Story of the Flag
The designer of the flag, John Michael O'Keefe, was challenged by the scientist R. Buckminster Fuller in 1982 to "become a world problem-solver", because as Fuller told him, "unless we find a global economic system based on co-operation instead of competition, the world will eventually destroy itself".
Inspired by that meeting with Fuller, O'Keefe left his position as President of a family owned life insurance business within a year and set about the search for a world unifying idea. He wanted to find a communication idea which was based on the reality of a world of billions of one human family, yet each with their own unique individuality. During this search he had a dream in which the idea of a flag for all people appeared. This is the dream in his words:
"In the dream the leaders from history were gathered together preparing a document that was the graduation diploma for all of humanity. I recognized Abraham Lincoln among other leaders, and then I knew I was in a dream. When they showed me the diploma for all humanity, which was symbolic, I was immediately transported to a huge field where I saw that people were celebrating all over the world. The reason they were celebrating was that the world had just come to a near nuclear cataclysm, so close that the seconds were counted off to a launch of the nuclear bombs. Yet somehow the world was saved from this catastrophe, and as people all over the world were celebrating a young child, a young girl held a small raised flag. This was the flag for all people of the Earth, shaped in an equilateral triangle. This was also symbolic, as the design was not evident in the dream. But when I saw it, I knew that this idea would work, and woke myself up and began to design the flag.
I knew it would work because flags and banners have been ingrained in people's hearts and minds throughout all of history, and this symbol encompassed them all. I knew also that in order for the flag to remain true to the idea of representing all people, it must be kept free of religious and political divisions, free of membership, and free of the espousal of divisive groups."
The elements of the flag are: the Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Map - The most accurate flat map of Earth, with no distortion in the relative size of the continents, color-coded for the climate zones of the Earth; the geo-sphere - symbolizing the Earth sphere floating in space; and the stars in the background - symbolizing all of creation.
