KEEPING THE FLAG FLYING..

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 13

KEEPING THE FLAG FLYING ..

JMAGINE the number of flags required for British ships alone, then add the depreciation that goes on every day whenever these flags are flown, and one obtains a rough insight of the enormous amount of work entailed in keeping the British flag flying in every quarter of the globe.

By A. F. Maker

In the actual making of British flags, the work lias developed greatly within the last decade. In the earlydays each Hag was mostly made by a single seamstress. Xow the work is divided into more than a dozen operations, each performed by a specialist so skilled that he or she can carry out the job with the eyes closed, if necessary. The work passes from one machine to another until finally the national emblem is completed and ready for shipment. All the bunting must be of firstclass quality and undergoes certain tests by experts before it is issued to the cutters. The material is carefully laid one ply on another and cut

off to the proper length until a section one hundred ply is completed. The mass of bunting is then carefully marked out and cut by powerful electrical machinery. It is these sections, when sewn together, that form me bodv of the nag The bunting is often" so soft and elastic that great care is necessary not to damage the edges or to pull' the threads in any way. "When all the materials are ready they are passed to the sewing room. Double needle sewing machines which sew two r.>w'< of stitching at the same time are mostly used in joining the red and white strips, then the blue sections are smoothed out and added. At this stage the whole flat? is smoothed out on a cutting table and squared and cut to the "exact size 1 he fly end is neatlv turned in ami securely hemmed with three rows of stitching, while the other end is reinforced at each corner with a triangular piece of bunting and sewed into a canvas heading which is strengthened with an interlining of jute webbing. • Great Care Necessary , The flag is then tested for strength in all parts and examined for flaws A powerful magnifying glass is used in this operation, since the minutest flaw such as "nicking" the material during the action of sewing need-; to be discovered beforehand and the defect corrected.

Pressing and ironing the flags is another operation that must be carried out by skilled hands. An iron just a shade too hot may weaken the fibre of the bunting and cause it to break away from the surrounding parts once the flag has to battle with violent winds. It takes about one hour to press and iron a good flag proper^—and not damage it in the process.

Besides the making of new flapthere is always the work of repairing and renovating the old one* This task is greater than is often imagined by the general public. The truth is. flags in service are always under repair.

A Costly Business It costs quite a good sum of monev to keep flags flying everv dav of the year. In a flag. say. three vards long, the fraying out is so fast that it usually entails a cost of £10 a vcar to replace the damage. These service flags are darned every day. and on windy daws probably two or three times. Even with these economies. £10 worth of fine wool floats into the air in such small particles that seldom if ever is a trace left behind even at the foot of the fiagstafis. Wool bunting'flags, treated with reasonable care, give service over a w, pcnod - however. When hauled. i™ " from i ,he , , m . asl in a wct roll < ] '- t on they should be hung out to get thoroughly dry before being folded up. so as to avoid creasing". Projections on or near "the flagstaff have to be avoided, too. If this J.^iw 1 clonG lho continual flapping will fray out the corners.