125 Years: 1888-2013 ~ the Society's Flag

[Scott T. Shier]

Nat Geo Society ~ 125 years -- down memory lane...

Hello Nat Geo Corner,

I thought in the closing month of the 125th anniversary year -- for both the Society, and Magazine -- I'd post a few reminisces.

The flag of the National Geographic Society has been a symbol of adventure and discovery for most of this century. In addition to flying high at headquarters in Washington, D.C., Society flags have been carried on innumerable expeditions to the far-flung reaches of the globe and beyond.

 

In 1903 the Society, then 15 years old, finally had a stable financial base and growing membership. The Board of Managers determined that the Society needed its own flag. Editor Gilbert H. Grosvenor and his wife, Elsie (daughter of Alexander Graham Bell), had studied the many flags found around Washington and thought most were too cryptic to be easily identified from a distance.

 

“In Washington we’d been watching parade after parade with notables...and the flags were so complicated...the bystander from the sidewalk couldn’t tell what it was. Clearly, what the Society needed was a simple and dignified standard, both attractive and instantly recognizable,” recalled Dr. Grosvenor.

 

Mrs. Grosvenor volunteered to come up with a design. She created the now famous tricolor. The colors, representing sky, earth, and sea, express the wide range of the Geographic’s interests.

 

The flag first went on assignment with the 1903 Ziegler Polar Expedition to the Arctic. Since then it has been on hundreds of Society expeditions, including treks to both the North and South Poles, the 1935 Explorer II Stratosphere flight, the climb to the summit of Mount Everest with the late Dr. Barry Bishop, and on all of the Apollo missions. In 1985 it traveled with Dr. Robert Ballard down to the discovery of the RMS Titanic! Perhaps the flag’s greatest journey was to the moon with Neil Armstrong. Someday it may accompany astronauts to Mars.

* it did fly in the Space Shuttles, too!

[Melvin L. De Vilbiss]

Interesting that you would bring this up.

I was just communicating with Dale Murphy a few days ago and he mentioned talking to an older gentleman in Texas that has one of these flags that was on an Apollo flight (I think - but it was in space). He was willing to let it go for $10,000.

Of course, the provenance is what makes it so valuable.

On the other hand, Doug Wolters, who was a dealer on eBay a few years ago, also has one; his research, as yet, has not provided the provenance he's looking for. I believe he's narrowed it down a bit - but the research has been hard to come by and the people at the Society have not been forthcoming with assistance (just to let him have access to the records to do his own research).

But, knowing Doug, he'll find the answers one of these day.

Thanks for the post Scott!

Mel

[Scott T. Shier]

That's very interesting, thanks for chatting back. I'm sure I would never be able to acquire that (for the amount!), but it would be awesome to have anything Nat Geo related that flew w/ our gallant astronauts...

 - Scott