International Federation of Vexillological Associations
The International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV, French acronym: Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques) is an international federation[4] of 52 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."
The flag of the FIAV[1] | |
Formation | 7 September 1969 |
---|---|
Type | International association |
Headquarters | Houston, Texas, U.S. London, United Kingdom[1] |
Membership | 55 associations and institutions[2] |
Official languages | French, English, German, Spanish[1] |
Željko Heimer[3] | |
Website | fiav |
History
The study of flags, or vexillology, was formalised by Whitney Smith in 1957.[5] He then moved to organize various flag organisations and meetings including the first International Congress of Vexillology[5] in 1965[6] and International Federation of Vexillological Associations.[5]
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.
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.[7] 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]
Members
Current members of FIAV are:[2]
- Argentina Vexillology Association (AAV) Argentina
- Catalan Vexillological Association (ACV) Spain: Catalonia
- Bandiere Storiche ONLUS, Italy: Milano
- Bulgarian Heraldry and Vexillology Society (BHVS) Bulgaria
- The Burgee Data Archives (BDA) Canada
- The Canadian Flag Association (CFA) Canada
- Chilean National Vexillology Corporation Chile
- Chinese Center for Vexillological Studies (CCVS) People's Republic of China
- Belgo-European Studies Center for Flags (CEBED) Belgium
- Italian Centre of Vexillological Studies (CISV) Italy
- Earth Flag Center (CFZ) Poland
- Corporación Nacional de Vexilología de Chile (CONAVEX) Chile
- Czech Vexillological Society (CVS) Czech Republic
- Chesapeake Bay Flag Association (CBFA) United States: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
- Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI) Vexillology Ireland branch (Ireland)
- German Flag Society (DGF) Germany
- Flag Heritage Foundation (FHF) United States
- The Flag Institute (FI) United Kingdom
- The Flag Research Center (FRC) United States
- Flag Research Centre of Sri Lanka (FRCSL) Sri Lanka
- Flag Society of Australia Inc. (Flags Australia) (FSA) Australia, founded in 1983[6]
- Flags of the World (FOTW) The World: Internet, based in Canada
- Foundation Interdisciplinary Center for Cultural Studies (CIDEC) Argentina
- Great Waters Association of Vexillology (GWAV) United States: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio
- Heraldica Slovenica (HS) (Slovenia)
- The Heraldic Society "THE CLOVER LEAF" (HVK) (Germany)
- Croatian Heraldic and Vexillologic Association (HGZD) (Croatia)
- Indian Vexillological Association (IVA) (India)
- Institute of Heraldry and Vexillology (IHW) (Poland)
- Breton Vexillology Society (KVV) (France: Brittany)
- Hungarian Flag Society (MZT) (Hungary)
- Macedonian Heraldry Society (MHZ) (Macedonia)
- Dutch Association for Vexillology (NVvV) (Netherlands)
- New England Vexillological Association (NEVA) (United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
- New Zealand Flag Association (NZFA) (New Zealand)
- Japanese Vexillological Association (JAVA) (Japan)
- Nordic Flag Society (NF) Nordic: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
- North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) Canada, United States, founded in 1967[6]
- Partioheraldikot r.y. (PH) (Finland)
- Polish Vexillology Society (PTW) (Poland)
- Portland Flag Association (PFA) (United States: Oregon)
- Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry (RCVH) (Russia)
- Swiss Society for Vexillology (SSV) (Switzerland)
- Spanish Society of Vexillology (SEV) (Spain)
- Belgium Vexillology Society (SVB) (Belgium)
- Society of Genealogy, Heraldry and Archivist "Paul Gore" (SGHAPG) (Moldova)
- French Society of Vexillology (SFV) (France)
- Southern African Vexillological Association (SAVA) (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
- State Council of Heraldry at the Parliament of Georgia (SCHG) (Georgia)
- Netherlands Flag Museum Foundation (SVN) (Netherlands)
- Rotterdam Flag Parade Foundation (SVPR) (Netherlands)
- Flag Data Center (SVI) (Czech Republic)
- The Ukrainian Heraldry Society (UHT) (Ukraine)
- Vexillological Association of the State of Texas (VAST) (United States: Texas)
- Vexillological Research Center of China (VRCC) (China)
- World Vexillological Research Institute (WVRI) (Germany)
International Congresses of Vexillology
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.[7]
Since 1969, FIAV has sponsored the biennial International Congresses of Vexillology (ICV) with assistance of a local organizing committee.[8] 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 (September 2015)
- London (2017) [9]
- San Antonio (July 2019)[10]
ICV 29 will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2021.
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.[11]
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.[12] 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.
References
- "FIAV Constitution". FIAV Constitution. FIAV. 2009-09-11. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- "FIAV Membership List". FIAV Membership List. FIAV. 2009-09-11. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- "FIAV Officers". FIAV Officers. FIAV. 2009-09-11. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- "About vexillology". Vexillology. The Flag Institute. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- Vulliamy, Elsa (December 15, 2015). "Which flag is it? Take our quiz to find out". The Independent. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- "Consider Vexillology". SemiotiX. Semioticon. May 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- Koziol, Michael (September 1, 2015). "World experts fly the flag in Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- Mercer, Phil (14 July 2015). "What do our flags say about us?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- "ICV27 - London 2017". 27th International Congress of Vexillology. ICV. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- Biediger, Shari (July 4, 2019). "Dixie Flag Stitches Banners with Pride and Patriotism". Rivard Report. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- "FIAV - Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques". Flags of the World. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
- https://nava.org/awards-and-honors/