International Federation of Vexillological Associations

History

The study of flags, or vexillology, was formalized by Whitney Smith in 1957. He then moved to organize various flag organizations and meetings including the first Congress of Vexillology and International Federation of Vexillological Associations.

The FIAV was provisionally organized on September 3, 1967, at the Second International Congress of Vexillology held in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, and officially created on September 7, 1969, at the Third International Congress of Vexillology held in Boston, Massachusetts.

Governance

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

Officers

The current members of the FIAV Board are:

Michel R. Lupant (President) of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve

Charles A. Spain (Secretary–General) of Houston

Graham Bartram (Secretary–General for Congresses) of London

Members

Current members of FIAV are:

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)

Belgo-European Studies Center for Flags (CEBED) (Belgium)

Italian Center of Vexillological Studies (CISV) (Italy)

Earth Flag Center (CFZ) (Poland)

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)

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) (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden)

North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) (Canada, United States)

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 Vexillology Society (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)

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.

Since 1969, FIAV has sponsored the biennial International Congresses of Vexillology (ICV). Previous Congresses have been held in Muiderberg (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, DC (2011), Rotterdam (2013), and Sydney (2015),

ICV 27 will be held in London in 2017.; ICV 28 will be held in San Antonio, Texas, USA in 2019.

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 September 3, 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.