Flag Building tips

[Dog Burger]

*doffs cap* Spurs fan here absolutley loving that flag, well done Dog Burger! I too will have to drop by & shake your hand at some point over the fest!

I'm in the process of making my own flag - have flag, pole, stakes, guy ropes, bungees (all thanks to advice from peeps in this thread - many thanks) and now have design - all I need now is paint.

I've popped into my local Homebase & B&Q, looking for fabric paint as suggested earlier in the thread but haven't found what I'm looking for, so off to Debenhams and the local craft shop tomorrow. With any luck I'll be painting over the weekend and will post pics next week! Wish me luck!

[stephenmcdaid]

Furry furry furry Otter

Meep

[Staberinde]

some great flags here, it deserves a bump.

[Dog Burger]

I've got one concern with my flags this year. Have never used a single pole before, always two, in a banner style formation. That enabled me to guy rope them out in about four different directions, also making it harder to steal them. You're not supposed to guy out the single poles as it stops them spinning with the wind. Any ideas how to make my flags less stealable?

[halvin]

I've got one concern with my flags this year. Have never used a single pole before, always two, in a banner style formation. That enabled me to guy rope them out in about four different directions, also making it harder to steal them. You're not supposed to guy out the single poles as it stops them spinning with the wind. Any ideas how to make my flags less stealable?

[LittleJon]

theres a song for every subject.

heres one from a favourite band of mine from the early eighties

The Passage

Flag Night

they must be hung in a certain order

set in line in a certain order

and if that order is incorrect

it could all fall apart

the whole display would be wrecked

parading emblems is an art

and that order is:

raw sienna

ultramarine

prussian blue

vermillion deep

signal red

permanent rose

cassel earth preceding indigo

burnt umber

alizarin

ivory black

cinnabar green

use only the sort that soaks up the light

we don't want the type that shows up the dirt, you know,

white

black out the

white

it's wrong is

white

not a sign of the times

you must take care in the way they're lowered

take greatest care in the way they're lowered

they're not just banners, they stand for pride

the signs of status and alliance

measure carefully their height

unfurling pennants is a science

the formula is:

dark vienna

cobalt shade

autumn brown

payne cool grey

deep madder

ice blue

poppy red then crimson hue

mars black

hooker's green

flesh tint ochre

chrome cerise

use only the sort that soaks up the light

we don't want the type that shows up the dirt, you know,

white

it's yards too bright

white

it's a devil of a colour

white

not a sign of the times

perhaps you've not worked out what lies behind it

it helps to understand what lies behind it

it's not just pomp, it's not simply circumstance

emblems tell you what you are

thanks to flags you know where you stand

you're dressed to kill in coats of arms

be dead precise:

hang them exactly (don't be boring)

(don't be drab)

at half mast (climb a pole and)

(hang a flag)

and black out the white

[Goblinz]

I've been thinking about that and come to the conclusion that normal flag poles don't rotate and they work fine so I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not entirely convinced that a flag would be able to turn the pole anyway - my 8m pole weighs quite a bit and you're not going to get much moment from the flag (the force is going to act close to the centre of rotation and moment = force x distance. Anyone remember GCSE physics?)

[halvin]

Hmm, we've got some 1/2" PVC pipe at work and I think I might borrow some for the flags. I'd use a zip tie + a disc (need to have a rummage to see what we've got) to form the stop, place the pipe over the flag pole, use another zip tie at the top to stop the pipe coming off and then fix the flag to the pipe. That'll allow it to rotate freely.

...or I may not bother and let the flag wrap itself around the pole if it wants.

[Dog Burger]

Hmm, we've got some 1/2" PVC pipe at work and I think I might borrow some for the flags. I'd use a zip tie + a disc (need to have a rummage to see what we've got) to form the stop, place the pipe over the flag pole, use another zip tie at the top to stop the pipe coming off and then fix the flag to the pipe. That'll allow it to rotate freely.

...or I may not bother and let the flag wrap itself around the pole if it wants.

[Goblinz]

I'm tempted by the not bothering approach too, i must say. Just worried that at the moment its incredibly easy to lift the pole of the stake, retract it and wander off with a free flag if anyone is cold-hearted enough to do so. I've had quite a few festival flags nicked in the past.

[halvin]

I've had quite a few festival flags nicked in the past.

[ben_cosmia]

see if my chas & dave flag gits nicked. someones baws are gettin booted!

[Goblinz]

see if my chas & dave flag gits nicked. someones baws are gettin booted!

[MikeyB37]

Flag and 6m pole arrived from Skyblue yesterday, bought 2 ground stakes too but they seemed a bit crap so i grabbed an old steel mop handle and used that as a stake with the pole dropped over it.

I think I'll be tying mine to our gazebo, hopefully that'll be sufficient deterrent.

Edited June 3, 2007 by MikeyB37

[halvin]

I think your flag is revered so much on here that in the event of it being stolen an action group of eFesters will be formed to organise a full scale search party to retrieve said flag.

G

[Goblinz]

Count me in. I like a good lynching!

[Staberinde]

Hmm, we've got some 1/2" PVC pipe at work and I think I might borrow some for the flags. I'd use a zip tie + a disc (need to have a rummage to see what we've got) to form the stop, place the pipe over the flag pole, use another zip tie at the top to stop the pipe coming off and then fix the flag to the pipe. That'll allow it to rotate freely.

...or I may not bother and let the flag wrap itself around the pole if it wants.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Staberinde

[mrfunk]

Spose it's not too much effort to unravel it every so often. The theft thing could be a problem. I'm gonna gaffer some guy ropes to mine and peg it so it can't be just run off with. Maybe ant-theft paint and barbed wire qould work

I found a good spike solution. I have an old swing ball pole and am just gonna use the bottom end hammered into the ground.

G

[Goblinz]

I tend to use a farmers "Fencer" attached to some stainless wire wrapped around said pole.. Noramlly set to 10joules 15KV ... ouch

[harvey21183]

Well, finally it is all finished

I ended up using silk paints from an art supply shop, as my 2 local B&Q's were a bit rubbish on the acrylic paint front. Didn't work too well initially as they're clearly designed to be used on white fabrics, so I just painted all the coloured bits white as a sort of base coat. The black was done with a big black permanent fabric marker pen type thing.

It was pinned to the notice board in my kitchen to allow proper drying when this picture was taken, that's why there's a meningitis thing visible through it. As well as the de rigueur notice to my fellow students to clean the bloody mess up

If I have the opportunity for a test hoist up the flag pole I'll post a pic of it flying freely.

[Paul ™]

Excellent job

Some good flags this year guys, maybe we should run a poll to vote a favourite?

[ukslim]

sorry must ask ....whats the Horse all about?

[halvin]

Wow, that really is awesome! I like the look of the white on coloured material.

You've got me thinking about next year's flag now - I definitely want to try painting.

[Late]

If i put a flashing red light on top of my flag, do you think i will attract a load of people on drugs?

[halvin]

If i put a flashing red light on top of my flag, do you think i will attract a load of people on drugs?