Niccolò Moronato
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Emotional Flags

Emotional Flags is an ongoing search for a code and a modality for expressing individual or collective emotions in public space.

By signaling momentary emotional states rather than symbolizing affiliations, nations, or ideologies, an emotional flag manifests a person’s feeling that is otherwise inconvenient or difficult to express in a social context, although it deeply affects the carrier’s well-being.


Emotional flags draw inspiration from repurposing nautical or technical flags, their alphabet, and sentences they are designed to communicate at sea, to then expand into creating new signals that are both abstract and immediate in nature. It is currently run by me and Ginevra Collini, and open for collaborations and partnerships.

Research: nautical flag alphabet video

Foxtrot: “I am disoriented: communicate with me”
Emotional flag use: “I am feeling confused”

Emotional Flag #01: “Don't’ be too hard on yourself”

The process of creating new flags is often based on group workshops and sessions of collective imagination, or triggered by impromptu interactions that happen in public space during performative tests. Oftentimes, instruments of sociological and psychographic analysis that have been appropriated by marketing (i.e. focus groups) are re-appropriated to investigate deeper feelings and meanings that lie underneath the surface of participant’s everyday life.

FIELD TEST NOTES

SESSIONE UNO
Roma / April 25th - May 1st 2024

The flags were experimented performatively for the first time in Rome, during a residency hosted by Playtime and SpazioMensa.

  • The first step of our inquiry was to organize a focus group.

    A focus group is a group interview involving a small number (sometimes up to ten) of participants to learn their reactions to specific themes, questions or product ideas, or to understand the participants' perceptions of shared experiences.
    It is a typical tool of market research, repurposed to inform our performative practice.

  • Location: sub-urban wilderness

  • Location: sub-urban wilderness

  • Location: Mayday concert, Rome

  • At the end of the residency, we opened up the results of our experiments to a mixed audience and we gathered several precious insights and feedback which we are eager to continue working on in different contexts and formats.

Mind maps derived from the discussions elicited at the focus group.
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Looking for orientation.
Voice of our friend Ileana directing us over the phone from her apartment, 2024.

Holding the flag

“When was the last time you held a flag?
Are there aspects of your mood that you feel can’t be communicated to others?”
— Emotional Flags Focus Group
“Is it easy to express your emotions?
Are there aspects of your emotional state that you wish people paid more attention to?
Does the flag help you express yourself, or does it speak for you?”
— Emotional Flags Focus Group
“How does the meaning of a flag change depending on the context?
Does the flag amplify your voice or drown it out?
Is it easy to switch flags? Should it be?”
— Emotional Flags Focus Group

Traditionally, the Mayday concert in Rome has always been the place to bring your flag - oftentimes ideological, political or identitarian.

Most surprisingly, however, we found we were the only flags in the whole concert.
While we were interested in seeing how the flags would fit in or stand out amongst a crowd of other flags, we suddenly had to confront a feeling of loneliness, and being the center of attention.

The mystery of zero flags at May 1st concert

Before walking in, the police inspected our flags and asked us what they were, saying political messages or symbols were banned from entering. Little did they know that we were testing out a code, and that our intent is very political.

As soon as we walked in, a journalist from a populist rightwing TV show stopped us and interviewed us, insisting on the point that we were carrying a political message:

“So, you brought these flags because this is your message, right?”
“No, this is just how we’re feeling”
“And you’re expressing this with this flag that you brought to the concert”
“No, this is just a sign of how we’re feeling right now”
“So, it is hard to express your feelings, that’s your message, right?”
“Well, ma’am, if you’re feeling tired, is it easy for you to just tell your boss?”
- shakes head -
“See…”

“OK guys, thank you…”

Feel free to reach out should you want to host us or help us advance our research into emotional flags.

Mayday concert experience and live impressions from our performative test.