forge, PA 2–4 November 1973	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 8	Baltimore, MD 12–14 October 1974	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 9	Cleveland, OH 12–14 October 1975	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 10	Toronto, ON 8–10 October 1976	none	n/a	n/a
NAVA 11	Washington, D.C. 10–14 June 1977		Steve Stringfellow	The flag shows the NAVA colors (blue, red, and white) in an emblem resembling a lowercase N, the "77" in 1977, and the number 11.
NAVA 12	Montgomery, AL 7–9 October 1978		Charles Brannon
NAVA 13	Salem, MA 5–8 October 1979		Alfred Znamierowski	A field of 13 alternating red and black horizontal stripes on which is centered a witch riding a broomstick. It refers to the host city's famous witchcraft trials, and to triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13.
NAVA 14	St. Louis, MO 3–6 October 1980		Dorothy Clayborne	The flag is the NAVA flag defaced in the bottom center by a blue fleur-de-lis within a yellow circle, a reference to the host city's flag.
NAVA 15	Ottawa, ON 27–24 August 1981		Whitney Smith	The flag shows an upright chevron, similar to the NAVA chevron, but in Canadian colors (red and white). Within the chevron is the maple leaf from the Canadian flag.
NAVA 16	Pittsburgh, PA 8–10 October 1982		Alfred Znamierowski	A yellow pennant with a double circle of 16 stars on a field of black was used; black and yellow are Pittsburgh's colors.
NAVA 17	New York City, NY 14–16 October 1983		Phil Allen	The flag features New York City's colors (blue, orange, and white) and an apple representing the city's nickname, "The Big Apple". Within the apple is hidden the number 17 reminiscent of the cutout tokens used by the New York City Transit Authority in the mid-20th century.
NAVA 18	Vancouver, BC 5–7 October 1984		Ralph Holberg	The flag is a mixture of elements from the Vancouver and NAVA flags. The crossed axe and gavel in the green pentagon are taken from the Vancouver flag and form an "X" for the Roman numeral for ten. The chevron forms a "V" for the Roman numeral for five, and the wavy bars are the Roman numeral "3" to denote the 18th meeting.
NAVA 19	Kansas City, MO 11–13 October 1985		Ralph Holberg	The flag depicts the "heart" logo of Kansas City's former flag using the colors of the Kansas City and NAVA flags. Contained within the Kansas City logo is the Roman numeral for 19.
NAVA 20	Trenton, NJ 10–12 October 1986		Jim Ferrigan	The meeting flag incorporates "V"s for Vexillology that form "XX" (Roman numeral for 20), with the NAVA flag in the canton. The blue and gold reference the municipal flag of Trenton.
NAVA 21	San Francisco, CA 12–16 October 1987		James Croft, Jim Ferrigan, and Whitney Smith	The flag shows the phoenix and Mural crown that appear on the San Francisco flag. The background resembles the NAVA flag. This meeting was also the ICV 12 meeting.
NAVA 22	Portsmouth, NH 7–9 October 1988		Ralph Holberg	The flag depics white yacht sails on a light blue background. Flying from the mast is a stylization of the NAVA flag as a pennant above the international maritime signal flags for the letters P, N, and H for Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
NAVA 23	Dallas, TX 20–22 October 1989		John Purcell	The meeting flag colors are those of the United States, Texas, Dallas, and NAVA. The star appears on both the Texas and Dallas flags and rests on the division with two points in the blue field and three in the red, indicating the 23rd meeting.
NAVA 24	Toronto, ON 5–7 October 1990		Sandra Armstrong	The flag includes the colors of NAVA and Toronto. The Trillium is used as the official symbol of Ontario.
NAVA 25	Minneapolis, MN 11–13 October 1991		Kevin Harrington	The flag shows blue and white, the Minneapolis colors, and is in the famous NAVA chevron shape. The yellow star in the center of the flag represents Minnesota framed by a red ribbon that forms the number 25.
NAVA 26	San Antonio, TX 9–11 October 1992		John H. Gámez	The NAVA chevron appears in red on the meeting flag, with five white stars. The number of the points on all of the stars is 26. A silhouette of the Alamo is located in the background.
NAVA 27	Portland, ME 8–11 October 1993		John R. B. Szala	The flag shows the NAVA colors. The eight-point blue star has an elongated arm pointing to the east, indicating Maine's position as the easternmost of the contiguous states, and the white pine tree is a symbol of the state.
NAVA 28	Portland, OR 8–10 October 1994		Donald T. Healy	The flag shows the yellow beaver on the blue background, such as on the back of the Oregon flag. The NAVA chevron is depicted in the Portland flag's colors, blue, white, and green.
NAVA 29	Covington, KY 6–8 October 1995		Secundino Fernandez	The NAVA chevron appears in red with the letter C above. Both the waving blue lines and C appear on the flag of Cincinnati, the principal city of the region where the convention was held.
NAVA 30	Sacramento, CA 11–13 October 1996		Richard A. Kenny and James J. Ferrigan III	The flag is divided in half horizontally. The top half is white with the California bear and star in red taken from the California flag. The lower half is red with the Roman numeral for 30 in yellow, with a blue shadow on the flag.
NAVA 31	Chicago, IL 10–12 October 1997		John M. Purcell	The flag is the Chicago flag design bent in the shape of the NAVA chevron. The stars are grouped 3-1 to denote the 31st meeting.
NAVA 32	Québec City, QC 9–12 October 1998		Jim Croft	The flag shows the fleur-de-lis on the Québec flag. The NAVA chevron appears as a crenellated line, which appears as a border of the Québec City flag, and represents the walls of the old city.
NAVA 33	Victoria, BC 28 July-2 August 1999		Truman G. Pope	The flag shows a red, white, and blue NAVA chevron dividing the field. The area outside the chevron is dark blue with yellow waves, similar to the ones on the British Columbia flag. The field inside the chevron is divided in half vertically and colored red and white. On the field is a counterchanged maple leaf.
NAVA 34	East Lansing, MI 6–8 October 2000		John M. Purcell	The flag shows a large letter M in the United States colors for Michigan. The letter is actually one "M" in red and another in white, denoting the Roman numeral for 2000, the year of the meeting. Hidden in the middle of the M is the NAVA chevron. The background of the flag is blue, like the Michigan flag.
NAVA 35	Norfolk, VA 5–7 October 2001		Secundino Fernandez	The V in Virginia and the NAVA chevron are put into one, and are located in the canton area of the flag. The background is blue, like the Virginia flag, and the flag incorporates elements of the flag of Hampton Roads.
NAVA 36	Aurora, CO 30 August-1 September 2002		Secundino Fernandez and David Martucci	The flag resembles the Denver flag, with enhancements to make the bottom part of the flag to look like the NAVA flag.
NAVA 37	Montréal, QC 10–12 October 2003		Morgan Milner	The flag has a cross, like the Montréal flag and the Québec flag. In the canton, the NAVA flag appears with a white fleur-de-lis in the chevron area, such as the ones on the Montréal and Québec flags.
NAVA 38	Indianapolis, IN 8–10 October 2004		Jim Croft	The flag shows the NAVA chevron on a background of black and white checks, representing the checkered flag used in auto racing, representing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Within the chevron, a black-and-white version of the Indianapolis flag appears.
NAVA 39	Nashville, TN 7–9 October 2005		James W. Ritchie	The flag shows the NAVA chevron appearing as the blue bar on the right of the Tennessee flag. The circle and stars of the Tennessee flag appear within the chevron.
NAVA 40	Reno, NV 13–15 October 2006		Sophie Rault	The proportions of the flag are 5:8, it is swallow-tailed (as for NAVA 20 and NAVA 30). The blue field, the silver star in the canton and the golden-yellow stripe recall the Nevada state flag. The three blue-white-red stripes resemble the NAVA flag and the four stripes together celebrate 40 years of NAVA. The stripes are V-shaped for Vexillology.
NAVA 41	Glastonbury, CT 12–14 October 2007		Dean Thomas	The three grape vines are from the state arms of Connecticut, and the blue and white colors recall the Connecticut state flag. The "V" motif symbolizes vexillology. The proportions are 3:5.
NAVA 42	Austin, TX 10–12 October 2008		Peter Krag (1839)	Rectangle variant of the Texas revenue service flag, originally adopted in 1839.
NAVA 43	Charleston, SC 9–11 October 2009		John Purcell, Charles Spain, Ron Strachan, and Hugh Brady	A purple crescent (for Charleston and Charles II) on a golden "sun in splendor" on a purple field, in 3:5 proportion. The "valleys" between the sun's rays are meant to evoke "v" for vexillology.
NAVA 44	Arcadia, CA 8–10 October 2010		William M. Belanich, Jr.	The three colors of the flag of Los Angeles (green, yellow, and red) with the "44" in yellow located in the green field of the flag. The numerals also resemble a stylized angel representing Los Angeles. The red and green fields are separated by a yellow zig-zag containing the "v" for Vexillology.
NAVA 45	Alexandria, VA 1–5 August 2011		Anthony Burton	The ICV 24 Congress flag was used.
NAVA 46	Columbus, OH 5–7 October 2012		William Belanich, Jr.	The flag resembles a "slice" of the hoist of the Ohio flag. The white arc on a blue and red field is part of the "O" for Ohio on the state flag and also is a "C" for host city of Columbus. It is also a stylized chevron representing vexillology.
NAVA 47	Salt Lake City, UT 11–13 October 2013		John M. Hartvigsen	The golden beehive is for Utah, the Beehive State; many early Utah flags used blue and white in their color schemes, which also visually describe the host city, white for salt and blue for the waters of the Great Salt Lake. The white cut “V” also symbolizes the valley between the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges. The two arcs of stars with four stars above and seven stars below symbolize that the gathering is NAVA’s 47th annual meeting. The large star below the beehive signifies the “Rising Star of Deseret” shown on many early flags of Utah history.
NAVA 48	New Orleans, LA 3–5 October 2014		Tony Burton, Zachary Harden and Keith Hammond