[american_flag_uk]

hia... i didnt know which section to post this in but i thought this section seemed more appropriate than the others....

i got a new flag today courtosy of ebay! the flag has some damage to it... has several holes in it where it has been folded up and there are small holes in just about the entire part of the stripes... the only unaffected part seems to be the canton which seems to be im pretty good shape apart from one small hole.

here some pics of it




i would love to be able to do something about these holes but there is the problem of missing material... it isnt a case of sewing this because the edges of the holes are so fragile no stitching would take... would make it worse...

but the problem is these holes are fragile- i found a very small (half by half inch) patch of material from the flag in the bottom of the package that the flag came in. im worried about these holes getting worse

what my thoughts on it were was to do what ive done and put the pole through the header sleeve at the top and display it pretty much like it is (but not over the window!) .... i would have liked to have it vertical but the problem with that it the top hook on the flag has come away there isnt anythign there to hook the flag with and im worried with its delicate nature to sew any new hook to the top though the material just there is 2 ply.

any ideas how best to keep this flag safe from any further harm? or how to make it less fragile?

[NAVA1974]

The damage on your flag appears to have been caused by insects. Moth larvae love wool and the pattern of holes could have been made by one group of larvae eating into layers at one corner of the folded flag. You could remove the fringe, trim off a few inches from the fly and use that red and white material to patch the holes, then re attach the fringe, but that would be a lot of work for a fairly common 48-star flag (common in the US, at least.) To prevent further deterioration, keep the flag in an insect-proof container with a few mothballs.

[CultureGeek]

That does look like moth damage and there's not much you can do about moth damage. You could ask a professional restorer about reweaving, but it's incredibly expensive and I don't know that there's enough left.

The one thing I can add is don't clean it. If you try to clean it or have it cleaned, it will disintegrate further. The moth saliva often holds together areas of the material that have been eaten away to the point that they won't hold together without it and the water or dry-cleaning solution dissolves the moth saliva.

[american_flag_uk]

yea.. i already figured that i houldent wash it!! it is etremely delicate around those areas
i have it hanging by a horizontally placed flagpole in my room... it looks good and no further damage has ome to the flag.