Flags

When collecting things one ends up with quite a few categories. For instance, I have a box labeled “flags” and I’m not exactly sure why. I like flags, but I haven’t set out to collect them, though I do wish I had more now.

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I have a few of the small flags that one would have at an Independence Day celebration or the like. I have the American, 13-star American, Texas, Texas sesqui-centennial, Wyoming, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand flags in that size. I like the size, and the 13-star American version has its own little stand to display it on. It’s hard to display more than one at a time, but they are nice to have in a pencil holder once in a while.

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I also have the German, Mexican, POW/MIA, Come and Take It, and a Fake Texas Confederate Battle flag (got it before they apparently became illegal) in the larger size with grommets. These are much easier to display, but they take up quite a bit of wall space, so more than one is hard to put out, and they aren’t hefty enough to be flown outside (and putting the Confederate flag out might get you in trouble).

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Again, I didn’t plan to get these, or specifically order them. I just picked them up slowly as I went about collecting the other things I collect. They have no real use, but they look nice. I’ve always liked flag design and thinking about how flag design affects one’s opinion of a country or group. Most of the famous flags aren’t masterpieces. They’re either much too complicated or much too simple, but they still represent something, and the design process that was going through their creator’s heads would be fascinating to know. It’s good to keep some in decoration rotation anyway.