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John Hartvigsen is a flag historian, or a vexillologist. The Deseret News called him “Utah’s Resident Flagman.” Hartvigsen has conducted original research focusing on the histories of U.S. and Utah flags and has delivered papers and talks detailing his research. He has written articles about flags for various publications and has an article on Utah’s gigantic statehood flag that appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly. In 1982 and 2010, Hartvigsen received the William Driver Award from the North American Vexillological Association. The award is given by the association for the best paper delivered at the association’s annual meeting.
In August 2011 Hartvigsen attended the 24th International Congress of Vexillological Associations in Alexandria, Virginia where he presented a paper on the recent corrections made to the Utah State Flag. Hartvigsen identified the error in the design of the Utah State Flag which resulted in the preparation and passage of Utah House Concurrent Resolution 2 in the 2011 Legislative Session. He received a Presidential Citation Certificate from the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA). A past NAVA Treasurer, he currently serves as a member of the NAVA Membership Committee, an Advisory Member of the Convention Committee, and is bringing NAVA’s 47th Annual Meeting to Salt Lake City in 2013.
Hartvigsen has worked with the Colonial Flag Foundation in support of Healing Field Flag Display Memorials that commemorate the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. By 2011 the Healing Field Flag Display Memorials were held in forty locations around the United States. He also helped to coordinate the Utah Tenth Anniversary Healing Field Display in September of 2011 at the Sandy City Promenade.
Hartvigsen graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Political Science. He also earned a secondary teaching certificate and a teaching minor in history at the University of Utah. He served twelve years as an officer in the U.S. Army’s Adjutant Generals Corps. He and his wife Deanna have five children and eleven grandchildren.
The collection is separated into five different series: Correspondence, Publications, Utah State Flag Corrected Design, Vexillological Society, and Writings. The series for Writings has been divided into three subseries: "Flag-post" Blog Entries, Reports, and "Utah Flagman" Blog Entries. The blog entries appear in their original order and are printed in color.
The John M. Hartvigsen Papers, 1980-2011, Utah State Historical Society.
Donated by John Hartvigsen, 2010, 2011.
The John M. Hartvigsen Papers, 1980-2011 are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.