Portland Association Publication 1

Portland Flag Association ―Free, and Worth Every Penny!‖ Issue 2 July 2004

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: New Flag for the City of Portland

New Flag for the City of Portland 1

July 2004 Flutterings 3

Some Flag Related Web Sites 3

A Call for Attendance in October 4

Flags Over 4 Portland 1969-2002 Portland 2002-

Raven 9/10: American City 5 For those of you who have drifted for the City to be known as the City away from our quarterly flag meet- flag and described as follows: What’s That Flag? 5 ings and may have missed the article in The Oregonian, Portland has A. The standard size measures 5 adopted a new (revised) flag. In early feet in length by 3 feet in height. 2002, Doug Lynch, the designer of The background shall be green,

the then current city flag, come to symbolizing the forests and our the Portland Flag Association (our green City. The design includes a official title) with the proposal to ad- four-pointed directional star, just the design of the flag to more formed by the vertical and horizon- represent his vision before politics tal intersection of counterchanged entered into the original design in light blue stripes, symbolizing our 1969. We were more than happy to rivers. The blue stripes are paral- get involved with the project, and leled with yellow stripes, symboliz- with the help of the mayor’s of ing agriculture and commerce. The staff, we drafted an ordinance and yellow stripes are separated from testified before the city council. On the green background and the blue September 4, 2002, the ordinance river stripes by white lines called I’d like to thank Ted Kaye for flesh- was passed, included here in part: . The white central star ing out some of my articles and for is positioned slightly left of center, writing others. Without his help, this toward the staff end of the flag, would have been much less of a (Amended by Ordinance No. called the hoist. newsletter. I would also like to 176874, effective October 4, 2002.) (Continued on page 2) thank Marshall Goldberg for volun- There is designated an official flag teering his home in October (see If you wish to compliment the editor, to contribute in the future, contact John Hood at page 4). 503-238-7666 or [email protected]. If you wish to complain, call your mother. 2 Portland Flag Association Publication A New Flag for Portland Flag Association teamed up with ruled him at the last minute, substi- Douglas Lynch, the designer of the tuting a more complex and less ap- 1969 flag, to improve it. The new pealing flag.‖ Then when the de- (Continued from page 1) design removed the city added to signer was allowed to proceed on his the by the city council despite own, a successful flag was adopted. At the 20th International Congress of the designer’s preference, and simpli- in Stockholm, , fied the other graphic elements. The At NAVA 37 in Montreal, President Mason Kaye presented a paper on vexillologists testified at city council Dave Martucci announced that Doug the flags of Portland. In it he de- in support of the new flag, which Lynch had received the Vexillonnaire scribed these flags and the flags that was unanimously adopted in Septem- Award, which recognizes a signifi- came before. Here is the abstract of ber of 2002. Today, Portland’s flag cant and successful act of activist that paper: features offset crossed bars (similar vexillology, involving flag design or to a Scandinavian ) in light usage, in North America. Abstract blue, on a medium green . The The award honors actions that Portland has had five municipal flags. bars, fimbriated in white and gold, change the way people interact with The city of Portland is the largest in represent Portland’s two rivers. The flags, as opposed to flag scholarship the state of Oregon, in the Pacific intersection of the bars forms a white or boosterism. The difference be- Northwest region of the United hypocycloid four-pointed star, sym- tween a vexillonnaire and a vexillolo- States. Its flags were designed in bolizing the city. gist (flag scholar) is analogous to that 1917, 1950, 1958, 1969, and 2002. In his conclusion, Mason points out between a politician and a political The designs vary from a simple hori- that individuals have designed better scientist, or a musician and a musi- zontal tribar to seals on bedsheets. flags than committees. ―…the city cologist. In announcing the award, In 2002, members of the Portland hired a design expert…then over- Martucci said, ―Doug Lynch is a pio- neer in civic flag design. His efforts to bring Portland’s art commission and city council together are a model for other cities.‖

We’ve had post cards printed up, to help us in our campaign to encour- age business owners and building managers to fly the flag more widely across Portland. Recently a new condo building in the Pearl District started flying it, triggering complaints from some observers thinking it was the new Iraqi flag! What planet were they on??? The only real way to deal with that is to have more Portland flags flying…

If you know a business or institution that can fly the Portland flag, invite them to show their true colors and The usual suspects at City Hall: (l to r) Ted Kaye, Mason Kaye, Fred Paltridge display one of the best flags in the (kneeling), Doug Lynch and John Hood country!

Portland Flag Association Publication 3

July 2004 Flutterings You Need to Know We had rather a sparse turnout at our tise in the future. last meeting at the Kayes’ house, but it allowed the snacks and lemonade Since there were so few of us, we that Debbie provided to go farther. were able to look over Ted’s collec- It was Mason’s and Harry’s last regu- tion of flag books. He has some true lar meeting. Mason is off to Occi- treasures, including all the National dental College in Southern California Geographic magazines that highlighted and Harry is moving to Texas. It flags from decades ago. There are was Harry’s idea to form this group also a number of foreign language Acadia of flag enthusiasts that has become books, especially from Central and the Portland Flag Association. He South America. Ted also showed us also travels to every flag event of any his collection of flag lapel pins that importance around the country and range from Lapland to the Falkland has much to share with us who are Islands. His collection of flags and less inspired. Harry has shared with pins is all the more impressive since us some marvelous flag books in a Ted is a purist who tries only to get them while in the country he’s visit- variety of languages and we certainly New Brunswick will miss seeing more of them. ing, unlike most of us who will take what we can find, wherever. Mason, of course, has raised the for those of us who research flags, John Hood visited the Canadian even if just for fun. In 1999, at age Maritimes in May and brought back 13, he presented a paper at the 18th some flags to show to the group in International Congress of Vexillology our traditional manner: gradually in Victoria, BC, on tribar flags of the unfolding the flag until someone world. For his outstanding talk, he guesses it. These flags were, of Nova Scotia received the Captain William Driver course, the usual ones of the area: Award which is given by NAVA for The more unusual ones of Cape the best paper presented by a mem- Breton Island, Halifax, and the ber. In 2001, at ICV XIX in York, Micmac were seen, but not acquired. , he gave a paper on flags It seems that even the municipal of- with maps on them. For that paper, fices frequently have no idea where he received a commendation from their flags come from – The Creator, the Canadian Flag Association. Then I suppose. Prince Edward Island at ICV XX in Stockholm last year, Mason’s was judged the Best Paper Some Flag Related Web Sites (tied with his father’s) by the flag North American Vexillological Association http://www.nava.org manufacturers for his presentation on the Portland Flag (see related () http://www.flaginst.demon.co.uk story). In addition, he designed the Flags of the World http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/index.html flag for Catlin Gabel School, from which he just graduated. So we will Elmer’s Flag & Banner http://www.elmersflag.com miss Mason’s enthusiasm and exper- Darwin’s Flagman (Australia) http://www.nationalflags.com.au 4 Portland Flag Association Publication

A Call for Attendance in October Flags Over Antarctica The next meeting of the Portland there are other ideas in our group. Over the 2002-03 New Year, the Flag Association will be at 7 p.m., Kaye family traveled on a 12-day ex- Thursday, October 14, 2004, at Mar- Our meetings have turned into a real pedition from Argentina to the Ant- shall Goldberg’s house, 3080 SW ―show and tell‖ recently, with some arctic Peninsula aboard the M/V Or- Raleighview Dr., telephone (503)292- very interesting subjects. There have lova, an ice-strengthened Russian 0525. See the map below. been flags from our travels or flea vessel, and making landfall in the markets, books in various languages South Islands and on the It was originally planned to be at with incredible pictures of current or Antarctic continent. Ted Kaye took Harry Oswald’s, but he has cut and historical flags, the various types of along two dozen full-size versions of run to Texas. He left me with the flag fasteners, even flag card collec- Graham Bartram’s unofficial 1995 list, and I am more than willing to tions. So bring something to share flag for Antarctica. He raised the remind everyone shortly before the with the group. Or there might just Antarctica flag for the first time ever date. It would be good to do this by be some questions that haven’t been over the White Continent on the last way of email, but my telephone still answered by Google®. Or maybe day of 2002. He presented flags to works. you just want to eat cookies and the commanders of the scientific drink sodas, whatever, come on bases of Brazil, the United Kingdom, A couple of meetings ago, Doug down and join the conversation! Lynch (designer of the Portland flag) and Ukraine and flew one on the Some people will have just returned ship’s stern. One of several flags for challenged us to rough out a design, from the NAVA 38 meeting in Indi- or redesign, of the Oregon . Antarctica, the most recent design anapolis and will have something to displays the continent in white on a It is unique in that it is the only state say, I’m sure. flag that has the reverse different field of United Nations blue. The from the obverse. It is interesting, In the future, the meetings are tenta- designer explicitly intended to fulfill but expensive to make. In addition, tively scheduled for the second both reasons for ―mappy flags‖ later the front is the typical ―seal on a bed Thursday of January, April, July, and identified by Mason Kaye (Maps on sheet‖, the bed sheet this time being October. These are always subject to Flags, ICV XIX, 2001): uniqueness blue for a change. The only person weather (ice) or other flag meetings and neutrality. The actual flags were to rise to the challenge so far has that lead people astray. provided by Outpost Flags been Fred Paltridge, but I’m sure (Wisconsin). At ICV XX in Stockholm Ted pre- sented a paper on ―Flags over Ant- arctica‖ describing this vexillographic ―first‖. He shared the ―best paper‖ award with Mason—the first father- son team ever to present at an inter- national congress of vexillology.

Antarctica (unofficial) 1995-

Portland Flag Association Publication 5

Raven 9/10: American City Flags Is Available What’s That Flag? Volume 9/10 – 2002/2003 of Ra- annual membership. Non-members Name these flags and bring your an- ven: A Journal of Vexillology appeared can buy it on the NAVA web site at swers to the next PFA meeting: in April 2004 and was well worth the http://www.nava.org for $35. In a wait. Entitled American City special offer, you can join NAVA for Flags, it was an enormous undertak- $30 and get the book for just $15 ing by NAVA members John M. more. Purcell, James A. Croft, and Rich Monahan with our own Ted Kaye as Even if you decide not to buy the Managing Editor. A description of book, while you’re on the web site, the work, as taken from the intro- scroll down and fill out the survey. duction: ―This work documents, as While rating 150 flags from 0 to 10 far as possible, the past and current may seem daunting, over 300 respon- civic flags of the major cities of the dents have done it already and it will United States, including the capitals be quite helpful to Ted and the oth- and largest cities of each state.‖ In- ers who will be using it. In 2001 cluded are the flags of the 100 largest NAVA’s survey of US and Canadian cities in the country, all 50 state capi- state and provincial flags generated a tals, and at least two cities per state. lot of interest from governors, legis- lators, and flag enthusiasts around 150 articles document the flags and the country, and helped with at least their histories, in 400 pages, 250 gray one flag change (). Come to -scale illustrations, and 16 color the next meeting and peruse a copy plates with all 150 current flags. It that someone is sure to have. was a formidable project, but for those of us who are interested in Mike Hale of Elmer’s Flag & Ban- flags closer to home than Azerbaijan ner has a few copies of this Raven or , it provides a detailed for sale, as well as one copy of the description of how flags are adopted. 1996/1997 Raven entitled Flags of It also proves that our own city’s flag the Native Peoples of the United is among the very best in the nation. States. For anyone with an interest in Native Americans, Don Healy has How can the largest cities in two done an exemplary job of document- states not have flags at all? How can ing their flags and seals. some cities adopt a flag that looks more like a logo for a T-shirt? What are the politics that spoil a good de- sign or champion mediocrity? Maybe all of these questions won’t be answered, but some will and innu- merable anecdotes will be provided.

Members of NAVA (North Ameri- can Vexillological Association) have Navajo Nation received this book as part of their