Abstract

Flags are an essential visual artifact built to, among many other things, help facilitate a collective national identity. In theory, it creates a homogeneous sense of identity and belonging; in practice, this overpowering idea and performance of nationalism can mask a history of oppression of a people and/or minority groups.
Under the lens of the decolonial Brazilian research methodology Quilombismo and speculative and ontological design, this research-creating project sought to develop two fictional flags and a collection of twelve postcards to draw on the idea of an imaginary Brazilian future rooted in Black futurism and social change. Through a detailed explanation of the creation process guided by the research question of how flags can act like a visual platform for the imagination of new futures for Afro-Brazilians, this project assesses the relationship between national identity, representation, and collective memory.
Finally, the driving goal of this research-creation project is to expand the field of vexillology within graphic design while creating new visual artifacts driven by Quilombismo as a cultural-creative methodology. By creating new flags and postcards that chronologically narrate key pieces of Afro-Brazilian history, one major goal was to challenge the traditional practice of vexillology and instead use it as a means of cultural resistance, daring to speculate about a future with a truly representative national imaginary.