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North American Vexillological Association

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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.

Contents

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.

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.

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

    Principal officers

    (As of May 2016)
  • President: John M. Hartvigsen
  • First Vice President: Luc Baronian, Ph.D.
  • Second Vice President: Ted McNabb
  • Secretary: Lee Herold
  • Treasurer: John S. Adcock, J.D.
  • Editor, Raven: A Journal of Vexillology: Kenneth W. Reynolds, Ph.D.
  • Editors, Flag Research Quarterly: Kenneth A. Hartvigsen, Ph.D. & Steven A. Knowlton, M.L.I.S
  • 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.

    References

    North American Vexillological Association Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA