Character Strengths Signal Flags

A key identifies the 24 character strengths, the flags that represent them, and the six categories of strengths.

The stand holds flags for participants to browse and select from.

a woman hangs flags on wooden flag poles

Studio view of several flags, with Creativity in front. Creativity is on a yellow background (representing wisdom), with three diagonal stripes: purple (transcendence), pink (courage), and blue (humanity).

Studio view of several flags, with Appreciation of Beauty in the center. Appreciation of Beauty is represented by a square of yellow (wisdom) surrounded by a larger square of blue (humanity) on a field of purple (transcendence).

Character Strengths Signal Flags are a series of flags representing the twenty-four character strengths or virtues identified by positive psychologists Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman.

The public is invited to find, connect, and fly the flags representing your strengths.

As a counterpoint to the diagnostic manual of mental disorders, Peterson and Seligman developed a classification that individuals can use for recognizing and savoring their personal strengths. More info on Peterson’s and Seligman’s research can be found at viacharacter.org.

Character Strengths Signal Flags, 2015, linen, twill tape, letterpress-printed ribbon, rope, wood, flagpoles; 24 flags: 12.5 x 12 inches each; edition of three; flagpoles: 72–84 x 12 x 12 inches each; display: 73.5 x 20.5 x 27 inches. This work has been supported in part by the STUDIOWORKS/Tides Institute & Museum of Art, a private not-for-profit organization.

Exhibited in Bronx Calling: The Third AIM Biennial, at the Bronx Museum in 2015. Thanks to Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman, the Tides Institute & Musem of Art, The Bronx Museum of the Art’s Artists in the Marketplace program, Laura Napier, Hatuey Ramos-Fermín, Will Sylvester, and Michael Yap.

Photos 1–4 by Anna Ablogina.