| Flags of the World | |
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| Formation | 1993 |
| Location | International |
| Official languages | English |
| Listmaster | André Coutanche |
| Key people | Jonathan Dixon, Assistant-Listmaster Ivan Sache, Apprentice-Listmaster Rob Raeside, Editorial Director |
| Staff | 21 |
| Website | main mirror list |
Flags of the World (or FOTW) is an Internet-based vexillological organization and resource. Its projects include the Internet's largest website devoted to vexillology, containing comprehensive information about all kinds of flags, and an associated mailing list. Vexillology is the scholarly study of Flags The word is a synthesis of the Latin word Vexillum and the suffix –''ology'', meaning "study A flag is a piece of Cloth, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used Symbolically for signaling or identification An electronic mailing list (sometimes written as elist or e-list) is a special usage of e-mail that allows for widespread distribution of information to FOTW was founded in 1993, and joined the International Federation of Vexillological Associations in 2001. The Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques (FIAV is an international federation of 52 regional national and multinational associations and institutions
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The FOTW website contains more than 35,000 pages about flags and more than 66,000 images of flags. It includes an extensive online dictionary of vexillology.
The website is usually updated once a week with fresh material, but some mirrors update monthly. In Computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a Data set On the Internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site Due to the high amount of material there is an editing backlog, causing FOTW to contain outdated information. There are also some mirrors that have not been updated, so they are considered "historical. "
The main source for material on the FOTW website are contributions to the FOTW mailing list, which currently has somewhat over 800 members. An editorial staff of unpaid volunteers manages and edits the site and maintains the list.
The organization's flag is an asymmetric white and blue vertical bicolor, with a circle of five upright stars surrounding an inverted black star centered somewhat above the midpoint of the dividing line. The design, by Mark Sensen, was selected over 10 challengers in a poll of FOTW mailing list members and was adopted March 8, 1996. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Sensen described its symbolism:
| “ | White on the hoist stands for peace, blue on the fly for progress. The six colours of the stars are the main colours used in flags. The stars help to make one bigger symbol. The way the stars are all connected to each other represents the Internet. [1] | ” |
The flag is thus noteworthy as a rare representation of the Internet on a flag. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks