Last modified: 2024-03-16 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | great loop signal/trophy burgees |
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image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
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The Great Loop is a boating route that goes through most of the eastern United States (and optionally parts of Canada), through the Mississippi all the way between Chicago and New Orleans, around the coast of Florida and the eastern seaboard, through the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and back again, or the other way around, with some alternative stretches. See map at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GreatLoop.png, showing some of the possible paths.
Boaters who are on the loop often fly a white burgee, and those who have
completed the loop fly a gold one.
http://www.boatus.com/magazine/2011/october/hurry.asp
The color burgees mentioned, used to signal past and present “loopers”, are
regulated by AGLCA - America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, and there are
three basic types (white, golden, and platinum), sharing a common design: They
are all 2:3 stubby tapering flags, forked by a ~90° notch at the fly, and with
dark blue edging on all free sides. They bear the association’s logo on the
center, filling up most of the flag area, and the letters "AGLCA" vertically
along the hoist, in dark blue bold serifless capitals.
The logo consists
of a simplified map showing the Great Lakes in blue and U.S. states in thin
black outlines (not pictured Maine and anything west of the Illinois-Alabama
line, notably excluding Lousiana), and a thick red line showing one of the
possible routes, with four arrow heads (red with negative chevron intersection)
indicating a preference for the anticlockwise direction; conspicuous black "TM"
in lightweight serifless capitals where the Bahamas would be.
The reverse
of all these shows correct reading maps and letters, meaning that it is a
double-sided flag; it’s not a case of full vertical flip of the obverse
(“flopped”), though, as the initialism stays on the hoist side.
At
https://www.greatloop.org/product/gold-burgee.html and foll. see diagrams of
these flags for sale; the size is given as 12×18 inches.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
Gray-edged version
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 February 2024
At
https://www.passagemaker.com/greatloop/gold-loopers-2020 photos of loopers
showing off their burgees: There seems to be a difference between the official
diagram showing blue edging on the white burgee at
https://www.greatloop.org/product/white-burgee.html and actual items as
photographed, with grey edging, contrasting with the blue letters and lakes,
shown in the diagram in identical color. The background is consistently white,
as are the arrow chevrons, with the map filled in golden yellow.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 February 2024
The background is golden yellow, as are the arrow chevrons, with the map
filled in white.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 February 2024
Awarded to those who completed more than one loop: The background is light
grey, as are the arrow chevrons, with the map filled in golden yellow.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 February 2024
There is also a red burgee with no logo, otherwise identical, with dark blue
edging and hoist lettering; from what I could gather this is a positional color
reserved for AGLCA office holders:
https://www.passagemaker.com
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
The AGLCA website offers also a separate range of 3×5 ft flags, "suitable for
a flag pole at your dock, marina, or business." In spite of the ratio
discrepancy, these are said to be identical ("duplicate") to the burgee but
"made from a lighter material", which I presume means that the obverse is not
readable. These flags are available in all three looper patterns, and 3
additional sponsor levels (red, green, and blue).
The image that illustrates this item (https://archive.ph/8r5jC)
shows 6 identical burgees, though, differing only in the background colors:
https://www.greatloop.org/product/3-x-5-burgee-for-land-based-flag-pole.html
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
Lacking photographic evidence, it’s unclear what these look like; being
hoisting flags "made from a lighter material" suggests that they are rectangular
3:5, not 2:3 tappering and notched, but if so they are not really "duplicate"
patterns, and 3 additional sponsor levels (red, green, and blue). The image that
illustrates this item (https://archive.ph/8r5jC)
shows 6 identical burgees, used to generate the images below, as depicted in the
diagram image (not photographic) shown in the official website, which
seems to contradict the text thereon. We may find out that these are mere
flagoids, unintentionally created by digital recoloring of the burgee diagrams,
and that the actual sponsor flags exist only as rectangular 3:5.
https://www.greatloop.org/product/3-x-5-burgee-for-land-based-flag-pole.html
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 February 2024
Admiral sponsor
level, dark red background and chevrons, contrasting with medium red route
arrow thus recolored uniquely here: it is dark red in the other flags.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
Commander sponsor level, green background and chevrons.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024
Lieutenant sponsor level, light blue background and chevrons,
contrasting with dark blue letters and edging.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2024