Justin Newcombe gets into the spirit of events with a dual flagpole project so you can hoist your team allegiances for all to see.
Flags are great way to mark an occasion: landing on the moon, winning a car race or generally rubbing someone else's nose in it. Flags can be heavy with history and ideology and though I think they are often taken too seriously, I can't help but like a good flag design.
Since there's a rather large event in New Zealand at the moment (that's right, it's Fashion Week) I thought flying a flag might be a good way to mark the occasion. I guess the thing about the World Cup (the other rather large event that is imminent) is that though it is a rugby event in New Zealand, it is not about New Zealand per se. So just flying the New Zealand flag seemed a little inappropriate - I want to be a welcoming host. So I went for a home and away theme and built two flagpoles.
A peculiarity about being a New Zealander is it seems a little "out there" to fly your own flag in your own front yard, unlike in the United States where flags take on a rather eccentric and, in some eyes, unhealthy reverence. It occurred to me that this is only the second New Zealand flag I've ever owned, the first being a small plastic one my mum gave me to wave at the Queen during her 1974 visit. Although I waved it as fast as my little arm would pump, the Queen didn't stop and comment on my nice flag nor my tired arm, a snub I still have difficulty in rationalising.
Building the flagpole proved to be relatively easy. I used a 5m length of 50mm x 75mm timber for the pole and braced it using 50mm x 50mm in 1m and 2m lengths. I want my lawn back after the Cup so, rather than concreting the poles in, I secured them with removable long stakes driven into the ground - one for each brace and one for the pole. If you have one, you could always secure the flagpole to an existing fencepost.
