What is the FIAV?

Just as there are football or chess federations, flags have one too. FIAV stands for the International Federation of Vexillological Associations (in French, Fédération Internationale des Associations Vexillologiques): an organisation that brings together the associations around the world devoted to studying flags. On this page we tell you what it does, how it began and what its own flag looks like.

What is the FIAV for?

Its aim is the study of flags of all kinds, their forms and functions, and the application of scientific theories to that knowledge. This is called vexillology. The FIAV does not make flags or approve them: it exists so that the people who study them in different countries can get to know each other, exchange their work and meet every two years.

How it began

1. 1957

   The American Whitney Smith gives the discipline its name, “vexillology”.

2. 1965

   First International Congress of Vexillology, which Smith helped to organise.

3. 3 September 1967

   The FIAV is formed provisionally at the second congress, in Rüschlikon (Switzerland).

4. 7 September 1969

   It is officially created at the third congress, in Boston (United States).

5. 1970s

   The FIAV adopts the vexillological symbols created by Smith.

How it works

• The Board: three people look after day-to-day business: the president, the secretary-general and the secretary-general for congresses. Today they are Željko Heimer (president), Bruce Berry and Graham Bartram.
• The General Assembly: each member has one delegate. It elects the Board, sets the federation’s policy and meets every two years during the congress.
• Members: about 53 associations and institutions from around the world, including the Flag Institute (United Kingdom) and NAVA (North America). The up-to-date list is on the official website.
• Official languages: English, French, German and Spanish.
• Headquarters: Zagreb (Croatia) and Johannesburg (South Africa).

Past presidents were Louis Mühlemann (1969–1973), Ottfried Neubecker (1973–1981), Hugh Boudin (1981–1993), William G. Crampton (1993–1997) and Michel R. Lupant (1997–2019).

The FIAV flag

It was designed by Klaes Sierksma, and the organising committee of the second congress made small changes to it; it was introduced on 3 September 1967. Its official description is: “On a blue field, extending horizontally from hoist to fly, two yellow halyards forming two interlaced loops.” In plain words: a blue background with two interlaced yellow ropes, like a knot. The colours are Pantone U293 blue and Pantone U123 yellow. The flags for the federation’s officers, designed by William Crampton, were approved in 1999.

The FIAV symbols

To describe a flag at a glance, vexillology uses a set of pictograms. Whitney Smith created them and the FIAV adopted them in the early 1970s; Željko Heimer added the “normal” and “historical” ones in the early 1990s. There are two kinds.

Where and by whom it is used. A grid of two rows (top, on land; bottom, on water) and three columns (private, public and military use). Each filled circle is one use of that flag:

All three uses on land

All three uses on water

All uses

What its status is. It shows the flag’s standing: whether it is today’s official flag, a historical one, only a proposal…

Normal

Historical

Proposal

The congresses

Every two years the FIAV sponsors an International Congress of Vexillology (ICV), a week long, with talks, the General Assembly and tours to see flags. The latest ones were:

• Rotterdam (2013)
• Sydney (2015)
• London (2017)
• San Antonio (2019)
• Ljubljana (2022)
• Beijing (2024)
• Paris (2026), the 31st

The awards

• Laureate of the Federation (LF) and Fellow of the Federation (FF): two distinctions, each with a certificate, a medal, a lapel pin and a ribbon bar, in blue and yellow.
• The Vexillon: created in 1989 for the most important contribution in the two years before a congress. By 2024, 17 had been awarded, including to William Crampton, Whitney Smith and Alfred Znamierowski. Frederick Brownell won it twice.
• Whitney Smith Award: recognises the best paper at a congress. It began in 2005 as the “Best Paper” award and took this name in 2017.

More information on the official website: fiav.org.