With this issue RAVEN returns to its standard format: several excellent articles on varied flag topics. Presented first at NAVA meetings in 2002 and 2003, they represent the pinnacle of vexillological scholarship in North America and include the winners of the Captain William Driver Award.

 

The First Navy Jack

Peter Ansoff, current NAVA second vice president and contractor to the U.S. Navy—Alexandria, Virginia

While the rattlesnake-and-stripes flag that currently flies on the bow of every U.S. warship has a long tradition in American flag use, its design was a 19th-century mistake based on an erroneous 1776 engraving. This paper, exploring the history of the flag that never existed, won the Driver Award in 2002.

 

Micronesian Flag Cultures: An Analytical Profile

Scot Guenter, founding editor of Raven and coordinator of the American Studies Program at San Jose State University in California

Professor Guenter draws on his work in the field to explore flag use across Guam, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. His insightful treatise in comparative vexillology reflects upon the significance of flags within the broader context of an emergent civil religion within the political cultures of three different but adjacent political entities.

 

Two Irish Flags: A Comparative Analysis

Joseph E. Donovan, NAVA member since 2000—Seattle, Washington

The gold-harp-on-green flag and the orange-white-green tricolor, two flags for one republic, demonstrate the contrasts of Ireland. One is indigenous and traditional, the other is imported and legislated. Their designs, while vastly different, are both compelling. This paper won the Driver Award at the 2003 NAVA annual meeting.

 

Constructing Canadian Symbolism: National Identity as Expressed in Canadian Heraldic Authority Grants

Bruce Patterson, Saguenay Herald, Canadian Heraldic Authority—Ottawa, Ontario

In his keynote speech at the 37th annual meeting of NAVA in Montreal, the author explores the broad range of Canadian symbols in grants of arms and flags over the past 15 years, going well beyond variations on the maple leaf to the animals, objects, flowers, and colors used by individuals and organizations to represent Canada.

 

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