2024 Annual Report
Overview
The Flag Institute was founded on 23rd April, 1971 and is the UK’s leading research and documentation centre for flags and flag information and Europe’s largest vexillological membership organisation, totalling 399 members.
The Flag Institute is legally managed by the trustees, elected by all members, who in turn appoint officers, as needs require, who in turn form a council to administer the Institute’s activities.
The Flag Institute maintains and manages the national United Kingdom Flag Registry. This is to ensure there is a definitive record of those United Kingdom flags which exist, both nationally and regionally. The flags so listed then become exempt from planning permission as laid out in The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.
Members receive the journal, Flagmaster, and are entitled to attend the meetings of the Institute. The Institute’s Library is in the process of digitisation to allow all members an easier, wider and more accessible viewing of documentation for study planned to be viewable via the Members’ Area of the web site.
The Institute provides vexillological services to HM Government in the UK and to many other organizations around the world, including the United Nations. These services include advising on the use of flags, designing new flags and collating information on flags of the world.
President
Captain Malcolm Farrow OBE FFI RN
Trustees
The constitution of the Flag Institute allows for a maximum of 10 Trustees, each elected for a 3 year period.
| Graham Bartram | 2021-2024 |
|---|---|
| John Hall | 2021-2024 |
| Lesley Ross | 2022-2025 |
| Philip Thompson | 2022-2025 |
| Philip Tibbetts | 2023-2026 |
| Roger Ourset 2023-2026 | Roger Ourset 2023-2026 |
Registered Information
The Flag Institute 84 Norwood Grove Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire HU17 9HS
The Flag Institute is an active member of the international vexillological organization, FIAV (Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques).
Registered as an incorporated Charity (CIO) in England and Wales (No. 1152496)
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Chief Executive: Leigh Weatherall
Overall and in the background officers of the Flag institute have worked hard, preparing to upgrade our website, digitalising our library and making sure Flagmaster, our ‘flagship publication’ is published on time and to an extremely high content. During the year the Institute was represented at a joint conference in December with the Heraldry Society of Scotland in The Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh and in the Spring Conference at the Conway Hall in London. It was represented at ICV 30 and associated General Assembly of FIAV in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China, by member, John Cartlidge in August 2024. Sadly, financial pressures meant were unable retain the services of Kath Kearney as a paid administrator. On behalf of the Trustees and the whole Institute we want to public thank her for her excellent work and wish her well for the future.
William Crampton Library: Ian Sumner
Following our move from central Hull in August 2023, the Library collection was placed in storage. We then prepared the contents of 300 file boxes for scanning by an experienced local company. The digitised files are all now returned, and further sorting and cataloguing is in progress. At 1 October 2024 this work is around 40 per cent complete, and the Library collection now includes over 50,000 catalogued items. These are listed in an online catalogue (.xls format), which is free to search, sort and download from the Flag Institute website, greatly increasing their discoverability worldwide. The next step, currently under investigation, is to make as many items as possible available to view and/or download within the limits of copyright and data protection laws.
Website : Maggie Sumner
Content development has been suspended over the past year while work continues to upgrade the current Wordpress site and to identify and secure more robust hosting arrangements.
Social Media Report: Bernard Muscat
We have continued to use social media to engage with our audience, often with mentions of flags on tv or in popular culture, updates about flag design competitions, and questions meant to generate engagement, such as asking what the collective noun for flags should be. The most popular reply to that one was ‘a flutter of flags’.
As of 1 November 2024, we have 1,609 followers on Facebook, (2023:1500) and 6,658 followers on X. (2023: 6407).
Flagmaster: Jos Poels
The biannually flag magazine Flagmaster has been published according to schedule twice in the report year November 2023 and October 2024: Flagmaster 167 (Winter 2023, 48 pages) and Flagmaster 168 (Summer 2024, 56 pages).
The members of the editorial board have changed. Prof. James Floyd and Bernard Muscat decided to leave. Welcomed in the board is Sheila Collins. Currently the board consists of: Sheila Collins, Malcolm Good, Andrew Kaley, Theun Okkerse (design), Ian Sumner (sub-editor), Jos Poels (chief editor) and Leigh Wetherall.
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The editorial board operates independent from the Flag Institute board. The views expressed in the magazine are those of individual contributors. For every issue the editorial board held two zoom meetings where publishing policy was discussed, as well as possible new articles. Flagmaster ’s content is a mixture of commissioned and unsolicited work. However, most of the submissions are the result of commissioned work.
During the report year no complaints were received by members/readers about the content. On the contrary, several compliments have been given to the editorial board for the quality of the magazine.
The decision has been made that the printing run of Flagmaster – with the forthcoming issue 169 – goes down from around 650 now to 400.
Treasurer’s Report: Andrew Kayley
A summary of the Financial statement is issued in the financial appendix to this document.
Chairman’s final word: John Hall
The trustees again would like to publicly acknowledge the support and hard work of so many of the Institute’s members in making the Institute the success that it is. It has been particularly pleasing for the Institute to visit ‘north of the border’ last November, the for the first time for many year. We are grateful to the hospitality of the Scottish Heraldry Society on that occasion. It is always difficult to name individual for particular thanks, when the Institute is a team, but this year we would like to acknowledge and give thanks for the hard work of our outgoing Treasurer Philip Thompson, and Administrator Kath Kearney. Thanking them both for their hard work and for ensuring a smooth transfer to new arrangements.
Presented to the AGM of the Institute
Held via zoom 16[th] November 2024
The Revd Canon John Hall FFI FF BA Hons
Chairman of the Trustees of the Flag Institute
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FLAG INSTITUTE
Financial Statement 1[st] April 2023 - 31[st] March 2024
Bank Account opening balance Paypal open Balance
£20,634.83
Opening Balance 1st April 2023
£20,634.83
TRADING STATEMENT
| INCOME | 2022-2023 | EXPENDITURE | 2022-2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | £4,443.92 | £3,132.01 | |||
| Income Square | £6,991.89 | £9,177.41 | Library | £7,217.42 | £3,268.54 |
| Bank Income | £6,624.83 | £4,162.00 | Flagmaster | £5,375.05 | £5,287.98 |
| FI Meetings | £3,060.50 | £4,728.01 | |||
| FI Refunds | £27.00 | £181.00 | |||
| FI other cost | £1,064.46 | £857.17 | |||
| TOTAL INCOME | £13,616.72 | £13,339.41 | TOTAL EXPENSES | £21,188.35 | £17,454.71 |
| Difference between Income and Expenses | Difference between Income and Expenses | Difference between Income and Expenses | -£7,571.63 | -£4,115.30 |
Difference between Income and Expenses
Closing Balance of Trade 31st March 2024
£13,063.20
CASH STATEMENT
Bank Account £13,063.20 Deposit £0.00 Paypal £0.00
CASH Balance 31st March 2024
£13,063.20
I certify that to the best of my knowledge these figures represent a true and accur
PA Thompson Treasurer