Image by Rick Wyatt
Image by Dave Martucci

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Who is Pete Loeser
(This introduction was first prepared for the HFoOA electronic database when first published in 2000)





Dr. Whitney Smith (on right) and Pete
Dr Smith's last NAVA presentation
NAVA 44 - Los Angeles 2010




Loeser (Löser) Family Arms and Flag
servitium cum honore (Service with Honor)

      The green and white stripes represent the "landcolors" of the family, the arms that of the Loeser family found in Rietstap's Armorial General. The Latin family motto of "servitium cum honore" is a modern addition to the family shield which translates into English as "service with honor."

        My name is Peter Loeser. I was a history teacher for 32 years. I started this project because I'm a compulsive collector, I collect everything I get interested in, much to the frustration of my wife. Once I begin collecting something, I usually go overboard. Hence, I now own a whole bunch of flags that I really don't have any logical reason for, except I simply collected them. As a history teacher and somebody who needs to organize things, an online database like this is a natural solution.
        Please understand that although I've researched the histories of these flags to the best of my abilities, and have consulted with persons far more knowledgeable than myself, it is only as accurate as history makes possible. It continues to be an on-going process. Please e-mail me if you spot any mistakes you think I have made. At last count, there are over 3000 historical flags on over 90 pages divided into historical categories or topics, illustrated, and identified on this site. There is also some very nice original flag articles and essays. How's that for compulsive?
        While working with students, I found they were as fascinated as I was about historic flags and their origins, but had trouble connecting them to their historical context. I began putting together flag learning kits for different historical periods that included the actual full size replica flags and lessons to use with them. Since these kits were too costly to put together in any commercial manner, I eventually decided to share the information I gathered on this website to help others learn more about the flags and their stories. As you look through the site, look for links in light gray for more interesting details and information about certain flags or certain flag myths.
        Some of you may wonder why this site has such a strange combination of flags. Since some of my ancestors came from an area in Poland known as East Prussia, while others came from England, and since I live in the United States, I included flags from all of these places. After a while, the Prussia page grew into a Germany page, etc. Then as I developed my flag history units, I began to expand into periods of US and World History and the collection kept growing. As the site grew, certain vexillologists contacted me and helped build on to the site, adding their area of interest, and it just continues to grow. So basically, there is no real logical way to explain why some flags and countries are included and some are not. It basically is just what I found or got interested in.

Pete Loeser, 26 February 2000

        I'm now retired, and spend my "flag" time working on this website and on my duties at Flags of the World. Click on my name below if you wish to e-mail me directly:

, 26 February 2007

Please note: The information and images contained in this database were complied here as a public service and are shared for education purposes only. The images and information may not be used in any commercial manner without permission of the original artist and sources of the information, and are not to be used without giving credit to those persons. In short, the information can be shared and used, but not claimed as the personal property of any individual or organization. The information is public domain, the wording is not. The images remain the intellectual property of the original artist, but can be used in non-commercial manners; in short, their use cannot result in commercial gain without permission of the artist. The essays used in this website database are shared by the authors, but remain their intellectual property, and must be properly cited and credited to their originators.

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