{"id":3795,"date":"2017-01-05T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3795"},"modified":"2017-01-03T12:13:01","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T17:13:01","slug":"eulogy-for-whitney-smith-who-loved-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/eulogy-for-whitney-smith-who-loved-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"Eulogy for a man who loved flags"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Whitney<\/a>
Whitney Smith (wikipedia.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anyone fascinated with flags \u2013 the American flag<\/a>, foreign flags<\/a>, flag laws and even a flag-related word he invented \u2013 should be interested in the life of Whitney Smith, who spent his 76 years adoring, studying, collecting and creating banners.<\/p>\n

When Smith died last November, The New York Times saluted him as a man \u201cwhose passion for flags became a career\u201d and who \u201cturned a fascination with flags into a scholarly discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young Whitney Smith<\/h3>\n

A native of Lexington, Massachusetts \u2013 yes, that Lexington \u2013 eight-year-old Whitney would go early to the town green when the Battle of Lexington and Concord was being celebrated. There, he recalled, \u201cI would tell the highway department crew how to set up [state flags<\/a>] in the proper order of admission to the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Smith<\/a>
Smith designed Guyana’s flag. (wikipedia.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a teen,Whitney Smith perused newspapers and magazines for stories about flag history<\/a>. He also sent letters to consulates to amass info about their national banners and how they came to be. Having gathered so many details, he decided that research about flags should have its own term. So, he created \u201cvexillology\u201d by putting together the Latin word for \u201cflag\u201d and the Greek word for \u201cstudy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aruba's<\/a>
Aruba’s flag was created by Whitney Smith. (wikipedia.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While in college, Smith took another step forward in vexillology by designing the national flag of Guyana<\/a>. Then he created a naval banner for Saudi Arabia<\/a> and a flag for Aruba<\/a>. When he earned a doctorate in political science, his dissertation, of course, was on political symbolism.<\/p>\n

Adult Life & Contributions<\/h3>\n

After college, Smith became more and more involved in vexillology. He wrote \u201cFlags Through the Ages and Across the World.\u201d He published a biweekly, the Flag Bulletin. He founded the Flag Research Center. He wrote articles about banners for the Encyclopedia Britannica, eventually becoming its most prolific contributor with 250 stories. He also organized the First International Congress of Vexillology and founded the North American Vexillogical Association.<\/p>\n

Whitney Smith was the sort of person who, if he saw a flag displayed incorrectly in a store, would go inside to point out how to fix the mistake. But he was also the sort of person who said, \u201cThe American flag is the ultimate symbol of freedom, and to restrict its use seems a contradiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 13-star flag was Smith’s favorite. (wikipedia.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the American flag with a star for each state, Smith pulled no punches. He preferred the original look of the national banner. The \u201c13-star flag<\/a> is aesthetically superior to the 50-star model,\u201d he declared. It was also \u201ceasier and less expensive to make,\u201d he added. \u201cMore importantly, a ring of stars better symbolizes our harmony in diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knew that such positions could be controversial and once said, \u201cPeople fight and die over flags. They provoke strong emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assessing his life for People Magazine, Smith said, \u201cI\u2019m a monomaniac, that\u2019s clear. But I\u2019m more fortunate than most people because I have something that infuses my whole life. I relate flags to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means the ultimate maven of flags now knows if there are banners flapping in heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone fascinated with flags \u2013 the American flag, foreign flags, flag laws and even a flag-related word he invented \u2013 should be interested in the life of Whitney Smith, who spent his 76 years adoring, studying, collecting and creating banners. When Smith died last November, The New York Times saluted him as a man \u201cwhose… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,3,194,399],"class_list":["post-3795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-history","tag-vexillology","tag-whitney-smith"],"yoast_head":"\nEulogy for a man who loved flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\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.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/eulogy-for-whitney-smith-who-loved-flags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eulogy for a man who loved flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anyone fascinated with flags \u2013 the American flag, foreign flags, flag laws and even a flag-related word he invented \u2013 should be interested in the life of Whitney Smith, who spent his 76 years adoring, studying, collecting and creating banners. 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