The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and Associations

Hulme, F. Edward (Frederick Edward), 1841-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 431K words
Chapters: 44

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and Associations by HulmeAuthor: Hulme, F. Edward (Frederick Edward), 1841-1909,Language: English, Class: CR: History: Heraldry, Release Date: Jul 1, 2012

Editor's review

This is a British work on heraldry and flags, organized around the historical origins of the world's flags, the conventions of heraldic description, and their symbolic associations. Its value lies in treating flags as readable cultural texts: it not only explains how designs are composed but traces how those designs accumulated meaning through dynasties, wars, religion, and trade. The author, Hulme, had experience in both natural history and heraldic writing; the prose leans toward informative exposition, clearly organized, and suits reference-style reading. The book's explanation of flag "blazonry" is especially useful, helping readers master the precise heraldic language for describing flags—a skill still practical today when consulting coats of arms, military colors, and municipal flags. In terms of use, it works better as a desk reference than as a general history to read straight through: it can accompany reading in world history, maritime history, or design history, and serve illustrators, cultural-products designers, and flag and emblem designers as a source of inspiration. Note that the book was written in the modern era, so some flag information no longer matches contemporary political boundaries; readers should treat it as a historical document and a sample of research method, not a current flag manual.

Who it's for

A good fit for

History enthusiasts interested in flags, heraldry, and symbols
Readers needing supplementary material for world history or maritime history
People engaged in flag, emblem, and visual design who need to consult traditional vocabulary
Students and self-learners who want to practice reading English informational texts

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking accurate specifications and official descriptions of present-day national flags
General readers expecting continuous narrative or plotted historical stories
Those who find English reading difficult and are unwilling to use reference works for terminology

Reading tips

Read the heraldic terminology section first to build a basic framework for describing blazonry, then move on to the entries on national flags.
Read in groups by region or historical period, and compare with contemporary flag sources, noting content that has changed.
Keep a map and paper at hand; copy flag designs as you read to deepen your grasp of composition rules.
Use it as a reference book: look up the relevant chapter when a particular flag comes up; there is no need to read it straight through.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for looking up current national flags?

Not really as a tool for current flags. The book was written long ago, and flags and national boundaries have changed considerably since; some descriptions no longer match the present. For accurate specifications and official descriptions of current flags, consult contemporary vexillological sources; this book is better for understanding the historical origins of flags, heraldic description methods, and symbolic associations.

What is blazonry, and do readers need to learn it first?

Blazonry means the specialized heraldic vocabulary used to describe precisely the figures, colors, and layout on coats of arms and flags. You need not study it systematically beforehand, but it is advisable to read the book's explanatory section first and grasp the basic terms before turning to specific flag entries; understanding will be much smoother, and it will help when consulting other heraldic materials later.

How difficult is the original English?

The book is informational nonfiction with fairly regular sentence structure, but it contains many heraldic and historical proper names, and some spellings bear period traces. Readers with intermediate English can get through it with a dictionary; it is best to skim the table of contents and choose chapters of interest, slow down where terminology is dense, and not read word by word.

As an e-book, how can it be read more efficiently?

Use the table of contents to locate regions or themes and treat the whole book as a searchable reference. While reading, keep a map or a contemporary flag guide open for comparison, and take brief notes on terminology and design rules. Concentrating on one region or one type of flag at a time makes it easier to build systematic understanding than reading from beginning to end.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hulme, F. Edward (Frederick Edward), 1841-1909 Author

F. Edward Hulme (Frederick Edward Hulme, 1841–1909) was a British naturalist and writer of popular works; details of his life are limited in publicly available sources, and three of his books are currently held in this collection. His writing spans vexillology, proverbs and myth: The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and Associations surveys the history, heraldic composition and cultural associations of national flags in an informative and readable manner; Proverb Lore examines the origins, transmission and use of proverbs; and Myth-Land retells myths and legends for general readers. Hulme excelled at turning specialist knowledge into clearly organized, richly illustrated popular books, written in plain yet careful prose, and he holds a place in late nineteenth-century British popular writing on natural history and the humanities; his works are still consulted by researchers and enthusiasts in these fields.