Raise the Flag

Flags, flags everywhere! I love flags. Im 54, and really it's only as I get older that I appreciate what one single flag has to say. I study them all. I love the meaning that you can find in them. Some flags you can look at and think hmm, what the heck? But, when you look into the thought that went into that flag, then you can really think...yeah, I get that! For me it's not just flags, its sigils, standard bearers....standard bearers are especially brave to me. They're kind of like the drummers, or bagpipe players who walk ahead of the Army...Just playing, and representing! I'm going to give this book 5 stars because the text was decent, but as an arc, man it was rough going. The pictures were very substandard. I realise that in a book this will be improved, but why put out an arc that's so hideous? My thanks to the publisher's, and netgalley. AGAIN, TO BE CLEAR, MY ISSUE WITH THIS ARC WILL BE FIXED IN THE FORTHCOMING BOOK. They always are. Yep, I'd recommend this book. Especially if you have an interest in flags, and their origin.

Lovely book - great mix of facts and trivia. I really like the illustrations. This is a good book to read either with a child, or for them to dip in and out of independently. A fun way to introduce history and geography!

Well done, informative middle grade or younger book on flags of the world. As the title says, terrific flag facts.

I had a lot of fun reading this, and had a few aha moments.

This is the history of flags, all the flags of the world, and origins of some of the flags, as well as famous flag planting, such as Edmund HIllery and his Shirpa Tenzing Norgay, planing their four flags at the top of Everest.

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Or the idea of having flags for your professional guild.

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The flags of the world are done by continents. Very well organized, and easy to find out just about everything you might want to know about flags.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This was a wonderfully bright and informative book about the history of flags. I liked the way that it represented every country and had them separated by region, which really made the facts about common colors and symbols more accessible. Definitely going to want to buy this one for the library.

This is a really well done children's book. It's a great way to introduce kids to learning about other countries by learning about their flags. I loved the illustrations and thought that the book was organized really well.

RAISE THE FLAG is an all-encompassing introduction to vexillology. (Yes, I did learn that term from reading this book.) From national flags, to sports, to communication, every use of flags is included. As the subtitle states, this book is full of interesting and informative facts, stories, and trivia. I learned a lot from it.

The only flaw I perceived in this book actually had nothing to do with flags. It is two idealized definitions of communism: "all workers are valued equally" with the discussion of the Soviet flag and "all property is shared" with the discussion of the North Korean flag. These definitions are incompatible with the reality of communism in these countries: Holodomor, gulags, and sociopolitical discrimination.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in flags.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group and Net Galley for letting me preview a digital arc.

This was just the book we were looking for. We wanted to learn a lot more about flags around the world. This gives facts and general information. Well illustrated and full of lots of interesting facts.

Raise the Flag by Clive Gifford

A wonderful colorful educational book filled with information about facts, trivia and stories about flags. I found the pages fun to look at and intriguing to read. I can see using this with children for background and also to create new flags at any time.

I remember trying to use flags on a soccer/football field as a linesman and it was difficult to remember which way to lift it for the referee to know which team should have the ball. I looked at the semaphore information for alphabet use and decided that would take a great deal of time and effort to become proficient in. I enjoyed the bits of history that were tucked in here and there and actually learned a few terms and what they meant as I made my way from cover to cover.

Even though flags change from time to time this would definitely make a wonderful gift for a child or teacher.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing-QEB for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Full marks for this book, for doing just what I wanted – and more. I grew up with a book with the world's flags in, which is perfectly redundant now, considering the new countries and changes made since my day. This seems totally current, and delves into all the continents and their national flags – but also so much else. The trophyism of planting flags in extremities like the Poles and on Everest, semaphore, flag signalling in sports, the people who actually design the flags themselves – all are given their own chapters, and they're not the expected lame box-outs, either. The book is also great at discussing the derivation of the flags, the symbolism of them and so on. As a result some of the countries get much more attention than others, but I think it's fair to say that the more unusually patterned and decorated ones deserve more time than your bog standard colours. I felt this book hit every nail square on the head, and if you think your child will require a copy for fun and trivia, and to discover the world through esoteric means, then go for it. Certainly school libraries need a copy.

I requested this book for my son who has a keen interest in flags since doing a school topic on them last year. The bright cover suggested it would be perfect for him and it really was.

The colourful illustrations and interesting facts made for a great read together. We were able to talk about the facts as we read them and use them as a jumping point to learn more about each country.

I would definitely recommend this book and will be looking out for a paperback copy to add to our family bookshelf.

When I went to school, we learnt the flags of each country, I don't think its done anymore, more's the pity.
This is a very interesting book, some of the flags have changed since my schooldays, and there are new ones, but what I really found interesting was the historical facts.
The illustrations make it really interesting, written more for a young audience but very interesting to both children and adults alike.
I really recommend this book

I can't in my good conscience rate this book a 5-star, which, I'll be honest, I would have done so had a certain country be included. This is very personal, but I feel hurt that the flag of Taiwan was not included, and what's worse, "Taiwan" was actually listed in the index! Yet that page was about "retired flag"! I mean, it's a cool bit of history, but what about the very much still in-use Taiwanese flag? I'll also admit, maybe I'm making it a big deal over nothing; if the book's intention isn't to include all the flag of current existing countries, as in, there's actually other missing country flags, let me know ASAP and I will change the rating in a heartbeat. But if the intention is to showcase all the flags, then no, I can't do it.

That being said, I really do love the graphics. The illustrations, the colors, the compositions; I appreciate them all. Content-wise I haven't finished reading, for you can imagine, the first thing I'd want to check is my homeland and was devastated to not have found it, but I can give the book high praises just by the design aspect of it.