Old British Flag ?

[tony75]

Hello

What are your thoughts on this British Flag?
It measures 44x61 inches
It has several ink stamps that are very faint making it hard to read.
It has 3 small pieces of something sewn in it for weight.
It looks old and feels very dry.
Thank you
Tony

[BrodieBartfast]

It looks convincing to me. Many patriotic flags were manufactured for the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth in 1937, and many of those were reused in victory celebrations in 1945. They were made in all sizes and styles.

Obviously there's no way to pin down an exact date of manufacture, but the fact that this one shows heavy wear and tear, repairs and fading suggests it's been around for quite some time.

Regards, B.B.

[Watchdog]

Interesting piece which certainly does seem to have some age to it.

Is there any suggestion of a military connection?

I don't think it is a "flag" in the generic sense of the word ie something you would see on an official flagstaff for instance.

The principles of Vexillology suggest that the most common proportions for an official flag are that the length (the horizontall dimension) should be 1.5x or 2x the width (the vertical dimension) and the vast majority of official national flags follow this. Your item is not quite the former at the dimensions given.
Also, official flags, standards, guidons, pennants etc all tend to be of multi part stitched construction. Originally woven cotton was used but has been superceded by woven polyester of a relatively robust weight to withstand the battering by the wind on top of buildings etc.

Your item seems to be printed on a lighter weight material so I think it is as BB suggests a "patriotic" item used in celebrations such as street parties etc. Probably better described as a "banner" or "wall hanging" as it doesn't seem to have a header / heading (the stitched white open-ended section at the "hoist" ie the flagstaff end) which incorporates the short section of rope used to attach it to the halyard of the flagstaff.

As I say it does appear to be of an age so it would be interesting to know any history behind it.

I hope this helps

Regards

Mark

[toot]

do you know just what the ballast is that is sewn in for weight?

[tony75]

Hello
Thank you all for the information.
I really appreciate it.
I don't know anything about the ballast.
I bought it at a flea market with no story behind it.
Thanks again for the help
Tony

[BlackCat1982]

More a wall hanging banner as its only printed single sided.

[Jerry B]

More a wall hanging banner as its only printed single sided.

such thin flags by their very nature are only printed on one side as the printing shows thru the thin fabric, you cannot print on both sides, though that does not mean it was not used as a wall hanging and the weights add "weight" to that theory.

Civilian flag for royal or other patriotic events. these can be quite old, and this type was very popular from the boer war period onward and are very hard to date.

I have one with its original pole, to which it was just nailed with no halyard end or rope same as this one