HomeNAVA 59 (2025)

NAVA 59

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

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.

The Presentations and Presenters

Jacob Aronow

Perry Dane

Greg Dean

Luca Demirağ

Thomas Diamantopoulos

John Emond

Graham Feyl

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)

Maya Grace Misra

Annie Platoff

Jackson Ridl

Vexibits Presentations:

The ever-popular Vexi-Bits session offered short and lighthearted flag show-and-tell items.

MOHAI Museum Tour

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.

The Whitney Smith Dinner

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.

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

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

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