Through our honors and prizes, The Flag Research Center recognizes scholarly and professional achievements in the field of vexillology.

For an outstanding contribution to vexillology, and only when there are worthy recipients, the Center’s directors elect Whitney Smith Fellows. Fellows receive a badge embodying Dr. Smith’s personal flag suspended on a cord and a certificate. Living fellows are:

• Scot M. Guenter
• Michel R. Lupant
• Charles A. Spain

The Gherardi Davis Prize is presented for a significant contribution to vexillological research. The award consists of an honorarium and a pewter Jefferson bowl and is accompanied by a certificate. The prize has been awarded to:

• Anne Wagner, Sarah Marusek, and the other authors, for the monograph Flags, Color, and the Legal Narrative: Public Memory, Identity, and Critique (Springer 2021). (Publisher’s website)
• Nicholas Mignanelli and Sarah C. Slinger for the article A Matter for Interpretation: An Inquiry into Confederate Symbolism and the Florida State Flag, 10 U. Mia. Race & Soc. Just. L. Rev. 115 (2020). (Download from repository)
• Bruce B. Berry, FF, South Africa, for the work “Flying High—The Zimbabwe Bird on the Flags of Zimbabwe,” presented at HemisFlag: The 28th International Congress of Vexillology (2019). (forthcoming in the Congress Proceedings)