vexillology
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 14 June 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 14, 2025 is:
vexillology • \vek-suh-LAH-luh-jee\ • noun
Vexillology is the study of flags.
// An expert in vexillology, Cynthia has an impressive collection of flags displayed in her home.
Examples:
"... flags should have simple elements, a limited number of colors, and no words. One of the tenets of vexillology is that the elements of the flag should be simple enough to be easily drawn by a child." — The Toledo (Ohio) Blade, 9 Jan. 2025
Did you know?
"The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history." Woodrow Wilson was speaking of the U.S. flag when he made that statement in an address in June of 1915, but those who engage in vexillology—that is, vexillologists—would likely find the comment applicable to any national banner. Vexillologists undertake scholarly investigations of flags, producing papers with titles such as "A Review of the Changing Proportions of Rectangular Flags since Medieval Times, and Some Suggestions for the Future." In the late 1950s, they coined vexillology as a name for their field of research, basing it on vexillum, the Latin term for a square flag or banner of the ancient Roman cavalry. The adjectives vexillologic and vexillological and the noun vexillologist followed soon thereafter.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Word of the Day podcast for June 14th. |
| 0:11.0 | Today's word is Vexillology, spelled V-E-X-I-L-L-L-O-L-G-Y. |
| 0:20.0 | Vexilology is a noun. It means the study of flags. Here's the word used. |
| 0:26.2 | In a sentence from the Toledo blade, flags should have simple elements, a limited number of colors, and no words. |
| 0:34.3 | One of the tenets of vexilology is that the elements of the flag should be simple enough |
| 0:39.8 | to be easily drawn by child. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history. Woodrow |
| 0:48.5 | Wilson was speaking of the U.S. flag when he made that statement in an address in June of 1915, but those who engage |
| 0:56.5 | in vexillology, that is, vexelologists, would likely find the comment applicable to any |
| 1:02.6 | national banner. Vexillologists undertake scholarly investigations of flags, producing papers with |
| 1:10.8 | titles such as a review of the |
| 1:12.9 | changing proportions of rectangular flags since medieval times and some suggestions for the future. |
| 1:19.5 | In the late 1950s, they coined the word vexilology as a name for their field of research, |
| 1:26.3 | basing it on vexilum, the Latin term for a square flag or |
| 1:30.1 | banner of the ancient Roman cavalry. The adjectives vexillologic and vexillological and the noun |
| 1:38.5 | vexillologist followed soon thereafter. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
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