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 Earthquake Flag |
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Earthquake Flag |
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![[Earthquake - Corner Design Flag]](art/miscflags/earthquake-corner.gif)
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 Earthquake - Corner Outdoor Flags |
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The origin of the jocularly named "Earthquake Flag" goes back to the Paramount Flag Company of San Francisco in the 1980s, then the largest full-facility flag maker in the West. One morning the store manager, Jim Ferrigan, and his assistant manager, Jim Zook, were at Paramount picking up inventory. When opening a flag for inspection, it caused the unpinned stars on a US flag nearby to flutter down into the canton’s corner. Jim Zook, an artist, was struck by the randomized pile of stars that the unexpected puff of air had created and asked Miriam to pin the stars in place and have it sewn up into a U.S. flag. The resulting flag was displayed as an item of novelty décor. It was displayed without any explanation as an optical joke. One summer day an unnamed German tourist queried, Was ist das? Eine Erdbebenfahne? (What is this? An earthquake flag?) Jim Zook, who understood German, immediately realized the potential, and the so-called "Earthquake Flag" was named. Once the flag had been named it moved from optical novelty to production item and different sizes, fabrics, and styles were eventually made available. It was also produced with different canton patterns. In the fall of that year Smithsonian Curator Harold Langley requested one for the Smithsonian’s Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History. It is still part of the national collection as the "Earthquake Flag." CRW Flags offers two versions: corner-design and horizontal-design |
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