Spring and Winter Conferences

The Flag Institute holds Spring and Winter Conferences each year.

Recent venues include London, Manchester and Birmingham.

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

People’s History Museum, Manchester – Saturday 20 November 2021 – 10am to 5pm (doors open from 9.30am)
Open to all / free admission / *NEW* livestreamed option
Booking essential if attending in person
- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flag-institute-agm-and-winter-2021-conference-tickets-172775575397
Livestreaming
- - members will receive a link by email
  - to obtain a guest link – please email convenor@flaginstitute.org
President’s Drinks
- Gather after the conference at the 16th-century Oast House, three minutes walk from the People’s History Museum
Programme
- Luke Jerram – international visual artist; Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society; Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, UWE; Honorary Doctorate of the University of Bristol
  - In Memoriam: UK-based but working internationally since 1997, Luke Jerram is known globally for his innovative, multidisciplinary arts practice and large-scale public artworks. His extraordinary sculptures, installations and live arts projects have excited and inspired people around the world. He will present some of these artworks, focusing specifically on those which involve the use of flags

- Dr Matthew Stallard – Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slavery, UCL
  - The Black Country Flag row: Representing everyone?: The Black Country flag, chosen by public competition in 2012, has been enthusiastically adopted across the region, becoming a highly visible rallying point for an often overlooked post-industrial area. The very public and passionate furore surrounding the flag’s contested symbolism, however, offers valuable insights into the importance of flags and other symbols in defining (or redefining) identity. It also poses some tough questions. How best do we conduct the consultation and selection processes for local and regional representations to ensure that they are inclusive of diverse viewpoints and experiences?

- John Cartledge – former Hertfordshire county councillor for Elstree and Borehamwood; Flag Institute member
  - One down, only 10,448 to go… The gestation and birth of a town flag:
  - Compared with many other countries, England is a mini-municipal vexi-desert. John will describe his partially successful attempt to remedy this grave cultural deficiency in his home town, located in Hertfordshire’s deep south.