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Cannon Research Grant

The North American Vexillological Association invites researchers to apply for the Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr. Grant for Research in Vexillology. This grant supports original research in various aspects of flag design and usage in North America. The US$250–$500 award is given on an occasional basis by NAVA to individuals pursuing research which advances vexillological knowledge and meets the grant criteria. The grant is named in memory of Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., NAVA first vice president (2004–2008), noted flag scholar, and author of Flags of the Confederacy—An Illustrated History and Flags of the Union—An Illustrated History. It is especially appropriate for graduate students making progress towards completion of a dissertation or thesis.

Devereaux D. Cannon

The deadline for submission of grant applications is June 30th each year. Details on the grant program and procedures for applying are available here. To contribute to the Research Fund, donate here.

Recipients of the Cannon Research Grant and Project Descriptions:

2019 - Toby Nelson To conduct a study of “Municipal Flag Design Preferences of United States
Residents”, building on NAVA’s 2004 American City Flag Survey, to guide the wider community of municipal brand makers and managers through an article published in the June 2024 Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing.

2018 - Steven A. Knowlton To use the National Archives and Records Administration collections to study the implementation and administration of the Minute Man flag and Army-Navy “E” flag programs during World War II, supporting an article published in Raven 26 (2019).

2018 - Anne M. Platoff To use the artifact collections of the Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City, California, in research supporting a PhD dissertation at the University of Leicester (UK).

2017 - Carlos A. Morales-Ramirez To conduct a study to understand and measure flag knowledge at the national and sub-national level, in Puerto Rico and Singapore. The National University of Singapore’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the study under reference code S-17-102E. The resulting paper won the Driver Award in 2017.

2016 - Anne M. Platoff To use the Dr. Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection at the Briscoe Center for American History for information on Soviet Union and the breakup of the USSR, supporting a PhD dissertation at the University of Leicester (UK).

2015 - Greg Biggs To use the Howard Madaus papers housed at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to analyze Confederate Battle Flags made through the Charleston Supply depot for the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

2011 - David B. Martucci To use the collections and resources of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland to conduct research into Robert L. Queisser and J. G. McIlroy and the creation of the United States Service Flag and acquiring images from the Canadian Archives and various newspaper archives.