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NAVA 59

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NAVA 59: Seattle, Washington 
Hilton Garden Inn—Seattle Downtown
October 10–12, 2025

NAVA met in the State of Washington for the first time!


See the program booklet here.
Visit the NAVA 59 Photo Gallery.

NAVA 59 FLAG


The flag of NAVA 59 is based on the geography of Seattle, with either side representing the lush green hills and mountains around the city.  The chevron layout also represents a “V” for vexillology and the inverted chevron in the NAVA flag.  In the center is the Space Needle, the most prominent landmark of Seattle, on a teal blue sky.  The teal and white are borrowed from the flag of Seattle, where they represent the colors of Puget Sound at dusk.  The green is borrowed from the flags of Washington state and Cascadia, where it represents the lush forests.

The design is based on original submissions by Max Bierden and Xander Peachey, revised by the NAVA 59 flag selection committee with feedback from participants in the Flag Design Forum.  The ratio is 3:5, the teal is Pantone 7712 C and the green is Pantone 356 C.  

Brian Cham chaired the flag selection committee, which comprised Amber Atteberry, Kota Owens, Bill Aldrich, Adib Altallal, John Bertrand, Will Levin, Joe Gorman, Joe Pugliese, and Alan Hardy.


The George Henry Preble Lecture: Flags of Canada
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The Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper, former Prime Minister of Canada (2006–2015) and author of the newly published book Flags of Canada, gave the traditional Friday afternoon Preble Lecture at the Seattle Public Library, which was followed by the NAVA President’s Reception welcoming attendees on the eve of the formal meeting sessions beginning the next morning.  A member of NAVA, Mr. Harper is the author of several other non-flag-related books including A Great Game, Right Here Right Now, and a book about the rise of professional hockey in Canada. 
After Mr. Harper's talk, Ted Kaye presented him with the Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of Vexillology in Beijing (2024), on behalf of ZHAO Xinfeng, the chair of the organizing committee and founder of the Vexillology Research Center of China.
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The Presentations and Presenters
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Jacob Aronow

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Perry Dane

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Greg Dean

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Luca Demirağ

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Thomas Diamantopoulos

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John Emond

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Graham Feyl

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Deniz Iyigün

Jacob Aronow— Flag Döppelgangers: A Study of Unintentional Vexillological Resemblance

Perry Dane— Flags in Relation
Greg Dean — Where Wild Things Roam: A Quantitative Tour through the Vexillological Zoo
Luca Demirağ — Flags of Diaspora Groups
John Emond — Flags of 9/11

Thomas Diamantopolous — Sewed in Code: How Flags and Emoji Compare, Contrast, and Converge

Graham Feyl— The Skin Recalls: The Leather Pride Flag and Bruises
Zachary Gardiner and GFA Colleagues — Exploring the Existence of the Word Liberty on the South Carolina Moultrie Flag

Deniz Iyigün — Oar Blades and Flags: A Comparative Analysis  
Steve Knowlton — Be Distinctive or Be Related: Stylization, Genre, and Judgment in Flag Design

Maya Grace Misra— 'We're Going Flag Shopping': Racialized Othering and the U.S. Flag as Protective Gear
Annie Platoff— Toy Flags or Something More? Analyzing Little Holiday Flags from the Soviet Union
Jackson Ridl— Seattle’s Symbol of Goodwill: Establishing a Non-Profit to Contemporize the Seattle City Flag

Gamecock Flag Association (from University of South Carolina) representatives, led by Zachary Gardiner.

Steve Knowlton (via Zoom)

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Maya Grace Misra

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Annie Platoff

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Jackson Ridl


Vexibits Presentations:
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The ever-popular Vexi-Bits session offered short and lighthearted flag show-and-tell items.  
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MOHAI Museum Tour
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The Saturday afternoon tour visited MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) which houses the largest private collection of heritage objects, documents, and photographs of the Puget Sound region’s past.  Besides the museum current exhibits, the participants enjoyed a special viewing of some significant flags from the museum's collection brought out of storage.  
MOHAI Museum
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The Whitney Smith Dinner
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Past Driver Award winners show their new "Old Glory" pins.

Jim Ferrigan

According to the NAVA 59 dinner speaker, James J. (Jim) Ferrigan III, "If You’re Not Having Fun, You’re Doing Vexillology Wrong."   He shared humorous stories and anecdotes from his career in flags, from store manager of the Paramount Flag Company to curator of the Zarico Collection.  
As he regaled the audience with the many mishaps, misadventures, and successes from his early years as a "Cowboy Vexillologist", a group of enthusiastic younger vexillologists helped display some of the very first flags he'd acquired.

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Awards and Honors

  • Captain William Driver Award – Thomas Diamantopolous, for "Sewed in Code: How Flags and Emoji Compare, Contrast, and Converge"
  • Vexillonnaire Award – Brian Cham, for his continued and successful engagement in recent years as a key design consultant to a multitude of city and state flag design efforts.
  • Presidential Citation  Paul Bassinson, for his work on Vexi-News.

The Flag Game

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Wrapping up the weekend, Andy Richardson led 40 participants in a boisterous flag game.

NAVA 59 Group Photo
NAVA 59 Group Photo

Participants at NAVA 59 in Seattle, Washington, gather before the Whitney Smith Dinner.

In-Person Attendees (121)
 Duncan Allen  Luca Demirağ  Dylan Jones  Matthew Renzelmann
 Michele Allen*  Paul Diamantopoulos*  Greg Kauffman  Andrew Richardson
 Phil Allen  Thomas Diamantopoulos  Debbie Kaye*  Jackson Ridl
 Adib Altallal  Jonathan Ditzel  Ted Kaye  Peggy Rose*
 Jessa Anastopulos*  Joseph Donovan  Katie Keister  Cynthia Saltzman*
 Maxwell Anastopulos  Fred Drews  Dustin King  Jane Schumann*
 Mary Ansoff*  John Emon  Erik Kobayashi-Solomon  Cathrine Simons*
 Peter Ansoff  Jason Feinerman*  Will Levin  Kirk Simons*
 Jacob Aronow  Kendall Feinerman  Max Liberman  Adrian Smith**
 Amber Atteberry  Kimberly Feinerman*  Bradley Lockhart  Ann Montgomery Smith**
 Patrick Barritt  Jim Ferrigan  Peter Loeser  John Stanley
 Meg Bassinson*  Graham Feyl  Jack Lowe  Tara Stark
 Paul Bassinson  Antonia Figueroa  Karen Lowe*  Bruce Stewart
 Wilson Best  Juniper Fortin  Grant MacArthur  Brian Stokle
 Andrew Biles  Sarah Fortin*  David Maggi  Minh Tan
 Jay Bright  Audra Frick*  Janice McCall*  Curtis Tarver
 Laura Brodie  Jackson Frick  Calum McDonough  Megan Tarver*
 Debbie Burke*  Zachary Gardiner  Michael Mendenhall  William Trinkle
 Ed Burke  Joyce Gifford  Maya Misra  John Tulloch
 Al Cavalari  William Gifford  Richard Monahan  Mike Venso
 Jenovia Chunyk  Sophia Goldberg*  Carlos Morales-Ramírez  Kellie Weyand*
 Stanley Contrades  Michael Green  Hannah Morrison  Steven Wheatley
 Alan Cooper  William Gross  John Niggley  Cindy Williams
 Owen Coulam  Deborah Halver-Hanson  David Ott  Jae Williamson*
 Kate Cushman  Alan Hardy  Kota Owens  David Womack
 Perry Dane  Steve Harper  Daniel Pedre  Julie Womack*

 Eric Davis 

 Lee Herold  Jennifer Pesetsky*  Alex Zimmerman
 Greg Dean  Gordy Hoffman  Star Pesetsky  Alexia Zuliani*
 Jalyn Deery*  Graham Houser  Annie Platoff  
 Zack Deery  Johathan Houser*  Michael Platoff*  
 Emily Dehmer  Deniz Iyigün  Tarun Ramkumar  

* Companions
** Honored Guest
Those Streaming NAVA 59 (23)
Streaming participants:  Claudia Allemeier, Jacob Aronow, Kevin Barron, Ralph Bartlett, Heather Brown-Huston, Brian Cham, Bard Cosman, Laura Coulam, Erika & Nava Nelson, Tom Gaffey, Željko Heimer, Steve Knowlton, Carl Misra, Hannah Parker, Elizabeth Peavy, Rachel Phelan, Rodrigo Ramírez, Alan Weisberg, Pamela Worthington, Maya ?, Riley ?, and Summer ?

Organizing Committee: Amber Atteberry (chair), Adib Altallal (local lead), Peter Ansoff, Al Cavalari, Stan Contrades, Alan Cooper, Thomas Diamantopoulos, Alan Hardy, Graham Houser, Ted Kaye, Melvin Mason, Carlos Morales-Ramírez, Erika & Nava Nelson, Kota Owens, Andy Richardson, Jackson Ridl, Steve Wheatley, Alex Zimmerman.
Key Volunteers: Mary Ansoff, Jonathan Ditzel, Sophie Goldberg, and Janice McCall.

Fiscal Sponsors:

President’s Reception:  CRW Flags, Seattle City Flag 
Driver Award:  Bear Flag Museum, CRW Flags, Dixie Flag & Banner, The Flag Guys, Herold Flags, Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, and smALL FLAGS.
Packet Contributors:
Jay Bright, Alan Cooper, Alan Hardy, smALLFLAGS, and Dean Thomas