Flag Institute Spring and Winter Conferences are a highlight of our year, bringing together flag experts and enthusiasts worldwide.
Everyone welcome, a friendly atmosphere, and a great time talking flags past, present and future.
Upcoming events
SAVE THE DATES! MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
Flag Institute AGM & Winter ’26 Conference
- *FREE & ONLINE* Saturday 14 November, 10.00 to 17.00 GMT
Flag Institute Spring ’27 Conference
- Saturday & Sunday 15/16 May – location to be confirmed
Past events
2026 Spring, 30/31 May 2026, Gather Round, Bristol (sponsored by Flagmakers). Alan Hardy, Subjective views on US state flags: 123 polling studies; Geoff Parsons, UK flag flying regulations and protocol; John Cartledge, Cry God for Harry, England and St … who? Exploring the chequered history and strange resurrection of the English national flag; Graham Bartram, Sovereignty or sequestration? National emblems and the architecture of exclusion; Eugene Byrne, Bristol: symbols and rituals 1373–2022; Royston Alan Griffey, The Vexillological Voyages of The Matthew of Bristol; guided tours of Bristol Old Town, M Shed and SS Great Britain
2025 Winter, 15 November, online. Stan Moore, 140th anniversary of the Dublin Municipal Flag; Edgar Zaagsma, Rotterdam and Papendrecht: Flag histories and protocols; Peter Kirkwood, Raising respect: How the International Center’s Flag Program builds cultural understanding; Jorge Hurtado Maqueda & José Manuel Erbez, State emblems in Greece, 5th–3rd centuries BC; Maxim Saakyan & Leo Torosian, Armenian revolutionary flags: Photography and propaganda; Heather Binnington, Pride Flags of today: Origin, metamorphosis and current designs
2025 Spring, 17/18 May, Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York. Stephen Rayner, The contested legitimacy of Croatian symbols in the Anglosphere, 1973–99; Mike Scott Rumble, Into the azure: The vexillology of civil aviation; Gustavo Tracchia, An introduction to flags and sashes; Oskar Pernefeldt, Uniting under one banner: Designing a flag for Planet Earth; Danladi Kole Bako, Colours: Symbolism for medium of communication; Geoff Parsons, An introduction to standards, guidons, colours, guns and truncheons; guided tours of Merchant Adventurers Hall and York Army Museum
2024 Winter, 16 November, online. Francis M. O’Donnell & Michael P. O’Crowley, Flags and emblems of the clans of Ireland; Pier Paolo Lugli, A story of Libyan flags; Ted Kaye et al, The star-spangled angle: inside Minnesota’s flag design process; Tareth Peacock, Urban symbols: The role and relevance of flags
2024 Spring, 18 May, Conway Hall, London. Graham Bartram, A Flag for a polluted world: Antarctica Flag redesign proposal; Geoff Parsons, Flags of the Antarctic Territories and the southern regions of South America; Brian Cham, Unravelling the Tino Rangatiratanga Flag (Māori Flag) through the eyes of its designer; John Cartledge, Flags and the law in England; Patrick Rennie, Interplanetary flag design: A new flag for Mars
2023 Winter, 18/19 November, Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh (with The Heraldry Society of Scotland). Sheriff George Way of Plean, Scottish clan banners; Alasdair Hutton, Just how precious is a flag?; Kevin Greig, Bespoke table flags; Fraser Thompson, Introducing the Scottish Flag Trust; Sheila Collins, A flag for the Edinburgh Exiles; Philip Tibbetts, New community flags: Moray, Banff, Berwickshire; Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update; guided tours of Trades House and the Thistle Chapel; welcome from Councillor Robert Aldridge, Rt Hon Lord Provost of Edinburgh
2023 Spring, 29 April, Victory Services Club, London. Mick McTiernan, Choosing a flag for the Cretan state; Erik Nystul, The new Utah State Flag; Rachel Phelan, Flying high at St Patricks: Conservation during Covid; Dr Mario Jareb, From checkerboard to tricolor: Development and use of the Croatian coat of arms and flag throughout the centuries
2022 Winter, 19 November, Royal Armouries, Leeds. Maura Andreoni, The botanical world and state flags; Graham Bartram, End of an era, beginning of a new realm; Philip Tibbetts, March of the flags: In conversation; Bernard Muscat, World Cup of Flags, 2022
2022 Spring, 23 April, David Game College, London. Professor Dominic Bryan, The trouble with flags: the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition; Anton Pihl, Nordic Cross flags: A growing family; Roger Ourset, Flags and national anthems; Nick Farley, The work of The Flag Consultancy; John Hall, A Golden Jubilee visual history of the Flag Institute; Golden Jubilee Dinner, Hilton Doubletree, Tower of London; Who Dey Vex!, a two-day exhibition by Bankoleart
2021 Winter, 20 November, People’s History Museum, Manchester. Luke Jerram, visual artist – In memoriam; Dr Matthew Stallard, The Black Country Flag row: Representing everyone?; John Cartledge, One down, only 10,448 to go. The gestation and birth of a town flag [Elstree and Borehamwood]
Merchant Navy Day (Golden Jubilee Special), 3 September 2021, online. David Craddock, Flags still flying: 300 years of signal flags at sea; Brian Elliott, Flags and modern day shipping; David Field, The Merchant Navy War Memorial Fund Ltd: Delivering on a vision of remembrance
Heraldica Slovenica (Golden Jubilee Special), 15 July 2021, online. Aleksander Hribovšek, 29th International Congress of Vexillology (ICV29), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 11–15 July 2022 AND Proposed flags and coats of arms for Slovenia’s provinces; Anže Hobič, Proposed new law on Slovenia’s state symbols
Flag Institute 50th Birthday Party, 23 April 2021, online. Patrick O’Connor, Look Away, Look Away; Malcolm Farrow, Lt. Col. Dr Željko Heimer, Andrew Rosindell MP, Graham Bartram, Philip Tibbetts
2020 Winter & 2020 Spring (cancelled)
2019 Winter, 2 November, People’s History Museum, Manchester. Annie M. Platoff, Soiuz and Symbolic Union: Representations of unity in Soviet symbolism; Dr Andrea Cioncolini & Dr Mostafa R. A. Nabawy, Flags that can generate energy from wind and sun; Hannah Patton, Flast on tour: Talking about flags in unusual places; Bernard Muscat, World Cup of Flags; Leigh Wetherall, St George Festival, Genoa
2019 Spring, 23 March, Imperial College London. Robert Fleming, Maintaining the standard: Military flags and their fate; Samuel McKittrick, Evolution of the Colours of the Fleet; Nick Duffy, ‘God hates flags’: Evolution of symbols of identity in the LGBT+ community; Alan Hardy, Getting rid of the SOBs (Seals on Blue Bedsheets)
2018 Winter, 3 November, Birmingham and Midland Institute. Rachel Phelan, The original Starry Plough flag?; Jenny van Enckevort, Ideas worth conserving: Political and protest banners at the People’s History Museum, Manchester; Jos Poels, Flags of the Samoan islands
2018 Spring, 16 June, Imperial College London. Dr Dominic Bryan, When should you take down the flags?: Managing conflicts over symbols in Northern Ireland; Stan Zamyatin Moore, St Patrick: The Way of the Cross; Tom Adams, Flags and funnels; Claire McQuillan, A stitch in time
2017 Winter, 18 November, Ibis Hotel, Birmingham. Richard Gilbert, Flags and TV quiz setting; Nick Groom, Union Jack: The story of the British Flag; Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update, Leigh Wetherall, Running ICV27
2017 Spring (cancelled)
2016 Winter, 19 November, Ibis Hotel, Birmingham. Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update; Philip Tibbetts, Communities Vexillologist update; Tim Marshall, Flags worth dying for; Stan Zamyatin, The Irish harp in flags; Mike Kearsley, The New Zealand flag referendum; Alan Hardy, Redesigning US state flags; Ron Strachan, The Flag Society of Australia
2016 Spring, 14 May, Imperial College London. Geoff Parsons, ICV26 Sydney AND Flags flown on the Square Tower, Portsmouth Dockyard; Malcolm Farrow, The work of the Parliamentary Flags and Heraldry Committee; Philip Tibbetts, Communities Vexillologist update; John Hall, ICV27 Congress planning; John Cartledge, Red for danger; Tom Adams, The Fisheries Pennant; Bob Bradley, Proposals for a new Cyprus flag revisited
2015 Winter, 28 November, Ibis Hotel, Birmingham. Graham Bartram, Preparations for ICV27; Philip Tibbetts, Communities Vexillologist update; Malcolm Farrow, Flags in the Waterloo 200 celebrations AND Flag artwork on P&O ships; Graham St John-Willey, Magna Carta celebrations; John Hall, Flags in Belarus; Bob Bradley, Proposals for a new Cyprus flag
Spring 2015 (cancelled)
2014 Winter, 15 November, Ibis Hotel, Birmingham. Tom Randall, The future of Flagmaster; Graham Bartram, The International Joint Commission on Vexillography; Tom Williamson, Flags of the successor republics of the Soviet Union; Barry Jackson, My personal flag; Nicolas Hugot, Flags in Quebec; Geoff Parsons, Flags on the Bosworth battlefield; Philip Thompson, Digital printing for flags; Brian Dakin, The Black Country flag
2014 Spring, 16/17 May, Naval Club, London. John Cartledge, Cromwellian emblems AND Flags in national anthems updated; Tom Adams, Flags flown by Royal Mail vessels; Graham Bartram, Recent developments in county flags; Charles Ashburner, The Union Flag after Scottish independence; Geoff Parsons, Flags in Gibraltar and Algeciras; Michael Faul, From Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe; Ian Sumner, The Scottish Common Ridings
2013 Winter, 16 November, Birmingham and Midland Institute. Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update AND ICV25 Rotterdam; Adrian de Redman, Heraldry in Birmingham; Melanie Weatherley, The Black Country flag competition; Geoff Parsons, Maritime flags at Portsmouth Dockyard AND The proposed ICV27 at Greenwich
2013 Spring, 18 May, Naval Club, London. CPO Craig Read, Flags in the Royal Navy and the Yeoman of the Admiralty; Geoff Parsons, Flags on HMY Britannia; James Joyce, The Worcestershire flag competition AND The FI website; Andy Strangeway, The flag competitions for the three Yorkshire Ridings; John Cartledge, Though cowards flinch: the red flag; Tom Adams, Flag material in the National Archives, Kew; Graham Bartram, Bratacha 2013 AND (with Malcolm Farrow) Half-masting protocol; Marcel van Westerhoven, ICV25 Rotterdam
2012 Winter, 16/17 November, Guildhall, Worcester. James Joyce, British police flags
2012 Spring, 19 May, Naval Club, London. Tom Adams, Flags on RMS Titanic; Gus Tracchia, The banners of the residential colleges of Yale University; Graham St John-Willey, Dedication flag for churches of the Holy Sepulchre; John Cartledge, Flags of the British Republic 1649–60; Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update, including the Golden Jubilee; Chris Agiri, The work of the Flag Foundation of Nigeria; Roger Helmer MEP, The correct way to fly the Union Flag; James Joyce, The FI website; Marcel van Westerhoven, ICV25 Rotterdam; Philip Tibbetts, Recent developments in community flags
2011 Winter, 19 November, Banbury Museum. Malcolm Farrow, What’s going on in London? AND Flags from a small place; Hugh Witherow, Arabic on flags; John Cartledge, Flags in national anthems; Peter Boyce, Work on county flags; Geoff Parsons, French flags; Johnnie Amos, Vice-Regal standards
2011 Spring, 14 May, Naval Club, London. Jaroslav Martykán, Regional flags of Moravia; Vladimir Liščák, Triskelion charges; Colin Randall, The Australian Iron and Coal Community flag; Nick Weekes, Historic Irish flags; Nick Groom, The recent history of the Union Flag; John Batchelor, Philatelic vexillology; Jesse Honey, Flags on Mastermind; Philip Thompson, Flag quality; Andrew Rosindell MP, A united family of Britain; Eric Pickles MP, Prospects for flag flying in the UK
2010 Winter, 26/27 November, Banbury Museum. Michael Faul, The Royal standard of the UK; John Gale, Hosting flags in Birmingham; Geoff Parsons, Caribbean flags
2010 Spring, 15 May, Naval Club, London. Nick Weekes, Report from England’s front line; WO1 David Goldie RN, Record of achievement flag; Alexandru Dan-Mandru, The science of vexillology; Mike Prior, The birth of the Wiltshire flag; Abdullah al-Andalusi, The Union Flag: a Muslim perspective; Andrew Rosindell MP, Ongoing flag campaigns; Steve Turpin, National flags at NATO; Vladimir Liščák, Early flags of China: designs and symbolism; Jaroslav Martykán, Regional flags of Bohemia; Alain Raullet, Voices of vexillology; Gus Tracchia, The flag of the Incas; Christopher Maddish, Flag symmetry
2009 Winter, 21 November, Banbury Museum. Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update AND ICV23 Yokohama; Geoff Parsons, Flags at Portsmouth Naval Base; Roy Houghton, Flags of the American Civil War; Malcolm Farrow, The correct way to fold a Union Flag; Don Edwards, Historic British naval ensigns; Mike Kearsley, Perspectives on pirate flags; Michael Faul, The South African flag controversy, 1925–8 AND Tribute to Gerd Vehres; Tam Fowler, Making an RAF Association branch standard
2009 Spring, 16 May, Naval Club, London. Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update; Nick Weekes, Official promotion and flag flying in Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Ian Dunt, A few words on Britishness; Tariq Adam, Britopia: playful variations on the Union Flag for the 21st Century; Bruce Nicolls, Historic British ensigns; Gus Tracchia, San Martín under three flags AND ICV21 Buenos Aires; Ian Sumner, Flags at the Olympic Games; Bob Bradley, Wot, no Southern Cross? A new image for Australians
2008 Winter, 22 November, Banbury Museum. Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update; Nick Weekes, The British influence on some Mediterranean flags; Philip O’Reilly, Using flags in public art; Don Edwards, Flags of the Home Nations; Malcolm Farrow, Flag sizes and proportions; Robin Ashburner, Jockey’s silks as a source of personal flags
2008 Spring, 17 May, St Mary’s College, Durham. Colin Dobson, Flag Institute website: Members’ Area; Mike Kearsley, The flags of NAVA Fellows AND Flag display at Cardiff station; Lesley Ross, Historical US flags; Graham Bartram, English county flags; Nick Weekes, Overview of the bodies involved in the flying of national flags
2007 Winter, 24 November, Banbury Museum. Nick Weekes, Sources of information on British colonial badges; Mike Kearsley, The canton; Colin Dobson, Flag Institute website: new developments
2007 Spring, 19 May, Naval Club, London. Mike Kearsley, History of New Zealand flags; Graham Bartram, Making military colours; John Hall, The flags of the Duke of Edinburgh
2006 Winter, 25 November, Banbury Museum. Whitney Smith, The politics of vexillography: A flag for an Anglo-American Union AND The future of vexillology; Ian Sumner, The William Crampton Library and its collection; Michael Faul, Flags of the Indian independence movement; Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist update
2006 Spring, 6 May, YHA Bristol. Malcolm Farrow, 400th anniversary of the Union Flag; Nick Weekes, Air Force and Civil Air ensigns of Britain and the Commonwealth; Bruce Nicolls, Matters arising from the Union Flag anniversary; Graham Bartram, Flags and colours of the British army; John Hall, Air force rank flags of the world; Union Flag discussion: what is its real name? is it truly representative? when should be its flag flying days
2005 Winter, 26 November, St John’s Ambulance HQ, Stevenage. Graham Bartram, ICV21 Buenos Aires; Malcolm Farrow, Flags at Trafalgar 200; Mike Cawsey, Lechlade Festival of Flags; Ian Sumner, Fire brigade flags; Bruce Nicolls, Signal flags at Trafalgar
2005 Spring, 11 June, HMS Eaglet, Liverpool. Ian Sumner & Graham Bartram, Common Ridings of Scotland; Hugh Witherow, Arabic on flags; Michael Faul, Confederate ensigns; John Hall, The (Soviet) Empire strikes back
2004 Winter, 27 November, St John’s Ambulance HQ, Stevenage. Ian Sumner, British civic flags; David Prothero, Flags of British Palestine; Robin Ashburner, The recent FI trip to Brittany; Graham Bartram, Old, new, borrowed, blue: some new British flags; David Lister, The Palio of Siena
2004 Spring, 14/15 May, Banbury Museum. Barrie Kent, Lord Nelson’s interest in heraldry; Graham Bartram, The new version of BR20; John Hall, Flag use in the Falklands
