Whitney Smith Jr. (February 26, 1940 – November 17, 2016) was a professional
vexillologist
Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. The word is a synth ...
and scholar of flags. He originated the term ''
vexillology
Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. The word is a synthe ...
'', which refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags.
He was a founder of several vexillology organizations. Smith was a Laureate and a Fellow of the
International Federation of Vexillological Associations
The International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV, French acronym: ''Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques'') is an international federation of 53 regional, national, and multinational associations and inst ...
.
Early life
Whitney Smith Jr. was born on February 26, 1940 to Mildred and Whitney Smith.
As a youth, he lived in
Lexington and
Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income, wealt ...
.
With
Patriots' Day
Patriots' Day (Patriot's Day in Maine) is an annual event, formalized as a legal holiday or a special observance day in six states, commemorating the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy, some of the first battles of the American Revo ...
memories and a 1946 gift of ''The Golden Encyclopedia'', Smith's interest in flags was started.
[
At Harvard, he studied political science and received a bachelor's degree in the field in 1961. During his time at Harvard, Smith designed the ]flag of Guyana
The flag of Guyana, known as The Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag of Guyana since May 1966 when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It was designed by Whitney Smith, an American vexillologist (though originally ...
. He received his doctorate in political science at Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
in 1964. Political symbolism was the subject of his dissertation.
Career
Smith had his first article published at age 18. By 1960, he was consulting with the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
''.[
In 1961, Smith and colleague Gerhard Grahl co-founded ]
The Flag Bulletin
' (), the world's first journal about flags. The following year, Smith establishe
The Flag Research Center
at his home and was its director.[
Smith worked with Klaes Sierksma to organize the First International Congress of Vexillology (]Muiderberg
Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos.
Geography
Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of Mu ...
, Netherlands) in 1965. They joined Louis Mühlemann in founding the International League of Vexillologists and were members of its Governing Board on September 5, 1965, and operated until September 3, 1967. The league was replaced by the International Federation of Vexillological Associations
The International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV, French acronym: ''Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques'') is an international federation of 53 regional, national, and multinational associations and inst ...
(known by its French acronym FIAV) with Smith as vice-president of the Provisional Council as of September 3, 1967. In 1969, Smith moved from being FIAV Provisional Council vice-president to being the first Secretary-General of FIAV. Smith was also responsible for founding the North American Vexillological Association
The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. Its ...
(NAVA) and th
Flag Heritage Foundation
On August 28, 1981, he was elected the second Secretary-General for Congresses, ending his multiple terms as FIAV Secretary-General. Smith served in that office until he returned to the FIAV Secretary-General position on September 29, 1983.[
Smith quit his full-time professorship at Boston University in 1970. By 1985, he had written 19 books.][
On July 5, 1991, Smith was named by the FIAV a Laureate of the Federation and left the office of FIAV Secretary-General.][ He was given the honor of Fellow of the Federation on July 27, 2001.]
In 2006 he was the joint author of '' The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict''
In 2013 he transferred The Flag Research Center's library and archives to The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History is an organized research unit and public service component of the University of Texas at Austin named for Dolph Briscoe, the 41st governor of Texas. The center collects and preserves documents and ar ...
.
On November 17, 2016, Smith died from complications of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
at the age of 76.
Bibliography
Smith wrote 27 books on the subject of flags, notably ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World,'' ''The Flag Book of the United States,'' and ''Flag Lore of all Nations.''
He was the designer of the national flag of Guyana
The flag of Guyana, known as The Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag of Guyana since May 1966 when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It was designed by Whitney Smith, an American vexillologist (though originally ...
, 21 Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n navy flags[ and served as a vexillographer (flag designer) to a number of governments and organizations. In 1981, Smith was part of a committee that developed the ]flag of Bonaire
The flag of Bonaire, adopted in 1981, represents a Dutch island in the Caribbean Netherlands. Bonaire commemorates Flag Day on September 6 annually, the traditional date Europeans first arrived on the island. The professional vexillologist Whitn ...
[ and assisted in the design of the ]flag of Aruba
Aruba's national flag was adopted on 18 March 1976. The design consists of a field of light blue (called " United Nations Blue"), two narrow parallel horizontal yellow ("Bunting Yellow") stripes in the bottom half, and a four-pointed white-fimbri ...
.
Smith also wrote over 250 articles for the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
*
See also
* Graham Bartram
The Flag Institute is a UK membership organisation headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, England, concerned with researching and promoting the use and design of flags. It documents flags in the UK and internationally, maintains a UK Flag Regis ...
* William Crampton
William George (Bill) Crampton (5 May 1936 – 4 June 1997) was a British vexillologist. His chief legacy, the Flag Institute, has hundreds of members in the UK and overseas. He was recognised as Britain's foremost authority on flags by governme ...
* Alfred Znamierowski
Alfred Znamierowski (21 June 1940 – 23 October 2019) was a Polish vexillologist, heraldist, illustrator, and journalist. During his career he published several books and designed hundreds of coats of arms, flags, banners and seals for over 20 ...
* Vexillological symbol
Flag information symbols are used by vexillologists to indicate certain characteristics of flags, such as where they are used, who uses them, and what they look like. The symbols were created by vexillologist Whitney Smith and then adopted by the I ...
References
External links
A Guide
to the Dr. Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection at Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
The Flag Bulletin #234
In Memoriam: Whitney Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Whitney
1940 births
2016 deaths
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Boston University faculty
Harvard University alumni
People from Arlington, Massachusetts
People from Winchester, Massachusetts
Flag designers
Vexillologists
Writers from Massachusetts
Neurological disease deaths in Massachusetts
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Boston University alumni