November/December 1999 Vol. 32 • No. 6 November/December 1999 Issue #165 NAVA NEWS NOW QUARTERLY The last few issues of this journal dard feature. This will allow us to have had more color in them, thanks keep the same budget for layout and to a generous donation from Taiji design, printing and mailing. It is felt Tanaka of the Tanaka Flag Company that longer issues, such as the in Osaka, Japan. Again we express present double issue, allow more our sincere thanks for this under- space for in-depth vexillological top- writing. The response has been posi- ics to be explored. tive about this change. This change will go into effect next As discussed in Victoria, the Board issue. Readers can assist by send- has decided to reduce the frequency ing in articles, clippings, drawings, of NAVA News to quarterly in favor reports on their activities, etc. We of longer issues with color as a stan- need your help! Thanks. A picture of a Russian soldier standing guard at a road checkpoint under a soviet flag, Yahoo news pho- PRINCE W/B tos. Other news photos and video showed Russian tanks entering Y Grozny flying the hammer and sickle GEORGE flag of the USSR. Some vexillologists B have speculated that this is not a BRITISH revival of communism, rather it is believed the Russian Army has no B/Y funds to replace their old flags. COLUMBIA Special thanks to Steve by James Croft Stringfellow for sending this photo. The armorial* flag of Prince George rivers). The region’s prosperity is in- ——————————————————— uses the striking colour combination dicated by the golden yellow on the * * * * of blue and golden yellow. The blue, flag. In 1807 the Northwest Com- ——————————————————— along with the two wavy stripes, sig- pany of Montreal, under the leader- nifies the confluence of the Fraser ship of Simon Fraser, established a and Nechako Rivers at this city (the fur post here which began the de- blue and white stripes with a salmon velopment of the wealth of the area. SAD NEWS at the base of the coat of arms is The “fraise”, on the base of the flag, another symbolic reference to these is a pun† on the founder’s name — NAVA member Don Klett died Simon Fraser — and can also be March 6 of a stroke. The * An armorial flag consists of the found with the same symbolism in Executive Board extends elements of the shield of a coat of the coat of arms of Simon Fraser arms spread or “emblazoned” across deepest sympathy to Don’s University and the District of family on behalf of the entire the field of a flag. † “Canting” is the term used in her- Coquitlam, British Columbia. membership. aldry when a symbol is used as a The two snowflakes indicate that pun on a name. continued on page 13 —1— NAVA News 32/6 THE CYBERVEXILLOLOGY “PROBLEM” by Phillip L. Nelson For some time, I have resisted the re- · Cybervexillology cannot and should not quests (and temptations) to address the in the print medium that is totally free be perceived as the all-knowing issue of cybervexillology because this from error, the same holds true for even source, rather just another outreach area of the vexillological world is still the best sites on the Internet. And de- that hopefully can whet the appetites evolving and there is an impulse to ei- spite the fact that the two mediums are of aspiring flag scientists. ther defend it with vigor or to classify all different, there is a distinct relationship · Cybervexillology should be as accurate cybervexillological activity with suspi- between the printed word and the vir- as possible, while being easy to use. cion. After all, there is a lot of erroneous tual work. The print media, the schol- Unfortunately, it is in this area that material on the Internet which trusting arly texts, the news reports, and so on, most flag-related sites fail as a people take for truth. But the field is bur- become the source information that is vexillological asset. Many personally geoning. Many vexillological organiza- used to render images and information built sites have a high percentage of er- tions now have websites in order to pro- into a format that is available for the ror (and the authors really don’t care mote themselves and offer a taste of the masses. And if the information in these about this). And even the best should flags of their region or in general to the basic source documents, regardless of be viewed not as a final product, but a public. Few, however, use the Internet the prestige of the authors, is errone- continual work-in-progress. as a medium to provide a service to the ous, then this can find its way to the And there are additional factors that general public. Internet. For instance, when Reuters limit the potential ability to be perfect in As an editor for the Flags of the World reported that Rwanda had adopted a new the rendering of the image of a particu- websites (and receiving the daily deluge flag, queries abounded about if anyone lar flag. There are literally hundreds, of E-mail traffic with questions and sub- had seen the flag. As we later discov- thousands, or even millions of colors missions from the general public as well), ered, the news report was in error. available in graphic programs for use by I see both the gems of the flag world and Rwanda was proposing a new flag; the artist. Unfortunately, for the the misconceptions that people have and Reuters had reported it incorrectly; the Internet, only 216 of these colors are pass on to “correct your information.” cybervex community was criticized for considered “browser-safe.” While most Some of this information is so absurd “starting” the rumor.3 images could be rendered to a relative that it can be readily identified. Other The same possibility of error holds true degree of accuracy in a browser-safe information is not so easily identifiable. for information that is contained in old color, there may be images where pro- But, there are the numerous comments flag charts. Not every image is perfect, ducing the exact shade is impossible. received that say “Thank you for the and where possible and when identified, Another factor that constrains the abil- greatest flag site on the web. Your re- this information is posted with the note ity of cybervexillology is the human fac- search is truly astounding and of great that the image is in error solely because tor. Unlike the printed page where doz- interest to amateurs like myself.”1 the chart has been reprinted so many ens of images can be presented on a page Cybervexillology, however, is an out- times that people may want to see what without any problem, the Internet poses growth of the popularity of the Internet. information may be available. a different problem. Pages must be laid Never before have people had access to Meanwhile, one can look at what out from top to bottom for ease of view- so much information on flags. FOTW Internet ferreting can also contribute to ing. Page sizes contribute greatly to the alone has over 8,000 related images the vexillological world. It is important, ability or inability to communicate. For available for viewing. And with a pro- for instance, to note the time at which instance, studies have shown that the jected 20,000 page views a month2, it any significant text on flags was pro- average Internet surfer will wait 10 sec- has become a major source of informa- duced. Politics play an important role in onds for a page to load, then hit the back tion for those trying to identify flags, dis- the definition of the meanings of a button on his/her browser.4 A large cover the meaning of the colors used, or country’s flag and the symbolism of the number of graphics adds to the time it just to get acquainted with one’s own na- design elements. One can easily cite the takes for a page to load in the browser tional flag or that of another country. But information from a text which says the and can adversely impact the perception not all information can be gleaned from elements in the flag of country X means of the consumer. Unfortunately, these the Internet and the quality of sites is this, but this may conflict with the cur- page “overloads” are all too common, variable – ranging from very good to to- rent interpretation that has been even on some of the better sites. There- tally erroneous. adapted or rewritten due to these chang- fore, the cybervex community has the Just as there is no vexillological work ing political situations. Such discover- underlying requirement to deliver the ies, on the country’s official website can most accurate information as quickly as Notes obviously create conflict because the possible or face the risk that the cus- 1. This is reproduced unedited from an revisionism underway conflicts with the tomer will go to John Smith’s homepage FOTW post dated December 15, information presented in classic that is riddled with error upon error. 1999, and only one of numerous ex- vexillological texts. In such instances, And there is the problem of language. amples. FOTW has adopted a policy to present While many sites are in English, many 2. Information based upon the web logs both the classical and contemporary in- are in the native language, which cre- of one FOTW mirror and extrapolated terpretations.