[PRGringo]

I am building a 2nd flag pole. It will be located to the south of my existing pole. It will be slightly higher (9") than the existing pole.

I plan on using the new, taller pole solely for the US Flag and the other shorter, northern pole for displaying state flags.

Is this layout acceptable?

Thank you.

[Peter Ansoff]

Greetings, PRGringo -- welcome to the forum!

Your arrangement sounds fine. If the poles were of equal height, you'd want the US flag to be in the place of honor on the right-hand pole (the left as viewed by an observer facing the building, or whatever). However, since one is taller this isn't an issue.

I actually have *3* poles in front of my house, and I fly national and state flags on the appropriate holidays, etc. On days that are not holidays or anniversaries, I fly interesting combinations. For example, today I have the US "Serapis" flag, the Hawaiian flag and the Civil War-era flag of the Louisiana Republic. All of them have red, white and blue stripes, which makes an interesting display.

As I understand it, Hawaii celebrates Statehood Day on 3rd Friday in August, although August 19th was the actual date of admission in 1959.

Again welcome -- it will be good to hear more flag news from Puerto Rico!

Best regards,

Peter Ansoff

[PRGringo]

Thanks for the reply, Peter, and info. especially regarding the Hawaii admission. I used Wikipedia as my info source and set up a spreadsheet. Hmmmm, I suppose I could fly it both days.....! No, checking my list, I have 'Columbus Leaves Spain' that day so I fly his Fernand and Isabela flag that day. I will give that priority because of where I am. I can see the need for 3 poles now!

I was not aware of the 'Serapis' flag but that will go onto my wish list as I am a Navy brat.

[Peter Ansoff]

I was not aware of the 'Serapis' flag but that will go onto my wish list as I am a Navy brat

The Serapis flag is an important piece of flag history. The original source for it is a painting that was made by a Dutch artist when the Serapis was at the Texel in 1779 (after John Paul Jones captured her). The painting was made to document the appearance of the flag, which means that it is probably pretty accurate. It's one of the very few reliable illustrations of the American flag from the Revolutionary War era.

The unusual thing about the Serapis flag was that it had red, white, and blue stripes. The red/white/blue striped version of the US flag seems to have been more common on ships that were fitted out in Europe during the Revolution. (The frigate Alliance, which was at the Texel at the same time, had red and white stripes on her flag. She was built in Massachusetts.)

The other interesting thing about the Serapis flag is that the stripes don't follow a consistent repeating color pattern. I've heard it suggested that this was because it was made from pieces of a British flag while Jones's squadron was on its way to the Texel. Nobody knows for sure, of course.

Regards,

Peter Ansoff