How to Make a Flag

Co-authored by Nicole Bolin

Last Updated: January 27, 2023

Flags are a fun and easy craft project for kids that can be made using materials in your own home. All you need to for a great flag is some art supplies and a little imagination!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Making a Paper Flag

1
Take six sheets of paper. You can use plain white paper (or card if you prefer) which you can later decorate with your flag's colors using crayons, pencils, markers or paint. Alternatively, you can use paper that's the same color as the base color of your flag. For example, if you were making a British flag, you could use blue paper, or if you're making a Canadian flag, you could use red paper.
2
Roll two sheets of paper into tubes. This will form the flagpole. Make sure to roll the sheets of paper tightly, using sticky tape to secure. If you don't want to use paper, you can use a thin wooden stick as your flagpole.

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3
Tape the tubes together to make a long tube. Take the two rolled sheets of paper and slot the ends into each other to make one long tube. Secure with some sticky tape.
4
Take the other four sheets of paper and make a rectangle. Lay the four sheets of paper out flat on the table and align them so that they form a rectangle. Use paper masking tape (which you can later color over) to stick the four sheets of paper together. Tape on both sides of the paper for extra strength.
5
Tape the rectangle on to the long tube. Use regular sticky tape to attach the paper rectangle to the tube. Make sure that it's attached securely so it won't fall apart when you wave it.
6
Decorate your flag. Now you can decorate your flag with the colors of whatever country or team colors you like. Use your favorite coloring materials or paints, add stickers or glitter, or write slogans on one or both sides of your flag. You can also cut shapes, such as stars or moons out from extra pieces of colored paper and glue these to your flag.
- You can display it on a bulletin board but consider the thickness of the corkboard.
- The thumbtacks should not pierce the board and then go into the wall.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making a Cloth Flag

1
Get a piece of nylon or cotton fabric. Choose a piece of fabric in the base color of the flag you wish to make. If you're making an American flag, for example, you can stick with plain white. To make a large flag, try to use a piece of fabric measuring 5 foot (1.5 m) by 3 foot (0.9 m). If you want a smaller flag, a smaller piece of fabric (or even a pillowcase) will do.
2
Find other pieces of fabric in the colors you need for your flag. It doesn't matter what type of fabric these pieces are, they can be nylon or cotton like the flag, or they can be felt, silk, polyester, velour - whatever you can find around the house! Pieces of old clothing, or old tablecloths are perfect for this.
3
Choose a flag handle. For a DIY flag, the flag handle can be made from whatever you choose - it could be a tree branch or an old broom pole - as long as it's strong enough and long enough to hold your flag.
4
Make a pocket for the flag handle. Before you can attach your flag to its handle, you will need to make a pocket for the handle to slip into. To do this, spread your flag out on the table and lay the handle along the shorter, vertical edge of the material, on the right hand side.
- Fold the edge of the material loosely over the handle and pin the material in place.
- Remove the handle, then you can use a sewing machine or some fabric glue to secure the material in place.
- Sew or glue the top of the pocket together, so the handle cannot slip through. This will allow the flag to sit on top of the handle.
5
Decorate your flag. Now comes the fun part! Use markers, rulers and stencils to draw patterns on the colored fabrics, which you can cut out with a sharp scissors. Once all the pieces are cut out, you can glue them into position on your flag, using fabric glue.
- If you are making an American flag, for example, you would need to cut a small rectangle from a piece of blue fabric, seven long stripes of equal width from some red fabric, and a collection of five-pointed stars from a piece of white fabric.
- If you want to spell something, such as "Go Team!", you can draw bubble letters and cut them from a piece of white, black or colored fabric.
6
Secure the flag. Once you have finished decorating, you can slip the flag handle into the pocket you created earlier. If it feels loose, you can secure it with a little glue or a couple of small stitches to hold the bottom of the flag in place. Now you can wave it to your heart's content!

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Making a Flag Banner

1
Gather some patterned fabric or scrapbook paper. The beauty of this flag banner is that it's so easy to make, so you can use whatever material you like. Just try to choose a variety of pretty patterns and bright colors to really make your flag banner pop! Having around five different types of flag is a good base to work from.
2
Cut out the flags. Before you start cutting, you will need to decide how big you want each triangular flag to be - remember that they should be isosceles triangles with two long sides and a shorter base.
- Once you have decided on your measurements, cut out a template flag and use it to cut out the rest of the triangles - how many you need will depend on how long you want the banner to be.
- You can use an Exacto knife to cut paper instead of scissors.
- If you want to add a little something extra to your flag banner, try cutting out the triangles with a pinking shears. This will give them a zig-zagged edge instead of a straight one!
3
Attach the flags to the string. How you do this will depend on whether you used paper or fabric for your flags. If you used paper, you can punch 3 to 4 holes at the top of each flag and simply thread a piece of string, ribbon or twine through the holes to hang the flags. If you used fabric, you can either sew the top edge of each flag around a piece of twine or ribbon (which is time consuming) or you can use a bead of fabric glue to attach the string, for an easier option.
4
Hang the flag banner. Hang your flag banner by tying the ends of the string to nails in the wall, or use a thumbtack to secure. Flag banners look great draped in front of the fireplace, as a festive addition to an outdoor party or barbecue, or as a cute decoration for classrooms and children's bedrooms.

Community Q&A

Question

I want to make a flag for my sailboat out of silk neckties. Has this been done?

Cynthia Savage

Community Answer

Silk is undone by lots of exposure to sunshine, and sea salt is also not very kind to silk. Go for some polyester ties. Polyester is more durable.
Question

When making the American flag out of material, can I have my children write their names on the stripes?

Community Answer

According to U.S. flag code, no lettering should ever be applied to the flag. However, this is only code, not law. While it may be improper, there are no penalties for doing so.
Question

How do I make one with cardboard?

Community Answer

Glue pieces of fabric or paper to the cardboard. For the pole, go with Method 2; get cloth, make a pocket, then staple it to the back of your cardboard.