The Language of Flags: J. H. Colton’s 1863 Chart and the Vexillological World of the Nineteenth Century
In the mid-nineteenth century, the ability to read a flag was a professional necessity in every port city in the world. J. H. Colton’s National Flags chart of c.1863–1866 was produced to serve that need — and in doing so, it captured a world that has since been transformed beyond recognition. This is the story of the chart, its publisher, and the flags that no longer fly.