The team behind this site and blog is dedicated in bringing you information, including flag facts and flags news on subjects that relate to the United States flag. Learn more about the team below.
Paul Swenson – Colonial Flag
Paul Swenson, President of Colonial Flag and Founder of the September 11th Healing Field Flag Memorial Program and the Build a Better America Civics Fair.
Paul graduated from the University of Utah in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science. He also received a Masters in International Business from the University of South Carolina and an Advanced Certificate of Arabic Training from American University of Cairo. Prior to Colonial Flag, Paul worked as a consultant for Price Waterhouse in Saudi Arabia and for American Express Bank in Cairo. He has also lived in Israel and Portugal, and speaks Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese and Spanish.
In 2002 Paul served as the Flag Protocol Consultant assisting with Medals Ceremony Flag Protocol Enforcement at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Paul was the 2004 recipient of the George Washington Medal of Honor, awarded by the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge for his contributions to encourage patriotism. He was named Citizen of the Year by Sandy City and by the Utah Division of the National Exchange Club. The Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce has honored him with the Patriot Award and the Community Service of the Year Award. He was also named Patriot of the Year by Hill Air Force Base in 2004 and received the rank of Honorary Commander. Paul is also an Honorary Colonel with the Utah National Guard.
Paul has served for 4 years as the Army Reserve Ambassador representing the state of Utah in all Army Reserve to Business relations through 2011.
Ronald Fox – Event Arts and Protocol
Ronald L. Fox is the President of The Fox Group, Inc. The firm specializes in public affairs/relations and event management in Salt Lake City, Utah and Washington D.C.
Ron has over thirty plus years of government service. He is the former principal minority consultant to the California Senate Committee on Finance, Chief Assistant to the Republican Whip and Senate Republican Leader. Mr. Fox works with the White House Advance office and the U.S. State Department, Protocol Office assisting the President and Vice President in the planning and execution of numerous national and international trips. State Executive Director of the George W. Bush for President Committee and a three time Delegate to the Republican National Convention and a member of the 2000 United States Electoral College.
In 1993 he was appointed a member of the Joint Legislative Task Force on the Information Technology and Communications committee. He is a former member and Chairman of the Salt Lake County Library Board and State Information Technology Commission. In 1996 he was the lead legislative advocate who crafted the Utah Telecommunications Reform Act.
John Hartvigsen – Colonial Flag Foundation
Call John a flag expert, a flag historian or a Vexillologist. The Deseret News called him “Utah’s Resident Flagman.” He has become an internationally recognized expert on flag history, display and usage.
John has studied flags since he was a small boy. Before he learned to read, John studied the pictures of flags found in his family’s encyclopedia. His childhood interest has grown to obsession. He has conducted original research into the histories of U.S. and Utah flags. He has delivered papers and talks about flags and has written articles about flags for various publications.
In 1982 and again in 2010, John received the William Driver Award of the North American Vexillological Association. The award is given by the association for the best paper delivered at its annual meeting.
John served as President of the North American Vexillological Association from 2014 to 2017, and has published numerous articles in association journals and publications.
John has worked as the Program Advisor for the Colonial Flag Association providing guidance for Healing Field® and Field of Honor® flag display events presented all around the United States. Along side this role, he is the on staff flag historian or vexillologist for both Colonial Flag Foundation and the Colonial Flag Company.
Alexander Piket (pronouced “pk”) is an associate to Paul Swenson (Colonial Flag). He obtained a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering in February of 2009, with an emphasis on Structural Engineering. After being a few months out of school, he decided to dedicate his time in assisting Colonial Flag and their “industry” in some of their engineering and Web presence efforts in August of 2009.
His particular interest in the Civil Engineering field is explained in his biography, of which a snippet is found below:
“Whilst our country, the Netherlands, was plagued by a moderate to severe fall storm coming from the (west) direction of the North Sea, a serious statement on the evening news was made that a dike-watch was issued for most of the primary dikes, or sand dunes, bordering the North Sea and protecting the back and lower country of the Netherlands. This included millions of fellow human beings as well as the economic heart of our country, including the Government Seat or the city of The Hague and (the Port of) Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe.”
Alexander enjoys an international background. Born in 1983 in The Hague, The Netherlands, he lived and visited numerous places around the world, including: Belgium, The Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The United Kingdom & Turkey. As a result of this, he speaks 4 languages close to very fluently.
He is proud of the Dutch legacy in the United States. Starting in 1613, the first Dutch immigrants and settlers arrived and founded a great number of villages and a town called New Amsterdam on the East Coast, which would become the future world metropolis of New York. Today, 5+ million Americans (2,5% of total population) claim total or partial Dutch heritage. Alexander takes pride in the fact that the Dutch were the very first to salute the United State flag, and therefore the first to acknowledge the independence of, the United States of America on November 16 of 1776.