Portland Flag Association 1 ISSN 2474-1787 Portland Flag Association “Free, and Worth Every Penny!” Issue 71 August 2018 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The “Essential Flag” The “Essential Flag” 1 By Ted Kaye words is acceptable. Thus most July 2018 Flutterings 2 I’ve recently noted a profound heraldic work focuses primarily on Roundup 5 philosophical difference among those blazons, and refers to actual WWI Service Flag in Dayton 5 vexillologists about what is the representations in order to under- Density Map of Stars on Flags 6 stand/interpret those blazons. Flag Day 2018 | Flag Faully 8 “essential flag” to study. That is, heraldry is firmly in the Is Africa One Country? 9 First U.S. Flag Sewn in Oregon? 10 One camp holds that it is the real, “as specified and adopted” camp. The Flag Quiz 11 physical flag (museum folks, some I’ve heard arguments for both sides Portland Flag Miscellany 12 historians, and collectors gravitate Next Meeting 12 to that side) and any representation articulated as recently as ICV27. of it is merely theoretical. I think this would be fascinating www.portlandflag.org to explore this further and look The other camp holds that it is forward to readers’ comments. the flag’s design as specified and adopted (scholars, designers, and Which of these is the “essential” PFA flag? analytical types gravitate to that other side) and that is the true essence—physical flags being only representations or approximations (and frequently flawed). Many vexillologists will say “of course, it’s both”, but their actions and the emphasis of their analyses The PFA flag, as manufactured by TME Co. in 2010. will usually reveal a strong bias toward one of the camps. Heraldry appears to have a definite position on this issue. My under- standing that the “official” coat of arms is the “blazon”, the words I name thee “Old Glory”. that describe the arms, and that —Captain William Driver, 1824, any depiction which follows those The PFA flag, as illustrated based on referring to a specific flag sewn the 2010 official specifications. by his mother and young female admirers. If you wish to compliment the editor, or to contribute in the future, contact Ted Kaye at 503-223-4660 or [email protected]. If you wish to complain, call your mother. 2 The Vexilloid Tabloid July 2018 Flutterings You Need to Know In our July meeting, hosted by Ted Leo Gardella showed a flag of Kaye, 14 PFA members and guests New South Wales fabricated by enjoyed an evening of flags and prison industries, a South Carolina extensive conversation. secession flag, and a mystery flag In his role as host, Ted moderated thought to be a Civil-War-era the discussion, beginning with design, made by Golden State introductions. Display. Joyce Gifford reported how a customer from Mississippi insisted on ordering patches in the rejected 2001 state flag design rather than the actual current (and embattled) flag. Ted Kaye shares a classic combo-flag Ted Kaye shared books and flags from the late Peter Orenski’s TME Co. from his collection, including his newest acquisition—a 64-flag U.S. state/territory composite flag and talked about flags and the originated years ago by Peter FIFA World Cup, with the final Orenski (tmealf.com). match three days off. He led a discussion of how such flag sets Michael Orelove shared then gave are chosen—based on geography, away an “International Flag String” country size, or flag diversity. Leo Gardella unfurls a South Carolina secession banner. Joyce Gifford shows the would-be Patrick Genna and Michael Orelove examine the mystery flag— Mississippi state flag of 2001. reportedly a Civil-War-era design. August 2018 Portland Flag Association 3 Michael Orelove celebrates FIFA World Cup season with a string of international flags. The group speculated on the organizing principle underlying their selection. Patrick Genna passed around a handout on the history of flags of South Africa, and displayed the current flag—Ted related the story of its creation by Fred Brownell. Kate Cushman shares a Bastille Day birthday with Joyce Gifford. She showed a flag of the City of London, which inspired the ICV27 flag, and gave an update on Liam. Fred Paltridge wears the American Patrick Genna describes the genesis of flag while discussing the particulars of the flag of South Africa. his proposed personal flag. Fred Paltridge described his child- hood fascination with Portland’s suggestions, which led to a lengthy streetcars and his proposed per- discussion of the heraldic Rule of Kate Cushman shows the flag of the sonal flag design based on their Tincture and metals & colors. City of London, acquired from the colors. PFA members gave him Bear Flag Museum. Continued on next page 4 The Vexilloid Tabloid David Koski shows a flag design from his college days, depicting a “bosk” from John Norman’s Gor series. John Schilke recalls his days in the U.S. Public Health Service. David Koski shared a flag he’d Max Liberman explains the civil ensign of the Bahama and ponders the designed in college, inspired by source of its white cross. the writings of John Norman, depicting a cow-like “bosk”. David Ferriday showed a Depart- ment of the Army pillow-flag fab- Ken Dale reflected on others’ ric and a large Portland Thorns presentations and described the (women’s soccer) flag—the Port- Flag Day event he and Michael had land flag in Thorns colors. participated in (see p. 8). William Gifford described the Max Liberman brought a Bahami- David Ferriday unveils a Portland flag of Nottinghamshire and the an civil ensign, and wondered why, Thorns flag—the Portland city flag in incipient effort to update the flag the team colors—which he’d borrowed apparently alone among Common- of Oregon City, in which he hopes from the fans to share it with the PFA. wealth flags, it bore a white cross. to play a role. He launched our planning for Vexi-Day 2018 in Portland, with Jessie Spillers reiterated his offer to Kate signing on to help. host the PFA every January, in the common room at the Legends. John Schilke reflected on the flag of the U.S. Public Health Service, under which he once served. Jessie Spillers reflects on the debate about the mystery flag. Our next meeting will be hosted by Joyce and William Gifford on 13 September at the Oregon City Public Library, 606 John Adams St, Oregon City. They took the Port- William Gifford finds the flag of land Flag Association flag home, Ken Dale describes his role in U.S. Nottinghamshire on the Net, asserting the customary task of the next Flag Day commemorations. that the archer ought to face the hoist. host(s). August 2018 Portland Flag Association 5 Roundup A close observer of social media saw this image circulating in July, commenting on U.S. immigration policy. NAVA 52 takes A reader reminds us that one of place in Québec the most famous baseball poems Vexillologists in Chile have formed City 12–14 Octo- in U.S. history—the one about CONAVEX, the Corporación ber 2018. Find “Tinker to Evers to Chance” í Nacional de Vexilolog a de Chile. full information and on-line regis- includes a flag word: Ruthlessly Ted Kaye, who lived and worked in tration at www.nava.org and join pricking our gonfalon bubble… Chile 1981–83, has been voted an other PFA members attending this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ honorary member for his work in interesting flag-filled weekend. Baseball%27s_Sad_Lexicon vexillology and vexillography. The Centennial of a WWI Service Flag in Dayton, Washington By Michael Orelove The flag was rediscovered in the church’s attic during a clean-up day Kathleen Forrest and I recently in 2002. Those honored on the flag took a trip to southeastern Washing- were congregants of the church or ton and visited the historic Smith otherwise connected in some way. Hollow Country Schoolhouse in Dayton. The stars represent soldiers/sailors, crosses represent nurses, and trian- In the totally refurbished one-room gles represent YMCA spiritual or school from the turn of the 20th recreational service. The gold star century is a display honoring veter- honors Frank Bauers, the only death. ans from the Columbia County area. The church raised funds starting in Featured in the display was a WWI 2015 to conserve the flag before the service flag from the First Congrega- centennial of U.S. involvement in tional Church in Dayton bearing 42 Michael Orelove admires an interest- the Great War. Over 450 served symbols on one side and 42 corre- ing WWI-era service flag. Stars are for from Columbia County, 13 died. sponding names on the other. soldiers/sailors, crosses for nurses, and the triangle for YMCA service. 6 The Vexilloid Tabloid Density Map of Stars on National Flags A fascinating density map, created without inner detail (e.g. Moroc- The second version (next page) by reddit user Conspiracie, locates co's pentagram and Israel’s Star of presents the stars in color: white, every star shown on a national flag. David). Very small stars, such as yellow, blue, green, yellow, black; Posted in late July, it immediately the one on Croatia’s flag, also were first combined, then separately. drew extensive comments on the omitted. Conspiracie reported that Illustra- “dataisbeautiful” and “vexillology” Conspiracie posted two versions of tor calculated a total of 251 stars, subreddits. the chart. although that might get updated. The chart shows the location of The first version (below) places The chart inspired much interest, every star on national flags, after every star from every national flag including a lengthy discussion of scaling all flags to 2:3.