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North American Vexillological Association (NAVA)

Annual Meeting/Conference Flags since 2000

Last modified: 2024-02-17 by rob raeside
Keywords: vexillological association | north american vexillological association |
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NAVA 35 - 2001

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Secundino Fernandez

NAVA 35 (October 5-7, 2001) was held in Norfolk, Virginia, at the James Madison Hotel. The NAVA 35 flag was designed by 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 - 2002

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Secundino Fernandez and David B. Martucci

NAVA 36, held between August 30 and September 1, 2002, at the Denver Airport Marriott in Gateway Park, Aurora, Colorado, used a flag designed by the team of Secundino Fernandez and David B. 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 - 2003

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Morgan Milner

NAVA 37 was held in the Midtown Holiday Inn in Montréal, Québec, Canada (October 10-12, 2003). The NAVA 38 flag was designed by Morgan Milner. The flag has a cross, like the Montréal flag and the Québec flag. In the canton, the NAVA flag appears with a white fleur-de-lis in the chevron area, such as the ones on the Montréal and Québec flags.


NAVA 38 - 2004

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by James A. Croft

NAVA 38 held at the Radisson Hotel City Centre, in Indianapolis, Indiana (October 8-10, 2004). The NAVA 38 flag was designed by James A. Croft of Northampton, Massachusetts. 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. Within the chevron, a black-and-white version of the Indianapolis flag appears.


NAVA 39 - 2005

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by James W. Ritchie

NAVA 39 took place at the Downtown Sheraton in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 7-9, 2005. The NAVA 39 flag was designed by James W. Ritchie of Elizabethton, Tennessee. The flag shows the NAVA chevron appearing as the blue bar on the right of the Tennessee flag. The circle and stars of the Tennessee flag appear within the chevron.


NAVA 40 - 2006

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Sophie Rault

NAVA 40 was held in Reno, Nevada, at the Siena Hotel on October 13-15, 2006. The NAVA 40 flag was designed by Sophie Rault of Rostrenen, France, and is swallow-tailed to denote a decennial meeting of the Association. The blue field, the silver star in the canton, and the golden-yellow stripe recall the Nevada state flag. The three blue-white-red stripes represent the Association; the four stripes together represent the Association's 40th anniversary and are V-shaped for vexillology. The proportions are 5:8.


NAVA 41 - 2007

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Dean Thomas

On October 12-14, 2007, NAVA 41 took place in Glastonbury, Connecticut. The NAVA 41 flag was designed by Dean Thomas of Downey, California. The three grapevines 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. The vector art was prepared by Michael Raney.


NAVA 42 - 2008

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Peter Krag

NAVA 42 was held in Austin, Texas, on October 10-12 in 2008. For the NAVA 42 flag, the Organizing Committee selected a historical design originally drawn by Peter Krag. The flag is a rectangular variant of the Texas revenue service flag, which is a square naval auxiliary flag authorized by the 1839 act that established the Lone Star Flag as the national flag of the Republic of Texas. Krag drew the official art for both the Lone Star Flag and the auxiliary naval flags.


NAVA 43 - 2009

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Hugh L. Brady, Dr. John Purcell, Charles A. Spain, Jr. and Ronald Strachan

NAVA 43 was held at The Old Citadel (Embassy Suites-Historic Charleston) in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 9-11, 2009. The design of the NAVA 43 flag reflects the rich history of Charleston and South Carolina. When Carolina was a colony governed by the Lords Proprietors, local gentry were authorized to wear a purple ribbon and have their coats of arms displayed on a sun in splendor. The "valleys" formed by the rays of the sun in splendor evoke the letter "V" for vexillology. Finally, the decrescent resembles a "C" for both Charleston and Charles II, the town°s namesake. The colors are PMS 254 U and 143 U. The proportions are 2:3.


NAVA 44 - 2010

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by William M. Belanich, Jr.

William M. Belanich, Jr., of Hamilton, Ohio, designed the flag for NAVA 44, inspired by the flag of Los Angeles, the host city. The stylized device used on the design was adapted from a design submitted by John C. Karp, Jr., of Minden, Nevada. The NAVA 44 meeting took place in Arcadia (Los Angeles), California, at the Hilton Garden Inn-Arcadia/Pasadena on October 8-10, 2010.
The fly of the flag is red and the hoist green, separated by a serrated gold trupe recalling the "v" for vexillology. The colors on the Los Angeles city flag are red for vineyards, golden-yellow for orange groves, and green for olive trees; they come from the flags of Spain and Mexico.) In the hoist are two stylized and mirrored "4"s rendered in the AR Destine font that not only denote the 44th meeting of the Association, but suggest angels´ wings, recalling the city´s name.


NAVA 45 / ICV 24 - 2011

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by Tony Burton

NAVA 45 and ICV 24 took place in Alexandria, Virginia, at the George Washington Masonic Memorial on August 1-5, 2011. The Congress flag has white stars on blue and the red stars on white that represent, respectively, the host nation and city, the United States of America, and Washington D.C. There are 24 stars in all, echoing the number of the Congress. The blue-and-white and the quartered design also recall, respectively, the state flags of Virginia and Maryland, the two states adjacent to the District of Columbia. The design was submitted by Tony Burton of Australia.


NAVA 46 - 2012

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Designed by William M. Belanich, Jr.

The NAVA 46 flag was designed by William M. Belanich, Jr., of Hamilton, Ohio. NAVA 46 was held in Columbus, Ohio (Oct 5-7, 2012) at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel. The flags design reflects the location of the 2012 annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. The white arc which separates blue from red is taken from the state flag of Ohio on which a red disc is surrounded by a white letter "O", all resting on a triangular blue field. The arc forms the letter "C" representing the host city of Columbus. The colors of the flag are those of the flags of the Association, Ohio, and the United States of America.


NAVA 47 - 2013

drawn and designed by John Hartvigsen, 7 October 2012

NAVA 47 was held at the Plaza Hotel at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 11-13, 2013. Reminiscent of the Association's flag, the design by John Hartvigsen in blue and white features a golden beehive for Utah, the Beehive State. The large star below the beehive signifies the "Rising Star of Deseret" shown on many early flags of Utah history.


NAVA 48 - 2014

image by Zach Harden
Designed by Tony Burton and Zachary Harden

The NAVA 48 Annual Meeting took place at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 3-5, 2014.

The NAVA 48 flag is based on designs submitted by Tony Burton and Zachary Harden and was first drawn by Jeremy Keith Hammond, of Bath, Maine. It is a heraldic flag, described as Per fess dancetty Or and Purpure, each point ending in a fleur-de-lis, a crescent overall counter-changed.

As is well known, New Orleans's nickname is the Crescent City, owing to the way the Mississippi River bends its way through the city. The crescent design appears in many places, including the manhole covers used by the city. An early Allen & Ginter tobacco card shows a gold crescent on the city flag. It echoes the "o" used by Tony.

The fess dancetty floretty uses the fleur-de-lis from the current city flag, and the fess is basically a "v" line evoking a "v" for vexillology, borrowing from Zach's use of both the fleur-de-lis and the inverted chevron.
The gold comes from the gold fleur-de-lis in the current city flag, used by both Tony and Zach, while the purple comes from the Mardi Gras colors as noted by Tony.
Source: http://nava.org/nava-meetings/meetings/48
Pete Loeser, 27 September 2014


NAVA 49 - 2015

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Design by Reid Reynolds, Ken Reynolds, and John Hartvigsen

NAVA 49 was the annual meeting of the North American Vexillological Association held on October 16-18, 2015, at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is the third time the Association has met in Canada's national capital, chosen this time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Canada's Maple Leaf flag.

The NAVA 49 conference flag was designed by Reid Reynolds and her father, Ken Reynolds, with input from John Hartvigsen. A simple and minimal design, the flag is restricted to red and white, the national colors of Canada. The white field also signifies snow and winter, the latter being the predominant season for most of the country on February 15, the actual anniversary of the Canadian flag. The silhouette next to the hoist depicts the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, the well-known building that most represents Ottawa to the country and the world. The maple leaf in the upper fly represents the nation as a whole and is Canada's most well-known symbol. As in most cases, an indoors ceremonial variant of the flag was used with a gold fringe for opening and closing ceremonies.
Pete Loeser, 18 October 2015


NAVA 50 - 2016

image by Clay Moss, 9 July 2018
Design by Tony Burton

The winning flag design for the NAVA 50 Annual Meeting, which will be held in San Jose, California, on 14-16 October 2016, was announced at NAVA 49 meeting in Ottawa, Canada, on Saturday, 17 October 2015. The winning design was based on a contest entry submitted by Tony Burton.
The flag design was explained as follows: "The white canton with the red star and red chevron symbolize the state of California using elements of the state flag. The red and gold chevrons at the fly represent the Spanish heritage of San Jose. The blue/white/red combinations at the top and bottom recall the NAVA flag, and symbolize NAVA's role in documenting the continuity between past and present as part of its vexillological mission."
Two changes were made by the judges and the selection committee: the canton was changed from gold to white, and the star was reoriented with the point facing the hoist. The orientation of the star was a practical decision in view of the fact that the flag will most often be displayed vertically at future NAVA meetings.
[For a complete report on this historical 50th Annual Meeting held in San Jose, California, see NAVA News 229.]
Pete Loeser, 18 October 2015


NAVA 51 - 2017

drawn and designed by John Hartvigsen, 17 October 2017

Inspired by the flag designed by Whitney Smith for NAVA 3/ICV 3, held in Boston in 1979, the flag displays the Continental Blue and Buff colors of the city of Boston. Three golden crowns first appeared on the arms of Boston, England, the place that gave the city its name. They also symbolize that NAVA 51 is our third annual meeting held in Boston. The three connected chevrons come from John Winthrop's arms and symbolize the three mountains on Boston's peninsula that gave Winthrop's settlement its first name and are memorialized by the modern city's Tremount Street, while also representing the three annual meetings held in Whitney Smith's home town. (Source)
Esteban Rivera, 17 October 2017

NAVA just finished its golden anniversary meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. A broad range of vexillologists presented interesting and informative papers. Carlos Morales Ramirez won the Driver Award for "The Puerto Rican Flag: A Pilot Study in Vexillology". Members elected Peter Ansoff the new president and by an overwhelming margin adopted bylaws changes to allow universal voting. Memorial events honored Whitney Smith and Peter Orenski, both 1940-2016. A tour of the state house included the Hall of Flags with over 330 Massachusetts city and town flags.
VexiNews, 18 October 2017


NAVA 52 - 2018

image by Zachary Harden, 26 January 2018
Design by Zacary Edward Wilson-Fetrow

The winner of the NAVA 52 Flag Design Contest was Zacary Edward Wilson-Fetrow. NAVA 52 will be held in Quebec City on 12-14 October 2018. This year marks the 20th anniversary of NAVA's first meeting in Quebec City (NAVA 32). The winning design is a combination of elements of the flags for Quebec City (Ville de Québec) and the Province of Quebec (Province de Québec). The ships celebrate the founding of Quebec in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, and the fleur-de-lys the rich French traditions of Quebec.
Pete Loeser, 26 January 2018

I was on the NAVA 52 flag committee; after the flag design by Wilson-Fetrow was selected, I inquired if he made a vector design or not for this file so we could determine the ratio and Pantone shades. After being told to go ahead and make the vector image, we determined that the Pantone shades should be Blue: 286 C Gold: 143 C and Process White. The blue shade came from "BNQ 7192-175: Drapeau du Québec", a provincial specification for the Quebec flag while the gold came from a city specification for how the city flag should be designed. Also, the ratio was decided as 2x3 (matches Quebec) instead of the 1x2 ratio used for the Canadian flag.
Zachary Harden, 26 January 2018

Other entries to the competition for this flag are shown on NAVA 52 Flag Design Proposals.
Pete Loeser, 20 March 2018


NAVA 53/ICV 28 - 2019

designed by Hugh L. Brady, 17 October 2017

The flag for NAVA 53/ICV28 (HemisFlag) was designed by Hugh L. Brady of Texas, one of the event organizers. (source).
Esteban Rivera, 24 November 2017

HemisFlag was the 28th International Congress of Vexillology. The biennial meeting of FIAV (every two years) was organized by the Vexillological Association of the State of Texas (VAST) and the Flag Research Center (FRC). It marked the 50th anniversary of the admission of charter members to the Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques and the 26th session of its general assembly. The 53rd North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) annual business meeting was held during and in conjunction with the congress. The event was held in San Antonio, Texas, July 15-19, 2019, at the St. Anthony Hotel.
Pete Loeser, 23 July 2019


NAVA 54 - 2020

designed by Matthew Thomas, 19 May 2020

NAVA's 54th Annual Meeting will take place online on Saturday, June 13, 2020. To avoid the dangers of Coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission it will be hosted by the U.S. Library of Congress using its WebEx-based 1,000-seat "virtual meeting room". For more information see: NAVA 54 2020
Pete Loeser, 25 April 2020

In April and May a NAVA 54 Flag Design Contest was held to determine a flag design to represent this ground breaking virtual NAVA meeting. Forty-four vexillographers submitted 101 designs with the winning entry made by Matthew Thomas of the United Kingdom.
He explains its symbolism: "This flag features a rotated 'V' for Vexillology, stylized as the 'Share' icon used across social media. This symbol and the WiFi bars represent the Internet's growing importance for vexillology and its ability to unite flag lovers everywhere, as in NAVA 2020. The flag features the colors of the flag of NAVA."
Pete Loeser, 19 May 2020

I was on the committee for this, along with Thomas Berryhill, Carlos Alberto Morales Ramirez, Maikel Arista Salado, and Winn Wasson. The contest chair was Amber Atteberry. All of the designs submitted to the contest, along with how it was adjudicated, can be viewed on the NAVA 54 Flag Design Contest page where Mr. Thomas' design is entry number 56. I resized the NAVA image and turned it into a gif; please credit Matthew Thomas as it was his original vector.
Zachary Harden, 20 May 2020


NAVA 55 - 2021

designed by Joshua Hodge, 28 March 2021

The NAVA 55 flag was designed by Joshua Hodge, chosen from among 52 submissions by a panel of judges. It is described thusly:
"On a red field, a white chevron turned with its point to fly with height and width equal to the flag's dimensions and a blue triangle with height and width equal to 2/3 the flag's dimensions. On the blue triangle, a gold rectangle and trapezoid with the shortest side of the trapezoid turned towards the rectangle. The red, white, and blue are references to NAVA's flag with the top turned to the hoist. The gold triangle and trapezoid represent a camera. These shapes are often used together in the icons of teleconferencing apps, including Zoom and Facetime."
For more information about all the submissions see: NAVA 55 - 2021
Pete Loeser, 28 March 2021


NAVA 56 - 2022

designed by Matthew Thomas, 23 July 2019

The 56th Annual Meeting of the North American Vexillological Association was held in St. Augustine, Florida, in June of 2022. This meeting was originally planned for St. Augustine in 2020, but had to be postponed two years until 2022 because of Coronavirus (COVID-19) dangers. However this flag won the design contest held in 2020. Its designer was Matthew Thomas, a resident of the United Kingdom. The NAVA 56 flag features a golden field to represent Florida, the "Sunshine State." The half Burgundy Cross represents the importance of the Spanish Empire to St. Augustine's founding and history. Above it appears a stylized outline of the Castillo de San Marcos, an important historical site and a symbol of the city. The blue bars at the bottom represent Matanzas Bay, on which St. Augustine sits, and the ocean beyond.
Pete Loeser, 29 March 2021


NAVA 57 - 2023

designed by Ryan Warrick, announced 7 January 2023

NAVA 57 was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 6-8, 2023. The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry hosted NAVA 57's meetings in the ballroom of its Armory. The "First City Troop" is a private military organization, a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, one of the oldest units in the United States still in active service, and among the most decorated units in the U.S. Army. It was founded in 1774 as the Philadelphia Light Horse. The meeting flag for NAVA 57 was designed by Ryan Warrick. The colors are the same as those of the American flag. This references Philadelphia's history as the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Continental Congress was held. The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of Philadelphia, including its famous crack. There are 13 white and red v-shaped stripes, a reference to the American flag and the original 13 colonies, but also to the NAVA flag.
Pete Loeser, 8 January 2023


NAVA 58 - 2024

based on design by Patrick Barritt, February 2024

The flag of NAVA 58 blends together three influences: the flag of St. Paul, the new state flag of Minnesota, and the flag of NAVA. The design is based on an original submission by NAVA member Patrick Barritt, revised by the NAVA 58 flag selection committee with feedback from participants in the Flag Design Forum.

The reversed chevron is a unique feature borrowed from the flag of Minnesota, a stylized representation of the shape of the state. When the flag is hung vertically, it also echoes the shape of the city of St. Paul. The chevron represents a “V” for “vexillology” to establish a firm connection with the flag of NAVA and many other NAVA meeting flags that also feature a chevron. The two stars represent the Twin Cities—Minneapolis in the west and St. Paul in the east. The five-pointed star comes from the St. Paul flag; the eight-pointed star fly references the star on the flag of Minnesota and in the rotunda of the state capitol building. They read "5-8" for NAVA 58. The red, yellow, and blue come directly from the flag of St. Paul, where the red represents the spirit of the city, the yellow represents a bright future, and the blue represents the Mississippi River.

The red is Pantone 186 C, the blue is Pantone 281 C, and the yellow is Pantone 109 C.
Source: https://nava.org/nava-58


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