William Gordon Perrin (1874-1931) was an RAF and Navy officer, who also held the position of Admiralty Librarian from 1908 to 1931. Originally published in 1922, British Flags provides a detailed analysis of the uses and development of flags. It is regularly regarded as one of the foremost volumes on flags, setting a benchmark for the studies which followed. The text contains numerous illustrative figures, together with detailed notes and an exhaustive index. This is a highly informative book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of flags, British history and naval history.

Explore the fascinating world of flags! Find intriguing stories and factoids on the design of country, province, state and special flags. Read how these flags are used as heraldic symbols, cultural and national emblems, and how designs and meanings have evolved. The perfect guide to vexillology for anyone interested in the origin, history, and symbolism of flags. Inside this flag book, you'll find: - Highly detailed full-colour flag illustrations for each main entry - Comprehensive text explaining the significant elements of their design, colours, symbols, and insignia. - Beautifully illustrated introductory spreads that trace the history of banners, standards, and flags and explain the terms used to describe them - Sections on signal flags and flag protocol, as well as a concise glossary of terms - A flag identification guide and alphabetical flag directory to enable easy navigation A wonderful gift for flag enthusiasts! This guide to flags helps you identify flags and understand their symbolism. Learn about how flag designs have evolved over centuries and decades and how to identify flags by their distinguishing features. This educational guide to flags details more than 400 examples and covers everything from geography, communications, politics, sport, history, and art. Find out what makes the US stars and stripes so unique and the ancient medieval cantons of Switzerland noteworthy. Detailed notes and annotation reveal the origins, design development, and significance of colours, symbols, crests, and coats of arms and the reasons for recent changes to the flags.

100 Symbols That Changed The World looks at the genesis and adoption of the world's most recognizable symbols. Universal symbols have been used as a form of communication from the Bronze Age, when the dynasties of ancient Egypt began the evolution of the thousand characters used in Egyptian hieroglyphics. In pre-Columbian America the Mayan civilization set out on a similar course, using pictures as a narrative text. With the adoption of written languages, symbols have come to represent an illustrated shorthand. The dollar sign in America evolved from colonists' trade with the Spanish, and the widespread acceptance of Spanish currency in deals. Merchants' clerks would shorten the repeated entry of "pesos" in their accounts ledgers, which needed to be written with a 'p' and an 's'. A single letter 's' with the vertical stroke of the 'p' was much quicker. Historically correct dollar signs have a single stroke through the 'S'. Symbols are also used to impart quick, recognizable safety advice. The radio activity symbol was designed in Berkley in 1946 to warn of the dangers of radioactive substances - and following the widespread use of gas masks in WWII, the trefoil symbol echoed the shape of the mask. There are many symbols of affiliation, not only to religious groups, but support of political causes or even brand loyalty. Symbols are used for identification, military markings and recognition of compatibility. They allow users to convey a large amount of information in a short space, such as the iconography of maps or an electrical circuit diagram. Symbols are an essential part of the architecture of mathematics. And in the case of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics - the first Games to be held in an Asian country - symbols allowed the organizers to create event signage that wouldn't be lost in translation. The set of Olympic sports pictograms for the Games was a novel solution, and one that was added to in Mexico and Munich. Organized chronologically, 100 Symbols That Changed The World looks at the genesis and adoption of the world's most recognizable symbols.

Decode the secrets and uncover the origins and meanings of over 2,000 signs and symbols, from ancient hieroglyphs to modern-day logos. Why is a heart pierced by an arrow a classic symbol of love? What are the ancient roots of fertility symbols? Why are scales a symbol of justice? Delve into the meaning of each symbol and investigate how they have been interpreted in myth, religion, folklore, and art over time, with authoritative text from experts in the field and striking line drawings and photography that emphasize the visual strength and beauty of signs. Divided into six thematic sections - the cosmos, the natural world, human life, myths and religions, society and culture, and symbol systems - this guide to the secret language of signs and symbols is a must-have for those who want to understand the world around them.

Civil War Flags of Tennessee provides information on all known Confederate and Union flags of the state and showcases the Civil War flag collection of the Tennessee State Museum. This volume is organized into three parts. Part 1 includes interpretive essays by scholars such as Greg Biggs, Robert B. Bradley, Howard Michael Madaus, and Fonda Ghiardi Thomsen that address how flags were used in the Civil War, their general history, their makers, and preservation issues, among other themes. Part 2 is a catalogue of Tennessee Confederate flags. Part 3 is a catalogue of Tennessee Union flags. The catalogues present a collection of some 200 identified, extant Civil War flags and another 300 flags that are known through secondary and archival sources, all of which are exhaustively documented. Appendices follow the two catalogue sections and include detailed information on several Confederate and Union flags associated with the states of Mississippi, North Carolina, and Indiana that are also contained in the Tennessee State Museum collection. Complete with nearly 300 color Illustrations and meticulous notes on textiles and preservation efforts, this volume is much more than an encyclopedic log of Tennessee-related Civil War flags. Stephen Cox and his team also weave the history behind the flags throughout the catalogues, including the stories of the women who stitched them, the regiments that bore them, and the soldiers and bearers who served under them and carried them. Civil War Flags of Tennessee is an eloquent hybrid between guidebook and chronicle, and the scholar, the Civil War enthusiast, and the general reader will all enjoy what can be found in its pages. Unprecedented in its variety and depth, Cox's work fills an important historiographical void within the greater context of the American Civil War. This text demonstrates the importance of Tennessee state heritage and the value of public history, reminding readers that each generation has the honor and responsibility of learning from and preserving the history that has shaped us all-and in doing so, honoring the lives of the soldiers and civilians who sacrificed and persevered.

The symmetrical, exuberant heart is everywhere: it gives shape to candy, pendants, the frothy milk on top of a cappuccino, and much else. How can we explain the ubiquity of what might be the most recognizable symbol in the world? In The Amorous Heart, Marilyn Yalom tracks the heart metaphor and heart iconography across two thousand years, through Christian theology, pagan love poetry, medieval painting, Shakespearean drama, Enlightenment science, and into the present. She argues that the symbol reveals a tension between love as romantic and sexual on the one hand, and as religious and spiritual on the other. Ultimately, the heart symbol is a guide to the astonishing variety of human affections, from the erotic to the chaste and from the unrequited to the conjugal.

A treasure hunt for the hidden meaning of the symbols that appear on America's beloved national flag. "The best book on the American flag's origins. . . No one knows the ins and outs of the origins of the flag of the United States as well as Henry Moeller does. . . Highly recommended." --Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography With gorgeous four-color reproductions of an amazing array of art from diverse cultures and eras, Inventing the American Flag explores the symbolism of the flag and investigates why the founding fathers chose the images they did to represent the new nation. Art history sleuth Henry W. Moeller brings a breath of fresh air to our appreciation of the flag, blowing away the cobwebs left by antiquarians fixated on dusty records and Masonic conspiracies. Inventing the American Flag weaves together exotic and colorful strands of history to offer a new understanding of the forces that contributed to the flag flown by America's revolutionaries. Henry W. Moeller's forty-year journey into the history of the symbols on America's early flags took him to libraries, museums, and private collections around the world. The deeper he dug, the further back in time he went. He pored over explorers' maps, medieval manuscripts, astronomers' charts, and ancient myths. Gradually, he was able to piece together the remarkable, constantly surprising, and often inspiring story of how, beginning in classical times, the stars and stripes acquired new meanings and were put to new uses until, at the birth of our nation, they became the symbols of that nation itself.