Portland Flag Association 1 ISSN 2474-1787 Portland Flag Association “Free, and Worth Every Penny!” Issue 76 June 2019 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The 1999 Genesis of Good Flag, Bad Flag Genesis of Good Flag, Bad Flag 1 By Ted Kaye I compiled the text by consulting 2 May 2019 Flutterings 20 years ago the concept of a the writings of about 20 vexillo- A “Gray Pride” Flag 4 general-interest flag-design guide- graphic thinkers—in the U.S. and Roundup 5 Canada and around the world. 6 book arose during ICV 18, the The Pro-Abortion Gadsden Flag Finding that they seemed to agree Flaggy Map | Flags in School 7 18th International Congress of on five basic principles, I made Farewell, Michael Faul & Chumley 8 Vexillology, held in Victoria, BC. Pirate Flags in the Caribbean 9 those the core of the guidebook. The Red Flag 10 Several PFA members attended At ICV 19 I shared a draft of a The Flag Quiz 11 that meeting—also NAVA 33— Portland Flag Miscellany 12 as one of our own, Mason Kaye, 16-page booklet titled Good Flag, Next Meeting 12 delivered a Driver-Award-winning Bad Flag (a catchy if sometimes www.portlandflag.org presentation (its proximity to Port- unfortunate moniker). It met with land boosted PFA attendance!). wide enthusiasm from attendees. A panel discussion exploring After sharing it with members and “Vexillography—Guides for Flag receiving feedback, NAVA leader- Design” (featuring flag merchants ship of accepted the text and pub- Doreen Braverman, Jim Ferrigan, lished it electronically on nava.org. and Peter Orenski) deplored the In 2006, NAVA published GFBF sad state of flag design, evidenced in printed form and since then has by the poor quality of the flags given it to each new member and proposed by their customers. made it available on Amazon.com. As the panel wrapped up, I rose to GFBF has been translated into assert that we flag experts had no Spanish, French, German, Italian, business criticizing the public’s Portuguese, and Slovenian, through vexillographic attempts until we the generous work of fellow vexil- successfully shared the basic prin- lologists. All are available for ciples of flag design with them. download on the NAVA website. I then impulsively volunteered to The flag should fill this primary condition: ... draft such a guidebook, promising The majority of flag-design efforts it must ... be a flag. And it must be a simple design, recognizable at a distance, a bright, it for the next ICV, to be held in in the U.S. now quote GFBF—a clear note in the sky. A balanced and harmonious York, England, in two years’ time. success 20 years after its origin. composition which will carry its meaning unfolding or fluttering in the wind. — Guy Viau, If you wish to compliment the editor, or to contribute in the future, contact Ted Kaye Province of Québec Arts Council, 1963 at 503-223-4660 or [email protected]. If you wish to complain, call your mother. 2 The Vexilloid Tabloid May 2019 Flutterings You Need to Know In our May meeting, hosted by Max Liberman, 11 PFA members enjoyed an evening of flags and conversation. Max moderated the discussion. Michael Orelove recounted his recent cruise in the Caribbean and the flags he found in a pirate shop on St. Thomas (see p. 9). John Niggley solicited ideas for a flag he is developing to commemo- rate his company’s major green- pipe-removal project. Max Liberman continued his ex- Michael Orelove shares his pirate John Niggley explains the flag-worthy ploration into Australian state and booty from the Caribbean. green pipe removal project. territory flags, recounting past vex- Roberta Krogman shared an article supply of rip-stop nylon into a illographers’ efforts then debuting using a new metaphor—a “green quilt, perhaps with flag themes. four of his designs. flag”—meaning a good sign Israel Nuñez wondered why most (versus a “red flag” as a bad sign). Fred Paltridge celebrated the flags are rectangular or triangular playoff successes of the Portland David Koski, inspired by the many and none are circular. Members Trail Blazers, our NBA team, “pride flags”, showed his concept advanced several theories. wearing its colors of red-black- for a “Gray Pride” flag—celebra- white. Members reminded him ting elders in society (see p. 4). that we have two other major- league franchises. John Schilke heartily endorsed David’s design, favoring versions that omitted the color black and considering gray a “happier” color. David Ferriday described his quest to find a seamstress to sew his Max Liberman shares his proposal for Table flags welcome PFA members to Fred Paltridge shows his Blazer pride, a new flag for New South Wales. the evening’s discussion. with Blaze the Trail Cat. June 2019 Portland Flag Association 3 Flags from the host’s dabblings in fictitious kingdoms overlook the proceedings. Ted Kaye shows the flag of NAVA 28, the 28th annual meeting of the North American Vexillological Association, held in Portland in 1994. Its organiz- ing committee evolved into today’s Portland Flag Association. Roberta Krogman delights in a refer- ence to a “green flag” (in grayscale!). Ted Kaye recruited new and re- turning members to NAVA, and described the origins of the PFA in NAVA 28 in 1994 in Portland with a replica meeting flag. David Ferriday waves the U.S. flag to make a point. Ken Dale described his frequent attendance at memorial services at Our next meeting will be hosted Ken Dale reflects on the interment of veterans without families. Willamette National Cemetery for by Ted Kaye on 11 July at his veterans without family members. home in N.W. Portland. He took the Portland Flag Association flag home, the customary task of the next host. John Schilke ponders the best colors to David Koski experiments with designs Israel Núñez asks why flags are never include in a flag honoring elders. for a “Gray Pride” flag. circular... 4 The Vexilloid Tabloid A “Gray Pride” Flag Honoring Elders By David Koski advanced age. Such constraints They comprise the original fifteen- often help keep the design process striped flag with a squircle three On a number of occasions my on track. units tall (3/15), along with one stepson has sent me images of 7/15, one 5/13, and one 3/11. flags that he has seen while riding I started with five stripes, using his bicycle through Portland’s gray and white to represent Readers, which do you think would neighborhoods. Knowing that I advancing age as well as wisdom work best flying as a flag? am a flag guy, he asks if I can and a bit of foolishness. I included identify them. In some cases I some black stripes at first, mainly have been able to do so easily, to emphasize that the gray was but sometimes I’ve had to do a gray, but soon discarded them as bit of research. unnecessary and suggestive of The last couple of flags turned out death. I decided to include a spot to be of the “queer pride” variety, of red in the middle to represent most of which are unfamiliar to vitality. me. The research shows that they I started with a square the height usually reflect some kind of gender of a stripe, but thought it a bit identity or preference and have a harsh because I wanted a softer scheme of horizontal stripes. effect. After considering a circle There has been quite a prolifera- (too Japanese) and a cardioid/heart tion of different varieties since the shape (too cute), I settled on a original gay pride flag in 1978— squircle, which is a shape some- the number of stripes vary, often where between a square and a with unusual colors. circle. Seeing all these cool flags made With the basic scheme in place, I me wonder what kind of pride flag tried different numbers of stripes. I might fly to represent me. Out I liked the variant with fifteen of the blue, it occurred to me that (eight gray, seven white) and a I had recently attained “senior squircle three stripes tall. It seemed citizen” status. While still working, like a good candidate for a flag to I now also get a Social Security be flown by elders, or by those check each month. Was there a showing solidarity with or support flag for old people? I did a web for elders, or by those simply “old search and did not find any exam- at heart”. ples, so I decided that I would design a flag for elders and see if it I presented my process with would fly. examples of the variants I’d tried at the March PFA meeting of the From the start I identified a Portland Flag Association, and number of features and elements some members had suggestions to guide me. The flag should be to test. One thought it might be simple, but with something distinc- stronger with fewer stripes and a tive and memorable to distinguish larger core. it from otherwise similar designs. I wanted to use horizontal stripes. I went back to the drawing board It should be symmetrical both and made a few more variants. Proposals for a “Gray Pride” flag horizontally and vertically. And Perhaps readers would like to honoring elders, with a red squircle I wanted it to evoke the idea of comment on those shown here: amid varying numbers of gray stripes. June 2019 Portland Flag Association 5 Roundup Ceremonial flags of the municipalities of Solbiate and Cavallasca (in Como), sent to us by our friends in Italy.