Sheldon Cooper and Fun with Flags

Sheldon Cooper is one of the most famous characters in the comedy series The Big Bang Theory: a brilliant scientist who does not understand sarcasm and who, among his many passions, has an unusual one: vexillology, the study of flags. In this article we look at how that hobby appears in the series and what is real about it.

What is Fun with Flags?

Fun with Flags is the video podcast that Sheldon presents inside the series, together with Amy, to talk about flags. According to fans of the show, Sheldon’s original idea was to record 52 episodes, one a week for a year, although only some of them are seen in the series.

When it appears in the series

• “The Habitation Configuration”: an episode of Fun with Flags with Wil Wheaton and LeVar Burton as guests, and a Star Trek theme.
• “The Valentino Submergence”: Sheldon and Amy broadcast a live Valentine’s Day episode, and it goes well.
• “The Veracity Elasticity”: Sheldon and Amy present Fun with Flags in Penny’s apartment.
• “The Champagne Reflection”: presented as the last episode of Sheldon’s video blog, although the show comes back later.

Amy sometimes appears in costume: as a pretzel in the Bavaria episode and as a kangaroo in the Australia one.

The flag in Sheldon’s apartment

If you have wondered which flag is on the right side of the screen in the show, it is the flag in Sheldon’s apartment: when Leonard signs the contract to live there, Sheldon shows it to him.

Real vexillology

A character in a comedy being a flag enthusiast is not that unusual: vexillology is a real discipline, with its own vocabulary and an international federation, the FIAV. If Sheldon has made you curious, here is where to go next:

• What is the FIAV?, the international federation of vexillological associations.
• The parts of a flag, to learn how to describe a flag like an expert.