Question 1

What is Vexil?

Accepted Answer

Vexil is a free flag generator that composes a genuinely good flag from what you stand for. You type a name, pick three values, one motif and a colour palette, and a deterministic Good-Flag-Bad-Flag rules engine builds an original heraldic ensign — flat, two or three contrasting colours, exactly one clean charge, never lettering or a seal — then decodes what every stripe, division and charge means in a plain-language meaning-key. No account, no login, runs entirely in your browser.

Question 2

How is Vexil different from Canva or an AI flag generator?

Accepted Answer

Template makers and AI image tools let you put any image, text or seal on a flag, so they can — and usually do — produce cluttered designs that break flag-design rules. Vexil is not a free canvas: it is a rules engine that can only output a flag that passes the NAVA Good Flag, Bad Flag principles — a bounded field division, a hard two-to-three-colour limit with a contrast guard, exactly one clean abstract charge, and never any lettering. It is the flag maker that can't make a bad flag, and every design comes with a decoded meaning-key.

Question 3

Does Vexil follow the Good Flag, Bad Flag rules?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Vexil enforces all five NAVA principles in code: keep it simple (one clean charge, drawable from memory), use meaningful symbolism (the meaning-key maps every element to one of your inputs), use two or three basic colours (a hard limit with a contrast check), no lettering or seals (text is never rendered on the flag), and be distinctive (every design is original and generated, never a copy of a real national or existing flag).

Question 4

What is the meaning-key?

Accepted Answer

The meaning-key is a decoded legend printed beside your flag that captions every meaningful element — the field division, each colour and the charge — mapped in plain language to the values, motif and name you chose. It makes the flag legible to a stranger: someone who has never used Vexil can read the key and immediately understand what the flag says about you. It is half the artifact and carries the built-in share line.

Question 5

Is Vexil free, and can I use the flags for worldbuilding or D&D?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is completely free with no account, login or payment. The flags are 100% original generated designs you can download and use for personal projects, fictional nations, worldbuilding, TTRPG factions and campaign heraldry. Vexil is a for-fun personal and fictional flag toy — it never claims to be your real national, ancestral or family flag.