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Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The term was coined in 1957 by Dr. Whitney Smith of the United States, the author of many books and articles on this subject. It was originally considered a sub-discipline of heraldry, and occasionally is still seen as such; it is also sometimes considered a branch of semiotics. [1] It is formally defined in the FIAV (Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques) constitution as "the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge."