U.S. 1971 Whole Earth Flag 1st Edition

U.S. Whole Earth Flag 1st Edition.
The flag of the Earth is one used to represent the entire Earth regardless of national, ethic or religious association. Although there is no internationally agreed upon flag to represent the whole planet, some organizations have promoted designs for a flag, yet none of these designs have managed to gain much recognition outside the organizations that propose them.

An exception to this is this flag designed for the first Earth Day by John McConnell. It is a dark blue field charged with The Blue Marble, a famous NASA photo of the Earth as seen from outer space, taken during the Apollo 10, NASA mission.

The first Earth Flag was created and copyrighted by John McConnell in preparation for the first Earth Day (also created by him) in San Francisco, in March 1970. The first Earth Day was primarily a Peace Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson was in San Francisco that same year planning the first major Environmental Summit for April 22. Nelson invited McConnell to join forces with him, but McConnell refused because he felt that March 20th, the Vernal Equinox that year, was the more appropriate Earth Day.

Because of the political views of its creator and its having become a symbol of Earth Day, this flag is also associated with environmental awareness, and the celebration of the global community. It was first offered for sale in the 1970 in The Whole Earth Catalog, and is currently endorsed by John McConnell.

The original intent was to reproduce the Apollo 10 photo as accurately as possible with a photo quality image of the earth; however the technology for screen dyeing textiles precluded this. As a result colors in the photo were, browns and greens, were eliminated to facilitate production until it was reduced to two blue for the oceans & land and white for the clouds.

On the first print runs of the Whole Earth flag the colors of the Earth were inadvertently reversed: the ocean was white and the clouds were blue; and a few of these manufacturers variants were sold before the reversal was corrected and the correct design went into production.

The flag was immediately popular on college campuses and in the counter culture sub-culture, but it would not become globally popular until McConnell became active in the United Nations Earth Society Foundation where he met Margaret Mead who made the Earth Flag the icon it has become. She carried it with her wherever she went.

This first printing of the Earth Flag was the fourth or fifth flag in the Zaricor Flag Collection, having been acquired in St. Louis, MO in the early 1970s.

This flag continues to be popular today, but with a different image of the Earth. After Ms. Meads death in 1978, Mr. Edward Brennan, who was the president of the Earth Society Foundation, obtained a new copyright to the Earth Flag. He had versions made by several flag companies: Paramount Flag Company, Collegeville Flag Co., and Canadiana Flag Co., in Missaguq Ontario, Canada. In 1995, Brennan sought financial backing to expand the market for the flag. He was not successful, and the company he created fell on hard times.
Later in 1995, Henry Waxman acquired Brennan's copyright by a marketing agreement for flags made per McConnell's design, maintaining its availability. This flag was re-trademarked as The Authentic Earth Flag, but it is usually called The Earth Day Flag. However the copyright holder of the Authentic Earth Flag is not in charge of Earth Day.

NASA was not involved in the copyright agreement because Apollo photos are in the public domain. Anyone can use the image itself. It is only a violation of the copyright if put on a flag. The copyright extends to any dark blue flag with a centered photo image of the earth, even in variations (of shades and sizes) that are not actually sold by the copyright holders

Text printed on hoist: "EARTH FLAG Copyright 1969 "We" Inc All Rights reserved " One of the earliest Zaricor flags in the collection. Estimated it was added in 1971 while Ben Zaricor was still at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. It was the fourth or fifth flag in the Zaricor Flag Collection.

Extremely early design/version. circa 1970.

Some of the early Earth Flags were made in San Francisco, Ca. by Paramount Flag Co., and Collegeville Flag Co. of Collegeville, Pa. Made of cotton. One color print set into Old Glory blue field.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Souces:

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Flag of the Earth, Wikipedia, 8 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Earth

The Official History of the Earth Flag, Earth Day and John McConnell, The Authentic Earth Flag, 8 November 2011, from:
http://www.earthflag.net/history.htm

John McConnell, Wikipedia, 8 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McConnell_%28peace_activist%29

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
Wikipedia

Hoist & Fly
Width of Hoist	51
Length of Fly	35

Stripes
Size of Hoist	1.25

Frame
Is it framed?	yes
Frame Height	41
Frame Length	58

Stars
Are there stars on obverse?	no
Are there stars on reverse?	no

Stripes
Has a Blood Stripe?	no

Crest/Emblem
Description of Crest/Emblem	Planet (21")

Fabric
Fabric	Cotton

Stitching
Stitching	Machine

Attachment
Comments on Method of Attachmen	Rope through header
Method of Attachment	Roped-header

Documentation
Documents	All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.
Drawings	All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.

Condition
Condition	Excellent
Displayable	yes

Date
Date	circa 1973