The Texas state flag in neon, on exhibit at the Institute for Texan Cultures in San Antonio. By Thos. F. Duesing. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.

Thank you for visiting the online home of VAST, the Vexillological Association of the State of Texas.

Founded on February 16, 1991, in Austin, Texas, VAST is a non-profit and non-political organization devoted to researching, preserving and publicizing the history and use of flags in Texas.

We welcome all interested persons as members. You should complete a membership application after reading the bylaws.

For more information on VAST or to report problems with this website, email info@texflags.org.

A systematic study of flags and their meanings

Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags, their history and development, and their cultural meanings. Flags evoke strong emotions in their viewers, and vexillologists seek to understand and explain these cultural events. Many vexillologists also serve as vexillographers, or flag designers.

The meaning of the word

"It may seem surprising that such an odd-looking word for an obscure field of study should have gained acceptance, but it’s relatively common and is recorded in most recent dictionaries (they have to be fairly new, since the word was coined only in the 1950s). The word comes from the Latin vexillum for a flag, which derives from the verb vehere, to carry (from which we get vehicle as well). A related Latin term was vexillum, for a body of men grouped under one flag. This suggests that the original Latin referred to a flag that was carried rather than flown from a mast. Someone who studies flags is a vexillologist, and the adjective is the mildly tongue-twisting vexillological. These two terms may be modern, but the Latin root turns up in a number of obscure terms, such as vexillator for a banner-bearer in a mystery or miracle play. Vexillum is also used in modern botany for the large external petal of a legume flower."

Michael Quinion, author, World Wide Words.