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North American Vexillological Association

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This article is about a vexillological organization. For other uses see Nava.
NAVA flag.
Seal of NAVA

The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is an organization devoted to "vexillology as the scientific study of flags." Flag researchers, designers, collectors, activists, merchants, and other enthusiasts from the United States and Canada meet annually at NAVA meetings in order to present and discuss research papers, and to honor vexillological achievement with the following awards:

  • the Whitney Award, named from Whitney Smith, awarded to outstanding contributors to North American Vexillology
  • the William Driver Award, awarded at each meeting for the best paper, and
  • the Vexillonnaire Award, which honors a significant success in activist vexillology.

NAVA members receive two publications:

Members also receive special publications, the most recent being NAVA's 2006 guide to flag design, "Good Flag, Bad Flag", which has become used extensively in flag-creation efforts at the local and state level throughout the US and overseas and has been translated into Spanish and French.

NAVA has attracted attention (particularly in high- or low-ranked cities or states) for publishing surveys evaluating the design quality of city and state flags. They note that NAVA members and the general public closely parallel each other on judging the quality of flags. The state flags found by NAVA to be considered of the poorest quality are those that simply have the state seal on a blue field. (See external links)

NAVA is a founding member of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations FIAV, and among the largest flag-studies organizations anywhere.

Organizational flag

The flag of NAVA consists of a large white V (an inverted chevron) separating a blue triangle above from two red triangles on either side. The length of the top side of the blue triangle is the same as the width of the flag. The flag proportion is 2:3.

The V represents vexillology. The colors are taken from the flags of the two countries covered by NAVA: Canada (red and white) and the United States (red, white, and blue). NAVA's description of its flag

Since 1967 the association has held annual meetings in different locations across the United States and Canada, and since 1977 has marked each of these occasions with a distinctive meeting flag.

Name Location & Dates Meeting Flag Designer(s) Meeting Flag Description
NAVA 0 Boston, Massachusetts,
June 3, 1967		 none n/a The flag of "The Flag Institute" was used for this meeting
NAVA 1 Purchase, New York,
November 18, 1967		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 2 Chillum, Maryland,
October 12, 1968 –
October 13, 1968		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 3 Boston, Massachusetts,
September 6, 1969 –
September 7, 1969		 none n/a Was the site for ICV 3, so their meeting flag was used.
NAVA 4 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
October 10, 1970 –
October 11, 1970		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 5 Ottawa, Ontario,
October 23, 1971 –
October 24, 1971		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 6 Chicago, Illinois,
October 28, 1972–
October 29, 1972		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 7 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
November 2, 1973–
November 4, 1973		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 8 Baltimore, Maryland,
October 12, 1974–
October 14, 1974		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 9 Cleveland, Ohio,
October 12, 1975–
October 14, 1975		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 10 Toronto, Ontario,
October 8, 1976–
October 10, 1976		 none n/a n/a
NAVA 11 Washington, D.C.,
June 10, 1977–
June 14, 1977		 Steve Stringfellow The flag shows the NAVA colors (blue, red, and white) in an emblem resembling a lowercase N, the 77 in 1977, and the number 11.
NAVA 12 Montgomery, Alabama,
October 7, 1978–
October 9, 1978		 Charles Brannon
NAVA 13 Salem, Massachusetts,
October 5, 1979–
October 8, 1979		 Alfred Znamierowski A field of 13 alternating red and black horizontal stripes on which is centered a witch riding a broomstick. Refers to the host city's famous witchcraft trials, and to triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13.
NAVA 14 St. Louis, Missouri,
October 3, 1980–
October 6, 1980		 Dorothy Clayborne The flag is the NAVA flag defaced in the bottom center by a blue fleur-de-lis within a yellow circle, a reference to the host city's flag.
NAVA 15 Ottawa, Ontario,
August 24, 1981–
August 27, 1981		 Whitney Smith The flag shows an upright chevron, similar to the NAVA chevron, but in Canadian colors (red and white). Inside the chevron is the maple leaf emblem from the Canadian flag.
NAVA 16 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
October 8, 1982–
October 10, 1982		 Alfred Znamierowski A yellow pennant with a double circle of 16 stars on a field of black; black and yellow are Pittsburgh's colors.
NAVA 17 New York City, New York,
October 14, 1983–
October 16, 1983		 Phil Allen The flag feature's New York City's colors (blue, orange, and white) and an apple emblem representing the city's nickname, The Big Apple. In the apple is hidden the number 17.
NAVA 18 Vancouver, British Columbia,
October 5, 1984–
October 7, 1984		 Ralph Holberg The flag is a mixture of Vancouver's flag and NAVA's flag.
NAVA 19 Kansas City,
Missouri, October 11, 1985–
October 13, 1985		 Ralph Holberg The flag resembles Kansas City's former flag, as well as the NAVA flag. Inside the former Kansas City logo, there is a Roman numeral number 19.
NAVA 20 Trenton, New Jersey,
October 10, 1986–
October 12, 1986		 Jim Ferrigan The meeting flag incorporates Vs for "Vexillology" that form XX (Roman numeral 20), with the NAVA flag in the canton. The use of blue and gold in the background references the municipal flag of Trenton.
NAVA 21 San Francisco, California,
October 12, 1987–
October 16, 1987		 James Croft, Jim Ferrigan, and Whitney Smith The flag shows the eagle and crown that is on the San Francisco flag. The background resembles the NAVA flag. This meeting was also the ICV 12 meeting.
NAVA 22 Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
October 7, 1988–
October 9, 1988		 Ralph Holberg The flag includes the International maritime signal flags for the letters P (Portsmouth), N (New), and H (Hampshire). A parody of the NAVA flag is shown at the top as a pennant.
NAVA 23 Dallas, Texas,
October 20, 1989–
October 22, 1989		 John Purcell The meeting flag colors are those of the United States, Texas, Dallas, and NAVA. The star also represents Texas and Dallas.
NAVA 24 Toronto, Ontario,
1990		 Sandra Armstrong The flag includes the colors of NAVA and of Toronto.
NAVA 25 Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1991		 Kevin Harrington The flag shows blue and white, the Minneapolis colors, and is in the famous NAVA chevron shape. There is a yellow star in the center of the flag, which represents Minnesota. There is a red ribbon in the center of the flag which is in the shape of the number 25.
NAVA 26 San Antonio, Texas,
1992		 John H. Gámez The NAVA chevron appears in red on the meeting flag, with five white stars. The number of the points on all of the stars is 26. A silhouette of the Alamo is located in the background.
NAVA 27 Portland, Maine,
1993		 John R. B. Szala The flag shows the NAVA colors.
NAVA 28 Portland, Oregon,
1994		 Donald T. Healy The flag shows the yellow beaver on the blue background, such as on the back of the Oregon flag. The NAVA chevron is depicted in the Portland flag's colors, blue, white, and green.
NAVA 29 Covington, Kentucky,
1995		 Secundino Fernandez The NAVA chevron appears in red with the letter C above it.
NAVA 30 Sacramento, California,
1996		 Richard A. Kenny and James J. Ferrigan III The flag shows the California bear and star that appears on the California flag. A Roman numeral 30 in yellow with a blue shadow also appears on the flag.
NAVA 31 Chicago, Illinois,
October 10, 1997–
October 12, 1997		 John M. Purcell The flag is the Chicago flag design bent in the shape of the NAVA chevron.
NAVA 32 Quebec City, Quebec,
October 9, 1998–October 12, 1998		 Jim Croft The flag shows the fleur-de-lis that appears on the Quebec flag. The NAVA chevron appears as blue and white rectangles going inside and outside, which is the border of the Quebec City flag.
NAVA 33 Victoria, British Columbia,
July 28, 1999–August 2, 1999		 Truman G. Pope The flag shows a red, white, and blue NAVA chevron with the Canadian red maple leaf on top and yellow and blue waves, similar to the ones on the British Columbian flag.
NAVA 34 East Lansing, Michigan,
October 6, 2000–October 8, 2000		 John M. Purcell The flag shows a letter M in the United States colors. Hidden in the middle of the M is the NAVA chevron. The background of the flag is blue, like the Michigan flag.
NAVA 35 Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia,
October 5, 2001–October 7, 2001		 Secundino Fernandez The V in Virginia and the NAVA chevron are put into one, and are located in the canton area of the flag. The background is blue, like the Virginia flag, and the flag incorporates elements of the flag of Hampton Roads.
NAVA 36 Aurora, Colorado,
August 30, 2002 –
September 1, 2002		 Secundino Fernandez and David Martucci The flag resembles the Denver flag, with enhancements to make the bottom part of the flag to look like the NAVA flag.
NAVA 37 Montreal, Quebec,
October 10, 2003 –
October 12, 2003		 Morgan Milner The flag has a cross, like the Montreal flag and the Quebec flag. In the canton, the NAVA flag appears with a white fleur-de-lis in the chevron area, such as the ones on the Montreal flag and Quebec flag.
NAVA 38 Indianapolis, Indiana,
October 8, 2004 –
October 10, 2004		 Jim Croft The flag shows the NAVA chevron on a background of black and white checks, representing the checkered flag used in auto racing, representing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the chevron area of the flag, a black and white version of the Indianapolis flag appears.
NAVA 39 Nashville, Tennessee,
October 7, 2005 –
October 9, 2005		 James W. Ritchie The flag shows the NAVA chevron appearing as the blue bar on the right of the Tennessee flag. The circle and stars on the Tennessee flag appears in the chevron area of the flag.
NAVA 40 Reno, Nevada,
October 13, 2006 –
October 15, 2006		 Sophie Rault The proportions of the flag are 5:8, it is swallow-tailed (as for NAVA 20 and NAVA 30). The blue field, the silver star in the canton and the golden-yellow strip remind of the Nevada State Flag. The 3 blue-white-red strips remind of NAVA. There are 4 strips to celebrate 40 years of NAVA. The strips are V-shaped for Vexillology.
NAVA 41 Glastonbury, Conecticut,
October 12, 2007 –
October 14, 2007		 Dean Thomas The three grape vines are from the state arms of Connecticut, and the blue and white colors recall the Connecticut state flag. The "V" motif symbolizes vexillology. The proportions are 3:5.
NAVA 42 Austin, Texas,
October 10, 2008 –
October 12, 2008		 Peter Krag (1839) Rectangle variant of the Texas revenue service flag, originally adopted in 1839.
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