A person who studies flags is avexillologist, one who designs flags is a vexillographer, and the art of designing flags is calledvexillography. A hobbyist or general admirer of flags is a vexillophile.
The word vexillology is a synthesis of the Latin wordvexillum (a kind of square flag which was carried by Roman cavalry)[2] and the Greek suffix-logia ("study").[3]
American scholarWhitney Smith is acknowledged for conceiving "vexillology" in 1957. He wrote, "While the use of flags goes back to the earliest days of human civilization, the study of that usage in a serious fashion is so recent that the term for it did not appear in print until 1959."[4][5] Before this time, the study of flags was generally considered a part ofheraldry, the study of armorial bearings.[6]
Vexillology involves academic work insociology, history, or design. It also includes contributions from the flag industry and interest from those passionate about flags. The ICV and local vexillological meetings often cover a wide range of interests in flags. Since 1969, an International Congress of Vexillology meeting has been organized every two years under the auspices of FIAV; papers presented at an ICV are published afterwards as the Congress'sProceedings.[7]
All Scottish flags must, by law, be authorised byLord Lyon for recording in the 'Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland' and he appointedPhilip Tibbetts from the UKFlag Institute to the newly created role of Honorary Vexillologist to the Court of the Lord Lyon[10] in a rare example of a dedicated state mandated vexillologist.
