Flag Proportions: Thoughts on Flag Families and Artistic Unity

Flag Proportions: Thoughts on Flag Families and Artistic Unity

Steven A. KnowltonUniversity of Memphis

North American Vexillological Association48th Annual Meeting, New OrleansOctober 4, 2014

4:5 2:3

4’

6’

2:3

2:3

ALL OTHERS

Frequency of proportions of national flags

1:2

3:5

10:19

1:2

1:2

1:2

2:3

LIKELIHOOD OF A FLAG HAVING A GIVEN RATIO

Ratio Overall Distribution

Former S.S.R.

Former Colony

1:2 26% 50% 43%

2:3 44% 88%

CenturyLink Arena (Boise, Idaho)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2270/2246077828_570ef9f555_z.jpg?zz=1

Questions Provoked by Flag Proportions

1.How do we determine what makes a “flag family”?

2.Why do we disregard official proportions when preparing a multiple-flag display?

The “family tree” of the House of Windsor

Don Healy’s “family tree” of the Dutch Prinsenvlag

Healy, Don. “Evolutionary Vexillography: One Flag’s Influence in Modern Design.” Raven 1 (1994): 41-64.

Flag FamiliesSmith:Crusader FlagsFranceArab RevoltNetherlandsGreat Britain

Whitney Smith, Flags Through the Ages and Across the World (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975), 47, 136, 154-55, 163, 186.William Crampton, The World of Flags (Abingdon: Rand McNally, 1998), 20-21; Ultimate Pocket Flags of the World (London: DK, 1997), 5-7.Alfred Znamierowski, The World Encyclopedia of Flags (London: Hermes House, 2006), 100-29.

Crampton:The Dutch PrinsenvlagThe British Red EnsignStars and StripesFrench TricoloreThe Anarchist FlagThe Red FlagThe Flag of Francisco de MirandaThe Flag of Marcus GarveyThe Arab Revolt FlagThe United Provinces of Central AmericaThe Rastafarian FlagThe Egypt Liberation Movement

Znamierowski:The Christian CrossThe Muslim CrescentThe Union JackThe Stars and StripesThe Dutch and Pan-Slav ColorsThe French TricoloreThe Livery ColorsThe Pan-Arab ColorsThe Pan-African ColorsThe Red BannerFrancisco de Miranda’s tricolorManuel Belgrano’s tribandUnited Nations Flag

Categories and Concepts

Set of objects with shared features

Example:

Mental representation of

the set

“birds”

Shared FeaturesIdentification Inference

Categories and Concepts

Set of objects with shared features

Example:

Mental representation of

the set

Still a“bird”

Shared FeaturesIdentification Inference

Concept Formation

similarities of objects within a

category

similarities between

categories

Concept Formation – varying approaches

Logical Rule:

Sorting by a single shared

feature

Exemplar Method:

Developing a concept from a known example

Concept Formation – varying approaches

Logical Rule:Exemplar Method:

Concept Formation – significant vs. irrelevant features

FLAGS:

shapescolors

FLAGS:

proportions

Perceptual Discrimination - Scale

COARSE:

FINER:

Aude Oliva and Philippe G. Schyns, “Coarse blobs or fine edges? Evidence that information diagnosticity changes the perception of complex visual stimuli,” Cognitive Psychology 34 (1997): 72-107.

Perceptual Discrimination - Color

Diagnostic:

Non-Diagnostic:

Perceptual Discrimination - Flags

USES:Coarse Scale

(large shapes)

Diagnostic color

NOT NEEDED:

Finer Scale (proportions)

Background Knowledge

Which features are important?

Prior Knowledge of FlagsVexillological

Literature

Emphasis on:• Ascribed

meanings of colors and shapes

• Historical development

Categorize flags based upon

combination of appearance and prior knowledge

Prior Knowledge of Flags

Expertise effect

Greater knowledge =

richer concepts

Conclusion to Part 1“Flag families” concept – created from common colors and shapes, but not on shared proportions?

Conclusion to Part 1

Concept Formation

Based on distinctive sensory data and prior knowledge

Concept formation proceeds without necessity to examine flag

proportion

Flag Ratios in Domestic Use

Flag Ratios Ignored

Flag Ratios Ignored

Flag Ratios Ignored

Flag Ratios Ignored

Flag Ratios Ignored

The Exception

The Effect of Uniformity

A Theoretical Solution

Let L=length, H=height, A=Area=height*length=HL, R=Ratio=length/height=L/H Given an Area A and a ratio R:L=RHand A=HL=HRH=RH2

so H2=A/RHeight = √ (A/R)Length = A / √ (A/R) = √ (AR)

A Theoretical SolutionFlag ratio of 1:2

Flag ratio of 2:3

Flag ratio of 3:5

A=10,000 A=10,000 A=10,000

R=2 R=1.5 R=1.666667

Height = √ (10,000/2) = 70.7

Height = √ (10,000/1.5) = 81.6

Height = √ (10,000/1.667) = 77.5

Length = √ (10,000*2) = 141.4

Length = √ (10,000*1.5) = 122.5

Length = √ (10,000*1.5) = 129.1

A Theoretical Solution

Aesthetics of Flag Displays

Structural Map

Rudolf Arnheim, Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 4.

Artistic Unity

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (1830)

Scanpath & Autocorrelation

Radek Ptak and René M. Müri, “The parietal cortex and saccade planning: lessons from human lesion studies,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 07 June 2013.

Scanpath and Autocorrelation

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (1830)

Scanpath and Autocorrelation

Jackson Pollack, Number 11, 1952 (a.k.a. Blue Poles)

Artistic Unity

Artistic Unity

Flapping Rates

Conclusion to Part 2

Artistic Unity

When displayed together, flags must present uniform proportions to

be visually pleasing

Grand Conclusion

Flags are visual symbols – how they signify matters as well as

what they signify