William Crampton Director of the Flag Institute and President of FIAV.

Dr William Crampton, M.Ed, Ph.D 1936 - 1997

Dr William George Crampton, was the greatest vexillologist in Great Britain. His chief legacy, the Flag Institute, has hundreds of members in Britain and overseas, and he was recognised as Britain s foremost authority on flags by government agencies, the flag trade, the media, publishers, librarians and vexillologists of all ages and backgrounds. He was also internationally known, and his status was recognised by his election as President of FIAV. Vexillology is the study of flags. ...

When asked when he first became interested in flags, Crampton s comment was that it was like being asked when he started breathing. He was fascinated by flags at an early age, and began flag research as a 14-year-old schoolboy, when he realised that some flags in his atlas were obsolete. Thereafter he devoured all the flag knowledge he could find, scouring libraries and bookstores for every available book. At university, in the army, and while working overseas, chances for flag research were limited, but he took every opportunity to gain more knowledge. French Tricolore flag A flag is a piece of cloth flown from a pole or mast, usually intended for signaling or identification. ...

In 1963, when working in adult education, he was able to resume vexillology, and contacted Dr Whitney Smith, the foremost American flag expert and ‘father of the international vexillological movement. In 1967 Whitney Smith held a meeting in London at which Crampton met others devoted to flags, including Captain Ted Barraclough, then editor of the standard British reference book "Flags of the World". The meeting was Crampton s launching pad. Active in the Flag Section of the Heraldry Society, he edited its Newsletter from its introduction in 1969. In 1971 he formed the Flag Institute and became its Director, with Capt. Barraclough as Chairman. The Newsletter became the Institute s journal "Flagmaster". In the same year, at the IV International Flag Congress in Turin, the Institute joined the International Federation and successfully proposed that the 1973 Congress be in Britain. Dr. Smith designed the flag of Guyana which was adopted in 1966. ... Turin (Italian: ; Piedmontese: Türín) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. ...

This Congress placed the Flag Institute firmly on the international map. Meanwhile Crampton had been producing booklets and improving Flagmaster. He was invited to assist with the "Observer s Book of Flags", and worked with Capt. Barraclough on a new edition of Flags of the World, as well as providing information and advice on a wide variety of flag projects. The Institute s services to the flag trade, its members and non-member bodies steadily increased.

At the X Congress, Oxford, 1983, Crampton was elected Congress Secretary and at the 1985 Congress he was awarded a diploma by the Soviet Flag Society. In ensuing years he gained a near monopoly in Britain as a flag-book editor, producing many new books and new editions of established titles. His tour of duty as Congress Secretary ended in 1989. In 1991 he was awarded the "Vexillon", an award for excellence in the promotion of vexillology. In 1993 he was elected President of the International Federation, a post which he held at the time of his death. Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...

Crampton quickly realised the potential of the internet. In 1994 he acquired an e-mail address and a www site. In 1995 he gained a first-class Doctorate, his thesis being "Flags as Non-Verbal Symbols in the Management of National Identity", after ten years part-time work.

In 1995 the growth of the Flag Institute and the volume of business prompted the formation of a trading company, Flag Institute Enterprises, with Crampton as Managing Director. The approaching millenium and the bicentenary of the Union Flag in 2001 stimulated other major projects, a campaign to have the Union Flag adopted as the national flag, the establishment of a Flag Centre to house the Institute and the hosting of the XIX Congress in 2001. In 1999 the newly opened Library of the Flag Institute was named in his honour, The William Crampton Library. Flag Ratio: 1:2 The Union Flag or Union Jack is the flag most commonly associated with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and was also used throughout the former British Empire. ...