The American Flag: Two centuries of Concord and Conflict Book ©2006.
This book by Howard M. Madaus and Whitney Smith chronicles some of the significant flags of the Zaricor Flag Collection. Originally intended as an exhibition catalog for a duo of back-to-back flag exhibitions, the work grew into a large format hardcover book that has been acclaimed as the "successor to Mastai". This reference refers to The Stars and the Stripes: the American Flag from Birth of the Republic to the Present, a book which drew attention to the American flag's artistic and social importance. The book was hailed as the most significant flag book of the past three decades.
The 148 pages of this unique volume contain a short overview of American history, as told through flags Whether they were ubiquitous or obscure, this book likely covered them. The six chapters are styled as galleries, a flag on each page, with an appropriate text plate as if it were still on exhibition. The descriptions of the flags trace the adoption and then the evolution of the "Stripes and Stars" from a "New Constellation" to "A Symbol of World Power".
This book also features many flags associated with luminaries from American History such as Lincoln, Custer, Sheridan and Kennedy. There are also three essays by academics and the publisher which help interpret the flags' meanings.
The book has been accorded two distinct honors:
-The 2007 Vexillon Award is sponsored by the Flag Society of Australia Inc. and presented by Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques, or FIAV, which is the International Federation of Vexillological Associations. The award was presented to the two authors for the most important contribution to vexillology since the last International Congress of Vexillology. The FIAV award was presented in Berlin.
-The 2008 "Book of the Year" by the William Greenleaf Eliot Society of Washington University of St. Louis.
Madaus, Howard Michael & Smith, Whitney;
The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict,
Santa Cruz, VZ Publications,
2006. 148pp.
10.5" x 11.25"
Book review for The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict (Hardcover)
At last a book has arrived that can be described as the "successor to Mastai"! I'm referring, of course, to the great 1973 volume The Stars and Stripes: The American Flag as Art and History from the Birth of the Republic to the Present, by Boleslaw and Maie-Louise D'Otrange Mastai. Now, a generation later, comes another fine, full-color book depicting the history of the U.S. flag with real examples of actual historic flags.
Like Mastai, Concord & Conflict is at its base a collection catalog, telling the story of the flag through the holdings of the Zaricor collection, supplemented by quilts from the collection of Louise Veninga and memorabilia assembled by San Francisco graphic designer Kit Hinrichs. In fact, some of the flags depicted were acquired from the Mastai collection by Ben Zaricor, a Santa Cruz businessman and one of the most prominent U.S. flag collectors today. The core of the book was the landmark 2003 Presidio exhibition, called "one of the top 10 pop culture events of the year" by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Unlike Mastai, however, this book delivers the sound scholarship of two leading vexillologists rather than the personal opinions of the Mastais (who propagated, among other myths, the concept of the "war stripe"--an inaccuracy traceable entirely to the eager imagination of Boleslaw Mastai). The late Howard Madaus curated the Presidio exhibition, drawing on his expertise as one of the leading historians of the U.S. flag. He had served, among other roles, as the chief curator of the National Civil War Museum, and published extensively, including several important books and articles. Dr. Whitney Smith, director of the Flag Research Center, collaborated extensively on the text of the book, one of twenty-plus (so far) by the organizer of modern vexillology.
Concord & Conflict literally teems with flag images--well over a hundred flags (plus related items)--many averaging 4" x 6" and larger. A full page is devoted to most, with approximately 250 words of text about each flag. Among the gems: an early 16-star "Grand Luminary" from 1796-1803; General George Armstrong Custer's third personal cavalry headquarters guidon (made by his wife in 1864) substantiated by a contemporary photograph; and the car flags from President Kennedy's limousine (acquired by his secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, on 25 November 1963). High production values characterize the book.
The chapters run chronologically, from "A New Constellation: 13 Stars and 13 Stripes for a New Nation" to "A Symbol of World Power: The Stars and Stripes at Home and Abroad". The book ends with a thoughtful commentary by Ben Zaricor: "Whose Flag Is It, Anyway?". The passion of the collector spills through: since 1970 he and his family have collected more than 2,500 flags, quilts, and other flag-related items. Zaricor's strong feeling for the flag's symbolism is demonstrated by his unusual but stirring practice of hoisting nearly every historic flag he acquires, no matter how old, for one brief session in the breeze on his home's flag pole.
Much more than another pretty "picture book" on the U.S. flag, this volume is at once a reference to the evolution of the flag and a well-researched text on its history and meaning. Its authors well deserve the honor recently awarded them by the International Federation of Vexillological Associations in Berlin: the Vexillon, which recognized the book as the most important contribution to world vexillological scholarship in the past two years.
Edward B. Kaye
Editor, Raven, A Journal of Vexillology
North American Vexillological Association
This is book #1of 1,000 colophon copies.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.
Kaye, Ted, Excellent Pictorial History of U.S. Flag with Real Examples, September 14, 2007, 20 November 2011, from:
http://www.amazon.com/American-Flag-Centuries-Concord-Conflict/dp/0975516809
