Portland Flag Association 1 ISSN 2474-1787

Portland Flag Association “Free, and Worth Every Penny!” Issue 67 December 2017

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: A Theory of City SOB Flags

A Theory of City SOB Flags 1 By Ted Kaye known as “The City of Roses” for 2 more than a century. The “city” November 2017 Flutterings We’re tracking over 100 city flag Roundup 5 represented by that motto is the re-design efforts on the PFA web- The Flag Fusions of Pedro Lasch 6 entire city, not just its government. site, and I’ve been involved in New Flag for Burlington, Vermont 8 However, in the past few years, city many of them personally (see p. 8). The Thirteen-Star American Flag 9 government vehicles have changed Oregon Flag Registry Update 9 When describing these in presenta- to sport a new motto: “Portland— Travels with Flags 10 tions at the recent ICV in London the City that Works”. Now, that’s The Flag Quiz 11 and the NAVA meeting in Boston, not a commentary on the industri- 12 Portland Flag Miscellany I’ve received insights from fellow ousness of Portlanders. It’s a pro- Next Meeting 12 vexillologists. motion of the dedication of city government employees. www.portlandflag.org For me, the most interesting insight involves a confusion about Cities that believe the flag repre- just what a city flag represents. sents the city government may be more likely to adopt an SOB—a It appears that in many cases, a “seal on a bedsheet”, using the city city’s leaders confuse a) represent- government’s symbol, the seal, ra- ing the city government with a ther than a simpler and more com- flag and b) representing the city as pelling design. Thoughts, readers? a whole with a flag. That is, does the flag represent the city’s govern- We meet the second Thursday of ment—mayor, council, bureaus, odd-numbered months. Please employees, OR does it represent mark your 2018 calendars for PFA the entire city—all of its residents, meetings at 7:00 PM at the following its institutions, its territory? This dates/locations: is similar to a country’s distinction 1/11/18 John Schilke between a state flag and a civil flag. 3/8/18 Patrick Genna This confusion may help explain 5/10/18 Jessie Spillers the predominance of city seals— 7/12/18 Ted Kaye the ultimate symbol of the city 9/13/18 Joyce & William Gifford government—on city flags. 11/8/18 Dave Anchel SEAL ON A BEDSHEET Thank you to our generous hosts A term, intended to be derogatory, Here’s another example of that describing any such flag that bears a confusion. Portland has been for their hospitality to the PFA! seal (as opposed to another form of charge) upon a plain field. If you wish to compliment the editor, or to contribute in the future, contact Ted Kaye —FOTW’s Dictionary of Vexillology at 503-223-4660 or [email protected]. If you wish to complain, call your mother.

2 The Vexilloid Tabloid November 2017 Flutterings You Need to Know In our November meeting, hosted by David Ferriday, 15 PFA mem- bers enjoyed an eclectic 3+hour evening of flags. In the usual role of the host, David moderated the discussion.

He began by discussing his flag designs, pointing out many adorn- ing his studio walls , then described his “trooping” of primary and complementary colors on a flag.

Mike Hale gave a book review of A Flag Worth Dying For, out in July.

David Ferriday shows a design demonstrating primary and complementary colors.

Max Liberman continued his supporting the police. The flag exploration of flags for the queen merchants added their perspectives of Canada, including the use of on sales of the variants. maple leaves and crown—as well as in orders and insignia. Dave Anchel shared the flag from his stepson’s bar mitzvah, a flag Fred Paltridge led an extensive dis- used in Mexico celebrating Colum- cussion of the “thin blue line flag”, bus Day, and a marking for bike spurring inquiry about its origin lanes using the Portland flag. and variants, and its co-opting by groups with agendas beyond

Mike Hale gives an enthusiastic review of A Flag Worth Dying For.

The entryway to David Ferriday’s Max Liberman shows a proposal for a Fred Paltridge explores the support- studio welcomes PFA members. flag for the queen of Canada. the-police Thin Blue Line Flag.

December 2017 Portland Flag Association 3

Patrick Genna waxes enthusiastic over the flag of Eritrea, Dave Anchel explains a bike lane with and explains its origin in the EPLF flag. the Portland flag. (See p. 12)

He told the story of globe-circum- navigating Saudis on Harleys buying $200 of flag merchandise during the August solar eclipse.

Ted Kaye brought his usual file of clippings and many flags and relat- ed items to give away. He then displayed his collection of flags representing schools and universi- Ted Kaye displays the flag of the ties, including the U.S. Naval USNA Brigade of Midshipman, which Academy (Annapolis) and the U.S. he had acquired in honor of his father, Military Academy (West Point). USNA ’53.

John Niggley followed with his Scott Mainwaring shares Whitney experience at National Capital Flag Smith’s 1978 proposal for an Antarctica flag in International Orange. providing West Point with a flag for the Corps of Cadets. updating the bylaws to allow universal voting (he represented Patrick Genna distributed a the PFA), and showed some of the handout on the flag Eritrea— flags he sold there under the trade the “three triangles flag”, and dis- name VexiCool Flags, including cussed its predecessor (the EPLF) Whitney Smith’s 1978 proposed and its unusually-oriented star. flag for Antarctica. He’s also now Scott Mainwaring reported on tracking over 100 U.S. city flag NAVA 51 in Boston and the re- change efforts on our “Municipal sults of the annual business meet- John Niggley finds the flag of the Flag Improvement” web page. ing votes electing a new board and USMA Corps of Cadets. Continued on next page

4 The Vexilloid Tabloid

Joyce Gifford brings up the finalists in the Burlington, Vermont, flag effort. In honor of Veterans Day (formerly Armistice Day), Michael Orelove and Kathleen Forrest unfurl her Poppy Flag, a reference to the 1915 poem In Flanders Fields.

displayed a U.S. flag certified as David Koski showed a graphic having flown over the USS Arizona depicting all of the aspect ratios (for WW2) and showed a Poppy used by the 243 countries and Flag (for WW1). dependencies listed in Wikipedia. It includes a symbol he’d devel- Ken Dale also commemorated the oped to represent the concept upcoming Veterans Day, with a William Gifford gives away 4”x6” flags of the aspect ratio: a cross with as part of a guessing game. recitation of the Gettysburg Ad- arrow-point ends. dress and his reminiscences as an officer commanding a Titan II Our next meeting will be at the Joyce Gifford followed Ted Kaye’s missile launch group in the 1960s home of John Schilke on 11 January. report on Burlington, Vermont at the height of the Cold War. Ken took the Portland Flag Associa- (see p. 8), showing the seven final- tion flag home for him, the custom- ists and eliciting comments. ary task of the next host. William Gifford gave away 4”x6” flags, asking each person to take one unseen from a box, then iden- tify it. The group’s consensus was correct every time, even if some individuals faltered. He described Oregon City’s new ban on “feather flags”, learning that Mike Hale had invented them when running Elmer’s Flag & Banner.

In honor of Veterans Day, Michael Orelove (in camouflage uniform and medals) and Kathleen Forrest Ken Dale recites the Gettysburg David Koski explains his graphic Address and recalls the Cold War. depicting flag aspect ratios.

December 2017 Portland Flag Association 5 Roundup

Monongalia County, West Virginia, flag, designed by Andrew Riley and A flag for Vegetarians, an initial idea adopted 11 October 2017. by John Niggley. A high school student recently won Inspired by the recent Vegan flag a contest to design a new flag for (described in VT# 66), John Monongalia County, West Virginia. Niggley presents his initial thoughts on a Vegetarian flag: Reader Erik Herron reports that the winning design is exactly what the “Similar but more complicated contest rules were designed to pro- or more options than Veganism. duce. They recapitulated the princi- Yellow to include eggs and cheese ples in Good Flag, Bad Flag, but or the sun—or for no reason. changed “No Lettering or Seals” to: Veteran Ken Dale recites the Gettysburg Address at a 2017 Veterans Initially I put the green on the “The county seal must be used in Day breakfast. He stands before bottom, but chose to match Port- some form on the flag”, and a 48-star flag to honor veterans of land more closely since we have so “The year the county was formed, World War II. many vegetarians.” 1776, must be on the flag”.

Sherlock and Flags

Michael Orelove notes that in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor Sher- lock Holmes says “It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being someday citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the The Italian Vexiday celebration for 2017, held in Genoa at Union Jack with the Stars and the Museo Navale dPegli-Genova—image sent by Bandiere Storiche. Stripes.” Flag enthusiasts around the globe event among FIAV members were Readers: Aside from the celebrated Vexiday 2017 (see VT the Italians, let by Flavio Livio obvious four-flag version, what #66 for Portland’s celebration). Marchetto, of Bandiere Storiche might such a flag look like? Among the early adopters of the (Flag History).

6 The Vexilloid Tabloid The Flag Fusions of Pedro Lasch By Scott Mainwaring

Mexican-American artist, activist, and Duke professor Pedro Lasch is fascinated by what he called “the culture of cross-class cosmopoli- tanism” and the ways in which national identities collide, often in the context of immigration. I recently had a chance to see some of his work at part of the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s “BorderLands” exhibit (seattle.gov /arts/borderlands, unfortunately since closed). BorderLands hosted immersive installations by nine Artist Pedro Lasch’s combination of the flags of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Egypt. artists to “explore the ideas of belonging and resistance”. Lasch treats flags as works of lows as countries sharing little in Hung from the rafters in the visual art, and combines them in common—geographically, cultural- cavernous top floor of Seattle’s ways that play off order and disor- ly, politically, or economically— King Street railroad station were der. The resulting collage-like find themselves sharing a flag. 48 large printed flags from his recombinations of colors and Given all these tensions and com- “Flag Fusions” project, part of a geometric shapes are sometimes plexities, Lasch’s flag fusions are larger series of works and perfor- jarring and gaudy, sometimes aesthetically uneven, unpredictable, mances entitled Abstract National- subtle and delicate. If one consid- and often unsatisfying in their arbi- ism & National Abstraction. ers flags a language, Lasch plays little attention to its grammar. In trary meaninglessness. I read this To produce the flags, Lasch used his free associations, it’s as if ran- as a critique of the very idea of the the alphabetical list of 192 nations dom word phrases from different national flag, a piece of cloth published in the 2001 World Alma- texts were cut out and reassembled which can never really do justice to nac and Book of Facts. He segment- to produce a kind of prose poetry. the complexities of people, place, ed the list into groups of four, and and history that it represents. In created a flag for each group by Against this often discordant back- this sense, these are anti-flag flags. fusing elements of all four coun- ground, national emblems stand As a commentary on the flows tries’ flags. out as intact quotations. Some flags feature fascinating juxtaposi- and mixtures of national identities tions of two or even three com- coming out of globalization, migra- plete emblems, each locally legible tion, and immigration, I think but in combination surreal. The Lasch’s art is somewhat less suc- overall background of discord is cessful, as it seems to emphasize reinforced by Lasch’s decision to the randomness and arbitrariness strictly abide by alphabetically of the strange encounter. Actually, ordered quartets of nations, which the mixing, movement, and Pedro Lasch. produces some very odd bedfel- Continued on next page December 2017 Portland Flag Association 7

Amidst swaths of primary colors, subtle hues occur in some of the flags. segregation of the world’s peoples The “BorderLands” exhibit, hosted by the Office of Arts & Culture at the is driven by social, cultural, and King Street Station Gallery in Seattle, Washington, 3 August–29 October 2017. economic forces that are anything For more on Lasch’s art, see: but meaningless. pedrolasch.com. Nevertheless, there are moments of real beauty and surprising delight in Lasch’s work. Though he is critiquing nationalism by critiquing its manifestation in flags, he is also calling attention to the beauty and artistry within the flags More flags in the exhibition. The Koreas meet in this detail. themselves. Putting a flag into a gallery setting cannot help but insist: flags, in addition to all their other symbolic and functional uses, are works of art.

Overall, Lasch’s art flags celebrate multicultural diversity in its some- times chaotic beauty, and provoke reflection on the nature of flags.

See more flags in the Quiz

Ready to test your flag-recognition skills? Try the quiz based on Lasch’s flags—see page 11. Combining the flags of China, Colombia, Comoros, and Congo.

8 The Vexilloid Tabloid A New Flag for Burlington, Vermont

By Ted Kaye In January 2017, Burlington, Ver- mont’s mayor Miro Weinberger and its city council asked Burling- ton City Arts to develop a process to design a new flag for the city.

Vermont native and college stu- The previous flag of Burlington, dent Kiernan Nicholls had reached designed in 1990 by out to the city about updating the 8th-grader Cara Wick. flag. The BCA’s director, Doreen It was rated 3.2 on a scale of 0–10 in Kraft, wanted to “bring as many NAVA’s 2004 survey. people as possible into the public process”, and tasked staffer Deb Caulo to coordinate the effort.

The BCA launched a contest in September 2017, open to all resi- dents of Burlington and offering a $250 prize. The competition cited the design principles of Good Flag, The new flag of Burlington, Bad Flag, the Roman Mars TED designed in 2017 by twin 7th-graders talk, and provided examples of Owen and Lucas Marchessault. great U.S. city flags. Continued on next page

Burlington, Vermont’s flag selection committee considers designs The seven finalists submitted for in its third round of culling in October 2017. public response and rating.

December 2017 Portland Flag Association 9 Burlington’s contest rules stated: The Thirteen-Star Oregon Flag Registry 1. Your design must have a 2:3 or 1:2 American Flag Update ratio. 2. Designs will only be accepted online. PROJECT STATUS 3. Your submission must be in a JPEG or GIF format. 246 Total Prospects Identified 4. The design should follow the Five 32 Total Entries Assigned Basic Principles of Flag Design. 5. You can submit one design. 13 Total Entries Completed Additional submissions will not be considered. The Oregon Flag Registry is under 6. You must live, work, go to school in, way: oregonflagregistry.org. We or own a business in Burlington. need volunteers! Contact Scott 7. Designs must be original. Mainwaring to join the team: 8. Designs must be positive in spirit. [email protected]. 9. Designs with religious symbols will not be considered. 10. Designs construed as hateful, defamatory, or discriminatory will not be considered. 11. Designs with references to alcohol, drugs, or illicit activities will not be Flag scholar and NAVA member considered. Dr. Henry W. Moeller recently 12. Anonymous submissions forfeit any published The Thirteen-Star American right to prize money. Keizer, Oregon Flag. The result of 42 years of in- In the event of significantly similar or tensive research and writing, it is identical designs, the artists’ statements The city clerk of Keizer, Debbie available as an eBook for $12.99. will be considered in the scoring. Should Lockhart, just sent us a full update the artists’ statements also reflect a signif- Dr. Moeller asserts that is the first on her city’s flag. icantly similar design process, the first design submitted will be considered. book to explain the sources and the meanings of the 13-star U.S. The field of blue is outlined in the By the 15 October deadline, 138 flag’s heraldry and symbolism. It letter “K”, signifying the city of designs had come in. The very has 187 pages; 61 color illustra- “Keizer”. The blue is separated in next day I helped the 6-member tions & 47 black-and-white illustra- gradients of white reflecting the flag selection committee narrow tions. Published by Tempus Press, progressive growth and develop- the field to seven finalist designs, it is available everywhere eBooks ment of the community. which were quickly unveiled for are sold. ISBN 9780998712512. The three overlapping stars express public input and rating. The the fundamental qualities which winning design was announced on Mark Leepson, author of Flag: served as the basis of the incorpo- 27 November. An American Biography, writes: “No one knows the ins and outs ration: Pride, Spirit, and Volunta- The mayor expressed his delight of the origins of the flag of the rism (the city motto). and the city council is expected to United States as well and as 1982 marks the city’s incorporation adopt the flag in time to unveil it thoroughly as Henry Moeller does. year. The blue derives from the on 31 December during First This book is, by far, the most com- colors of McNary High School. Night, Burlington’s annual New plete and accurate resource on how Year’s Eve celebration. the Stars and Stripes came to be. Ordinance R83-031 of 8 August Highly recommended.” 1983 made the flag official. www.burlingtoncityarts.org/btvflag

10 The Vexilloid Tabloid Travels with Flags

By Michael Orelove Flags and Teddy Bears

Kathleen and I did not march in this year’s Teddy Bear Parade in Gresham.

Instead we sat in lawn chairs and watched my Kiwanis Club march- ing and carrying some of my historical American flags.

Students from both the Corbett Teddy bears carry historic U.S. flags in the annual parade in Gresham, Oregon. and Reynolds High School Key clubs carried the flags and every- Puerto Rico body was wearing teddy bear ears including us. C. M. Owen is the president of my Kiwanis Club and is Puerto Lewis & Clark’s Flag Rican. She has been keeping us informed about the current debate We recently took a drive from about Puerto Rican statehood. Portland up the Columbia River I gave her a 51-star U.S. flag, with Gorge to the Columbia Gorge three rows of nine stars and three Discovery Center & Museum in rows of eight stars. The Dalles, Oregon.

The museum has many exhibits on Sand Castles both Oregon history (think Lewis Kathleen and I went to Cannon & Clark) and the local history of Michael Orelove and Kathleen Forrest Beach to play in the sand. I built The Dalles area. find a 15-star, 15-stripe U.S. flag in the a sand castle with flags with Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. At the time of Lewis & Clark personal meaning to me. the United States flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes, and as part of the exhibit the museum has a very nice example.

According to the flag code the U.S. flag is never obsolete. Any officially approved American flag, irrespective of the number or arrangement of the stars and/or stripes may continue to be used and displayed until no longer Puertorriqueña C. M. Owen shows a 51-star U.S. flag, a gift from Flags top sand castles serviceable. Michael Orelove. at Cannon Beach.

December 2017 Portland Flag Association 11 What’s that Flag? What Was that Flag? Answers to the last quiz

By Scott Mainwaring By John Cartledge Can you identify the four countries The theme of these flags was represented on each of these “Johns”. “fusion flags”? Hint: they are adjacent in the alphabetical listing Kudos to solvers Mike Thomas and in a 2001 world almanac. Bill Neckrock. Tsar Ivan IV (Russia) See the article on p. 6.

Answers in the next issue…

San Juan de Pasto (Colombia) Fort St. John, B.C. (Canada) [former]

St. John Ambulance Brigade (Britain) King João V (Portugal)

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (Québec) John of Gaunt (1st Duke of Lancaster, England)

12 The Vexilloid Tabloid Portland Flag Miscellany

The Portland Thorns (women’s soccer) use a Portland flag in team colors. patchpatrol.com

Wilson High School sophomore Toketee NW offers “Oregon, Chloe Unflat smiles with her winning Cascadia, and Portland gear”. Portland-flag-themed bike lane image toketee.net on SW Sunset at Dewitt, next to the Hillsdale Library. FLAG JOKE In May, PBOT and the Multnomah How is a flag like Santa Claus? County Library invited students to design art for bike lanes and on neigh- They both hang out at borhood greenways across the city in the pole… its Bike to Books Coloring Contest Chloe used the Portland flag in her PLEASE SEND US YOUR JOKES! Zazzle offers Portland-flag-themed design because it sums up Portland ornaments this season. culture for her.

January Meeting

The next meeting of the Portland Flag Association will be at 7 PM, Thursday, 11 January 2018, at Mary’s Woods, the retirement village of John Schilke, 17400 Holy Names Drive, Lake Oswego.

See the map at right.

We look forward to seeing those of you who have missed recent meetings and engaging in provoca- tive flag-related discussion. Enter the DUROCHER parking lot. The number (17440) is over Newcomers are welcome! the entrance area of the apartment building. Park in an empty (free) If you can’t get to the meeting, space with a BLUE FLAG in the parking area. If nobody’s at the perhaps you can give the editor door, call John’s cell phone: 503-459-1213. something to share with readers. The Vexilloid Tabloid , founded in 1999 by the late John Hood, is published bi-monthly by and for the Portland Flag Association—Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. Find back issues at www.portlandflag.org.

December 2017