There are certain things that become important not simply because of what they represent, but because of where they have been.
The Endeavour Expedition already has its primary colors: the ship’s flag of the U.S.S. Endeavour. That flag represents Endeavour herself — the identity at the center of this project, the vessel we have imagined around our very real journeys, and the spirit of exploration behind everything we’re building.
That flag will travel with us.
But it won’t always travel alone.
Alongside it will sometimes fly another set of colors: the flag of tuq He’nej — House of the Pathfinders.
This is an alternate expedition flag, not a replacement for Endeavour’s colors. The two represent different, complementary parts of the same story.
The ship’s flag belongs to Endeavour.
The House flag represents the pathfinders who travel with her.
And I want both of them to acquire histories.
For centuries, ships and explorers have carried colors into distant places. Eventually those flags become more than pieces of cloth. They become witnesses. You can look at an old flag and think about the places it traveled, the weather it endured, and the people who carried it there.
That’s the idea here.
These flags aren’t meant simply to decorate a wall.
They’re meant to go.
The House flag carries a compass at its heart, reflecting one of the central symbols of the Endeavour Expedition: there is always another direction to travel and another horizon beyond the one we can currently see.
Across it is the name:
tuq He’nej
HOUSE OF THE PATHFINDERS
And beneath that is a phrase that captures something important about what this project means:
CONQUEST THROUGH EXPLORATION
Not conquest of other people or places.
The territory we’re interested in conquering is much more personal.
Routine. Hesitation. Distance. Complacency. The temptation to keep saying someday instead of getting in the vehicle and going.
We conquer those things by exploring.
And that leads directly to the mission written across the flag:
TO EXPLORE • TO DISCOVER • TO EXPERIENCE
Sometimes Endeavour’s flag will mark the journey.
Sometimes the colors of tuq He’nej will.
And sometimes they’ll stand together — ship and House, Endeavour and her Pathfinders.
I especially like the idea of photographing them at the places we reach. A mountain overlook. A museum. A battlefield. A forest. A beach. A strange roadside attraction. A restaurant three states away that seemed worth driving to simply because we’d never been there before.
Not every mission needs to be grand.
It only needs to give us a reason to go.
Years from now, I hope we’ll be able to look at these flags and remember the miles behind them. Maybe they’ll be a little faded. Maybe they’ll show some wear. Maybe there will be photographs of them scattered across dozens—or hundreds—of places.
Good.
That’s what expedition colors should look like.
The U.S.S. Endeavour’s flag will remain our primary colors, representing the ship and the expedition itself.
The flag of tuq He’nej will serve beside it as another expression of who we are when we venture beyond the familiar:
Pathfinders.
Going somewhere just to see what’s there.
Always seeking the horizon.