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NAVA 51

NAVA 51 Flag Image

NAVA 51: Boston
Omni Parker House Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts
October 13–15, 2017
Details and additional photos of NAVA 51: The NAVA 51 Flag:  Inspired by the flag designed by Whitney Smith for NAVA 3 and ICV 3, held simultaneously in Boston in 1979, the flag displays the Continental Blue and Buff colors of the city of Boston.  Three golden crowns first appeared on the arms of Boston, England, the place that gave the city its name.  They also symbolize that NAVA 51 is the third annual meeting held in Boston.  The three connected chevrons come from John Winthrop’s arms and symbolize the three mountains on Boston’s peninsula that gave Winthrop’s settlement its first name and are memorialized by the modern city’s Tremount Street, while also representing the three annual meetings held in Whitney Smith’s home town.  The flag was designed by Jim Croft and John Hartvigsen.

Organizing Committee: John Hartvigsen (chair), John Adcock, Luc Baronian, Chris Bedwell, Jim Croft, and Ted McNabb.

The George Henry Preble Lecture

John Hartvigsen and Luc Baronian present Preble speaker Susan Wilson with an honorarium and the recognition from NAVA.

 

Her address is summarized in NAVA News no. 232 (Dec. 2017), p. 4.

The George Henry Preble Lecture was held on Friday, October 13 in the Press Room of the Omni Parker House Hotel.  The historian of Omni Parker House Hotel, Susan Wilson, author of The Omni Parker House Hotel: A Brief History of America’s Longest Continuously Operating Hotel and Heaven, by Hotel Standards, gave an interesting and definitive account of the hotel’s history.

The Presentations
  • Historical Shifts and Emergent Paradigms: Tradition, Ideology, Sources of Power, and Influences in Flag Studies  Scot M. Guenter, California.
  • The Changing Use of Flags and a Proliferation of Flag Etiquette – John M. Hartvigsen, Utah.
  • American City Flag Redesign: A Welcome Change – Ted Kaye, Oregon.
  • The Minute Man Flag and the Army-Navy "E" Flag: Unifying Symbols for the American Home Front in World War II –  Steven A. Knowlton, New Jersey.
  • The Second Continental New Hampshire National and Regimental Colors of 1777 – David Martucci, Maine.
  • The Puerto Rican Flag: A Pilot Study in Vexillology – Carlos Alberto Morales-Ramírez, Singapore.
  • Little Leninists: Symbols and the Political Socialization of Soviet Children – Anne M. Platoff, California.
  • Dr. Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection – Anne M. Platoff, California.
  • The Water Protectors: Native American Nationalism, Environmentalism, and the Flags of the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests of 2016–2017 – Robert Sarwark, Georgia.
  • Influence of the U.S. and Soviet Flags on the Chinese Flag – Xing Fei, China.

The Tour

 

The NAVA 51 special activity was a visit to the Massachusetts State House, including its Great Hall of Flags.

The Whitney Smith Dinner

 

The Whitney Smith Dinner was held in the Alcott Room of the Omni Parker House Hotel.  John Hartvigsen, outgoing president of NAVA, gave the keynote talk, reminiscing and sharing anecdotes and insights from his years of flag studies.

Announced Awards and Honors
  • Captain William Driver Award – Carlos A. Morales-Ramírez.
  • Doreen Braverman Award – Annin Flagmakers (Bob Caggiano, vice president of sales).

Significant Events

  • A record number of members (for a non-ICV) attended the meeting.
  • Members present voted 69–18 to amend NAVA's bylaws to allow universal suffrage (to let members vote rather than just those attending annual meetings in person).
  • Memorial events for Peter Orenski and Whitney Smith were conducted in conjunction with the meeting.
  • NAVA members attended from China and Cameroon.

Fiscal Sponsors:

  • President’s Reception: CRW Flags
  • Preble Lecture: Colonial Flag Co.
  • Driver Award: The Flag Research Center

Attendees: (88)

Amber Atteberry
Nicholas Artimovich
John Adcock
Peter Ansoff
Mary Ansoff*
Carmen Barcena
Luc Baronian
Christopher Bedwell
Hugh Brady
Betty Brown
Jim Brown
Agnes Burnes*
Stephen Cahill
Tony Capozzi
Al Cavalari
Stanley Contrades
Joe Cook*
John Cooper*
Rhonda Cooper*
Jim Croft
Fred Drews
Peter Edwards
Byron DeLear
Vicki Englund*
Patricia Essapo, Cameroon*
Jim Ferrigan
Xing Fei, China
Elizabeth French*
Mike Gahan
Timothy Gallagher
Lee Goodson
Scot Guenter
Carl Gurtman
Tom Hale
Deanna Hartvigsen*
John Hartvigsen
Lee Herold
Annette Jackson*
Ed Jackson
Bea Jones
Debbie Kaye*
Ted Kaye
Gedi Kiflezgi
John King
Steven Knowlton
Carl Larson
Dick Libby
Kathryn Libby*
Vernon León
David Martucci
Janet Martucci*
Scott Mainwaring
Daniel McCloskey
Timothy McCloskey
Melissa McCue-McGrath
Ted McNabb
Maxime Meka Meka, Cameroon
Barbara Moeller*
Henry Moeller
Rich Monahan
Carlos Morales-Ramírez
Kevin Murray
Tristan Ng
David Ott
Annie Platoff
Ken Reynolds
Peggy Rose*
Robert Sarwark
Clyde Simpson
Collin Simpson
Larry Soucier*
Charles Spain
Jeff Spain*
Gwen Spicer
Bruce Stewart
Christopher Sweet
Gustavo Tracchia
Bill Trinkle
Katee Trinkle*
Vanessa Van de Putte
Su Wang*
Mimi Weinstein
Larry Wentworth
Steve Wheatley
Edward White
Cindy Williams
Chantal Zakari
Xinfeng Zhao, China

* companion
Flag image by Jim Croft and John Hartvigsen