{"id":12927,"date":"2021-07-05T15:42:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flaginstitute.org\/wp\/?page_id=12927"},"modified":"2026-03-31T20:44:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T19:44:57","slug":"about-vexillology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.flaginstitute.org\/wp\/about\/about-vexillology\/","title":{"rendered":"About vexillology"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Illustration<\/a>Vexillology<\/strong> is a word that combines elements of Latin and Greek.<\/p>\r\n

A vexillum<\/em> is a Roman military standard, while the Greek suffix –logia<\/em> means study.<\/p>\r\n

US vexillologist Whitney Smith coined the term in the late 1950s.<\/p>\r\n

He used it to describe the scientific study of flags \u2013 their types, forms, history, symbolism and functions \u2013 and the development of a body of related knowledge, theories and principles.<\/p>\r\n

Its meaning has since expanded, however, to include any interest in flags more generally.<\/p>\r\n

By extension a student of flags is a vexillologist; the art of flag design is vexillography, while a flag designer is a vexillographer.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vexillology is a word that combines elements of Latin and Greek. A vexillum is a Roman military standard, while the Greek suffix –logia means study. US vexillologist Whitney Smith coined the term in the late 1950s. He used it to describe the scientific study of flags \u2013 their types, forms, history, symbolism and functions \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4335,"parent":38,"menu_order":72,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-12927","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAbout vexillology | discover the world of flags | The Flag Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about vexillology \u2013 the study of flags, their history, design, use etc \u2013 and meet a global network of flag experts and flag geeks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flaginstitute.org\/wp\/about\/about-vexillology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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