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# Report on the 31st International Congress of Vexillology

## Paris, France

Last modified: 2026-07-25 by rob raeside
Keywords: international congress of vexillology | paris |
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image provided by Cédric de Fougerolle, 1 October 2025

- Daily Reports on the ICV

- 6 July: Day 1
- 7 July: Day 2
- 8 July: Day 3
- 9 July: Day 4
- 10 July: Day 5

See also:

- Flags of the International Congress of Vexillology, Congresses 1-10
- Flags of the International Congress of Vexillology, Congresses 11-20
- Flags of the International Congress of Vexillology, Congresses 21-30
- Flags of the International Congress of Vexillology, Congresses 31-
- FIAV - Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques
- Past International Congresses of Vexillology (FIAV website)

## Daily Reports on the ICV

### 6 July - Day 1

Most interesting presentations were about the project "FlagID" started by Ivan Sarajcic, and the project International Vexillogical Index (IVI) by Annie Platoff and Zeljko Heimer.
Other presentations included
* Shahdad (a vexilloid found in archaelogical work in present-day Iran)
* Flags showing in cultural artifacct from the Chinese Song dynasty / period
* Flags shown in Transylvanian heraldry from the 16th-17th century
* Old flag books (17th-18th century) - types, mode of production, usage
* Flags shown in in a Swiss flag book for the canton of Valais, including how these symbols are used today
* Flags of the army of the republic of Rhodesia (1964-1980) Bruce Berry
* Flag projects and proposals for a possibly new flag for the Czech Republic in 1992
In the evening there was a reception at the mairie of the VII arrond. of Paris, with a presentation remembering the work of Georges Pasch, founding member of French and International vexillology.

Dirk Schönberger, 18 July 2026

### 7 July - Day 2

It was a full day of presentations, including these
* Current re-occurence of the flag of St George in England, its history and some of its current uses
* Retrospective about the project of a change of the flag of New Zealand - dos and don't dos
* Evolution of the flags shown in Suriname
* Commercial air transport and their use of symbols including flags, as part of their communication
* Presentation of the Album des Pavillons (current official French Flag Book)
* Flags of heads of state - an overview
In the afternoon there was the General Assembly of the FIAV.

Dirk Schönberger, 18 July 2026

## 8 July: Day 3

This was an excursion day. We visited the Museum of the Order of the Liberation (founded the De Gaulle in WW2, now closed). and the commune and castle / chateau of Vincennes. Here we did lunch in the mairie de Vincennes. After that we visited the "Service historique de la defense", a military department concerned with military symbols - flags, insignia etc). We visited "salle des emblemes" with a presentation of flags of disbanded military unis, and the "musee de la symbolique" with a presentation regarding the use of military symbology in for identification and differentiation purposes.
Optional parts of the excursion were other parts of the castle of Vincennes, including the "Sainte-Chapelle", the Donjon and the "musee des chasseurs".

Dirk Schönberger, 18 July 2026

## 9 July: Day 4

Again this was a full day of presenttaions, including these
* Bolivarian Flags (War of South American Independence 19th century)
* French influence in the evolution of the symbols (coat of arms, flags, banners) of England / Great Britain
* Emergence and usage of flags for national minorities, especially in Norway
* History and present day use of the of Johnston atoll
* Symbols and flags for political organisations in Greenland
* The creation of the flag of the Sign union (Sign language)
* Flags shown in Australian sheet music
* Flags of Croatian musical ensembles - Zeljko Heimer
* Small festival flags - cultural artifacts of childhood in the Soviet Union - Annie Platoff
* Flags used on trucks - a taxonomy
* Use of the Dutch flag in paintings and model-ship building including real size replicas
* The Vexi-logo of the Olympic and Paralympic games in Paris 2024
* Flags of social promotion organizations in Italy
In the evening we had a short informal meeting of the attending members of FotW. Discussion surrounded the issues of the shortage of FOTW editors, Annie Platoff's work on a vexillology database, and Ivan Sarajcic's FlagId project.

Dirk Schönberger, 18 July 2026

FOTWers and friends at Paris

photographer not known
[Click on image for larger view]

From left to right:
Annie Platoff (holding her personal flag), John Cartledge, Maggie Sumner, Ian Sumner, Željko Heimer, Peter Hans van der Muijzenberg (with hat), Bruce Berry (with hat also and holding the FOTW flag), Alan Hardy, Remigijus Bimba (holding the other end of the FOTW flag), Dirk Schönberger (tall guy), Max Liberman, Ivan Sarajcic (another tall guy), Manuela Schmöger, and Olivier Touzeau.
Emil Dreyer, 18 July 2026

## 15 July: Day 5

The last day of the congress. The most interesting presentation was about military roundels (aircraft insigniia), held by M. Green. Roundels were derived from (national) flags of use national symbols, so the field is flag related. However, the presentation included some strong theory, including a categorization of roundels and a visual grammar of the subjects. There was disucssion about naming the new field of study. The presenter was awarded a Fellow of FIAV.
Other presentations included
* New democratic spirit as shown in the flag of Toledo (Ohio)
* Irish women - flags and freedom - Feminism and suffragettes in late 19th / early 20th century Ireland
* Challenges in the use of mixed proportions of flags in Slovenia
* Confusion, identification and similarities between flags - example of a study of geographically closely related flags of Cuba and Puerto Rico
* Structure and symbolism of the flags and emblems of the administrative regions of Taiwan
* Correct colour of the Russian flag - blue or azur (light blue)
* Acceptable colors of the flags of 5 member states of the European Union - color cognition, color models
In the evening we had the gala diner at "Cercle national des armees". Besides others Annie Platoff was awarded with a Fellow of FIAV.

Dirk Schönberger, 18 July 2026