Spring and Winter Conferences

We hold a Spring Conference and a Winter Conference each year.

No fuss, no formality – just a warm welcome and a great time talking flags.

  • enjoy a varied programme of presentations on flags past, present and future
  • meet an international mix of speakers and members
  • make new friends and catch up with old ones

Recent and upcoming venues include London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

Spring Conference 2024

Conway Hall Library Room showing bookcases, tables and chairsDon’t miss our Spring Conference 2024, taking place on Saturday 18 May, 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Our venue is The Library Room, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL – a five-minute walk from Holborn Underground Station or a short bus ride from King’s Cross.

Grade II listed, Conway Hall opened in 1929 as the new home of the South Place Ethical Society (renamed in 2012 as the Conway Hall Ethical Society). Delegates will enjoy exclusive day-long access to the Library Room, home to the UK’s leading humanist research collection

Tickets: £15. To book please go to:

As ever our programme features an exciting mix of contemporary and historical vexillological presentations.

Speakers include:

Graham Bartram FFI FVAST, Chief Vexillologist, Flag Institute

  • A Flag for a Polluted World: Antarctica Flag Redesign Proposal

Graham designed the flag for Antarctica in 1996 to symbolise its role as a hub for scientific collaboration, peaceful co-existence and nature conservation. Yet Antarctica now has another distinctive attribute – it is facing a serious threat from plastic pollution, which is harming its wildlife, its environment and its future. Graham’s presentation will examine his proposed redesign of the Antarctic flag to highlight this escalating problem.

Geoff Parsons, The Heraldry Society

  • Flags of the Southern Regions of South America and of the Antarctic Territories

Geoff will report on his recent trip to an area of the globe rich in history and flag culture. After boarding MS Oosterdam in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Geoff visited the Falkland Islands, transited the Drake Passage and took in several Antarctic research bases. He then continued via Cape Horn, the Beagle Channel, the Magellan Strait and the Chilean fjords, before disembarking in Santiago, Chile. Geoff will review the national and local flags flown at the ports of call, the flags flown by MS Oosterdam and those flown at the Antarctic bases.

Brian Cham, Flag Design Consultant, North American Vexillological Association

  • Unravelling the Tino Rangatiratanga Flag (Māori Flag) through the Eyes of Its Designer

The Tino Rangatiratanga flag is the flag of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Designed in 1989, the flag has come a long way from a napkin doodle to a national icon but has also garnered controversy. Brian talked with Linda Munn, its last living creator, to share her perspective on the flag and its story. Both contributors are proud to share this part of their homeland’s culture.

News of additional speakers coming soon.

Past events

Winter Conference 2023

Our Winter Conference 2023 headed to Edinburgh for a very special weekend on 18/19 November.

It was our first conference in Scotland. Our first 2-day conference. And our first collaboration with The Heraldry Society of Scotland.

Over 40 vexillologists – FI members, HSS members and visitors alike – enjoyed a feast of Scottish flags, heraldry and history.

Day 1 opened at the Royal Scots Club with a formal welcome from The Rt Hon Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Councillor Robert Aldridge, and it ended at the club with a sell-out Presidents’ Drinks Reception and Dinner.

Also featured on the Day 1 programme were:

  • Sheriff George Way of Plean, Carrick Pursuivant
  • Alasdair Hutton OBE TD OStJ, broadcaster and journalist, writer and storyteller of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
  • Kevin Greig, Fellow of The Heraldic Institute and The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
  • Fraser Thompson, Scottish Flag Trust
  • Sheila Collins, Ashfield (Trades House, Edinburgh)
  • Philip Tibbetts, March Pursuivant Extraordinary and Flag Institute Communities Vexillologist
  • Graham Bartram, Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist

Day 2 featured two exclusive guided visits:

  • a morning tour of Trades House, led by Ian Robertson, Deacon Convenor of the Trades of Edinburgh
  • an afternoon tour of St Giles Cathedral’s fabulous Thistle Chapel and banners, led by Elizabeth Roads, Secretary of the Order of the Thistle

Spring Conference 2023

Saturday 29 April 2023, Victory Services Club, London

  • Mick McTiernan, military historian, ‘Choosing a flag for the Cretan State’
  • Erik Nystul, Utah State Flag Task Force, ‘The new Utah State Flag’
  • Rachel Phelan, textile conservator, ‘Flying high at St Patricks. Conservation during Covid’
  • Dr Mario Jareb, Croatian Institute of History and Matica Hrvatska, ‘From Checkerboard to Tricolor: Development and Use of the Croatian Coat of Arms and Flag throughout the Centuries’
  • https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flag-institute-spring-2023-conference-tickets-542987970637

AGM and Winter Conference 2022

Saturday 19 November 2022, Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds

Spring Conference 2022

Saturday 23 April 2022, David Game College, London.

AGM and Winter Conference 2021

Saturday 20 November 2021, People’s History Museum, Manchester

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