News Bulletin: The Flag of Earth, which had been unavailable since 2004, has been reintroduced as of October, 2007! See this Press Release for details.

The Flag of Earth, the unofficial banner of the IAA SETI Permanent Study Group, flies at most SETI facilities around the world. It symbolizes the fact that SETI is carried out on behalf of humankind as a whole. The individual people, organizations, and nations involved are immaterial, since any signal received will belong to all of humanity, and represent Earth's entry into the Galactic community.

The yellow part of the flag is the sun, the blue circle symbolizes the Earth, and the small white circle represents the Moon.

Webmaster's Note: I am saddened to report the recent death of James Cadle, creator of the Flag of Earth, great supporter of SETI, and a personal friend. His daughter Abby sent me this email shortly after his passing: "It is with regret that I tell you that James Cadle died of a heart attack in his home over the weekend of June 19th [2004]. They tell us it was probably very quick and painless. He was cremated and we held a private family ceremony for him on his property in rural Illinois." At this time, it is uncertain whether the Flag will continue to be available through Flag of Earth Company International, the organization James founded in 1970. However, as noted in this editorial, the design itself has been placed in the public domain, and other organizations and individuals are encouraged to make and display their own Flags of Earth.

Flag of Earth
available through the North American AstroPhysical Observatory