Evocation and Figurative Thought in Tennessee Flag Culture

Abstract

Raven, Vol. 20, 2013, pp. 23–54 ISSN 1071-0043 ©2013 NAVA When the Department of Biology at the University of Memphis changed its name to the Department of Biological Sciences, it was explained that the field had expanded beyond its traditional focus and included “new concepts and methods derived from inclusion of physical sciences (chemistry and physics), mathematics, computational sciences, and engineering.”1 Similarly, vexillology is moving beyond description and categorization of flags and toward “a social science concerned with the meaning embodied in a banner and how that meaning is demonstrated and communicated in different cultural situations.”2 As what might be branded “vexillological studies”, the field is now examining the import of flag-inspired designs that go beyond the halyard. Recent examples include the works of Laura K. Kidd and Scot Guenter on clothing with flag designs, and that of Guenter on flag tattoos.3