# Flying a Flag on Shrouds ?



## ImASonOfaSailor (Jun 26, 2007)

I know i talked to some of you about this before , but i forgot what the hardware was called? I am looking for something to allow me to hoist and lower flag real easy i have a small block to attach to shroud cross bar just didn't know how to attach the rope? And what side is right in flying flags, im on a lake so it doesn't matter but always good to know!

thanks


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Typically quarantine & courtesy flags, and often club/event burgees are flown from the Stbd spreaders. Technically a club burgee is supposed to be flown off a 'pig stick' at the masthead but few do this.

Any viable method of mounting a small sheave in the spreader proper is good for the top end, you can get small cleats that are meant to attach to a shroud.. placing directly below the sheave on a lower diagonal seems to work best. Alternate locations would be a cleat on the mast, a convenient handrail, or even perhaps the turnbuckle barrel opening.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320921444057


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## sailortjk1 (Dec 20, 2005)

Johnson Hardware sells Flag Halyard Kits, Although all the individual parts can be bought individually.

Also, if you are looking to fly a full sized 3' x 5' Flag, consider flying it off of the backstay. Under the spreader is fine for burgees and small flags, but the full sized flags look better in my opinion off the backstay or on a staff on the stern.


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

I will give you a little tip. If you mount a block on your spreader for a burgee halyard, make sure you keep it as far away from the shrouds as you can. If you don't, you will be nice and cozy in bed one night and the breeze will swing around so that your burgee starts to twang the shroud. The sound will be so annoying that your wife will make you get out of that nice cozy bed and go on deck to take the burgee down! This will likely happen to you repeatedly until you get into the habit of taking all your flags down every night before bed, and even then you will forget..

On the bright side, I did discover some very handy quick release clips for the burgees so they are easy to remove quickly! They don't require knots or anything, they just grab the halyard wherever you want them.


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## smallboatlover (May 11, 2011)

i zip tie my american flag to the back stay might put up a flag pole this year but for not the back stay is a good enough place for it. I also put a flag up with the sail tied to the grommets in the sail. Im a real american always flying the flag


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## chip (Oct 23, 2008)

I added a little block on my spreader to hoist a burgee. I thought about getting the kit shown above, but the cleat is metal, and someone pointed out that I should probably avoid that to eliminate the chance of corrosion from dissimilar metals. That seemed resonable, and the plastic one has worked just fine. I connect the burgee to the line with nylon sister clips, which make the flag easy to take on and off.

I have some pics here: Maintenance Results | Sailing Fortuitous

I also have those clips that SchockT linked to for my ensign, which I just clip onto the backstay.

In general, the ensign goes on the stern. A courtesy flag, burgee, or club rank flag go on the starboard spreader, in that order from top to bottom. The Power Squadron has a pretty detailed writeup on flag etiquette:

Flag and Etiquette Committee


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## Summit_Elan (Mar 17, 2012)

Related to this, Clue's little flag halyard is wrapped around the sheave (pulley) on the spreader... Short of bumming a lift from a passing bucket truck, any ideas in how to free the halyard? There is a worn out flag at the top that would make the captain of the black pearl wince. The boat (psc31) is on the hard . Would the spreader support a 40' extension ladder? It's a few feet out from the mast and I don't think I can reach from a bisun's chair.. Ideas?

Thanks,

Elsn


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

Summit_Elan said:


> Related to this, Clue's little flag halyard is wrapped around the sheave (pulley) on the spreader... Short of bumming a lift from a passing bucket truck, any ideas in how to free the halyard? There is a worn out flag at the top that would make the captain of the black pearl wince. The boat (psc31) is on the hard . Would the spreader support a 40' extension ladder? It's a few feet out from the mast and I don't think I can reach from a bisun's chair.. Ideas?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Elsn


You should be able to swing out to your shrouds on a bosuns chair, although most boat yards around here aren't big on people going up their masts when the boat is on the stands.


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## blutoyz (Oct 28, 2012)

Okay...
I have a flag line on my stbd spreader, my ensign will fly on it's own staff off the stern. 

What order will I fly my jolly roger and cocktail flag off the spreader then? Does the Jolly roger take precedence over the cocktail flag?


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## Summit_Elan (Mar 17, 2012)

Yeah, shockt, the yard will not like that. If its still there when I splash in April, I'll try going aloft.


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## rgscpat (Aug 1, 2010)

Yep, I believe the Jolly Roger is the flag of greater dignity or precedence than the cocktail flag, so it would go above or to starboard. The tackier the flag, the lefter and lower it goes... I suppose the position of ultimate indignity or least precedence goes to oil-absorbing pads in the bilge.


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## blutoyz (Oct 28, 2012)

rgscpat said:


> Yep, I believe the Jolly Roger is the flag of greater dignity or precedence than the cocktail flag, so it would go above or to starboard. The tackier the flag, the lefter and lower it goes... I suppose the position of ultimate indignity or least precedence goes to oil-absorbing pads in the bilge.


Makes sense to me

Thanks


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## ImASonOfaSailor (Jun 26, 2007)

Well my boat is in my back yard so i do not have to climb mast.. i do not know the order of the flags. If there is a order ? I know tho starboard is for non serious flags!

Thanks for all of the replies!


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

ImASonOfaSailor said:


> i do not know the order of the flags. If there is a order ? I know tho starboard is for non serious flags!


A flag etiquette failure can get you into serious trouble. The courtesy flag (misnamed, it is required) and the Q flag are both flown from the starboard spreader.

Ensigns are flown from a transom mounted flag staff or from the leech of the aft most sail.

And size matters.

Boat flag etiquette


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