Tony Burton's life is all about flags. He is the secretary of Flags Australia, he edits its quarterly journal Crux Australis and he is about to release a book on flag design. But there's one place he wishes he saw fewer of the things – behind Tony Abbott.
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"I think Tone should tone it down," he says of the Prime Minister's penchant for adorning press conferences with the national cloth. "It is strange when politicians feel they need to prove their superior claim to patriotism by having ... an infinitude of flags behind them."
Mr Burton has also organised the lecture program for this week's International Congress of Vexillology – the technical lingo for the study of flags. About 65 of the world's leading flag boffins are in Sydney for the biennial conference, held here for the first time. The week-long program includes 33 lectures on the minutiae of flags, tours of prominent flag displays and the General Assembly of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, which took place on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier, the enthusiasts gathered at Observatory Hill to watch several banners – including those belonging to the City of Sydney, Lord Howe Island and the conference itself – being hoisted up a flagstaff overlooking the harbour. Working the pulley was flag manufacturer Wayne Gregory, whose firm makes 50,000 flags a year, mostly for government clients. There are only two designs he won't touch.
"We won't make the Nazi flag and we wouldn't make an ISIS flag," he says. To be clear, he hasn't had requests for either.
Coinciding with the congress was New Zealand's announcement on Tuesday morning that it had picked four finalists in its search for a new flag. Two of the designs, both featuring the Kiwi silver fern, were created by Melbourne-based Kyle Lockwood, who was born in Wellington.
Although the chosen four were derided as boring by some Kiwis (and Australians), the experts argue simplicity is best. US flag buff Ted Kaye advises budding designers to choose meaningful symbols, use just two or three basic colours and never include lettering, organisational seals or small, complex symbols.
Joining the who's who of flag aficionados in Sydney this week is Britain's chief vexillologist Graham Bartram, who has his own Wikipedia page. The visiting Scotsman won't be swayed to judgment on Australia's flag but says if the public don't like the union jack, they should dump it.
"You should have a flag that you're happy with," he says. "At the end of the day it's not the design, it's what people invest in it."
Mr Bartram was also quick to defend the PM's preference for multiple flags behind the podium.
"Politicians are showmen," he says. "Maybe he just feels he want something a little more exciting behind him than a boring grey wall."
Wednesday is jam-packed for the touring vexillologists, who will examine special collections at the Australian War Memorial and tour Parliament House in Canberra. Following a flag display at Lake Burley Griffin, they will board buses back to Sydney and dine at Mittagong RSL.
