Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. Vexillography, which is the art and practice of designing flags, is allied with vexillology, but is not synonymous with that discipline. While vexillography may embrace aesthetic values, vexillology does not. To a vexillologist there are no bad flags, only flags to be studied. “A flag is a symbol of something, and should always be treated with the respect due to its origin.” E.G. Godfrey-Faussett, Flags: Their Design and Use 91 (1933).

Because flags are “the strongest and most independent of time of all the symbols,” the Center recognizes that public bodies and citizens need credible information on the design of flags as they seek to evaluate existing flags for their preservation, modification, or replacement.

Current flag design information includes:

• “Good Flag Designing” (1969) by Louis Loynes, a noted English heraldic scholar who was affiliated with the Center in the 1960s until his death in 1975.
• “The Guiding Principles of Flag Design” (2014) by the Joint Commission on Vexillographic Principles.

Additionally, the Center occasionally develops online exhibits of flag design proposals for study by vexillogists.

• Toledo Flag Proposals (2022)