Why is it that at the drop of a hat, many people run pennants up flagpoles to celebrate their successes, or the pride of the family, the family crest? homecoming of someone much loved? Well, it could be said that this is a perfect visual way to show everyone how proud the family is to be a citizen of that country. Or, it shows a pride in being associated with one cause or another. Flag stores are usually inundated with requests for family oriented flags or different styles of banners and most offer a custom flag service.
Most people have seen the identifying pennants that will be flown from sea going vessels etc. But what they may not realize is that these pennants have different meanings. When a ship is coming into port, it is usual to put up lines of these delightful strings of pretty colored pennants. They may spell out the name of the home port, or even a message for the public to see and admire saying something like 'our company is honored to be in your country'.At other times these pennants, or bunting as it is commonly called, may just be celebrating a national day in their home country. In England, the Royal Navy will always celebrate the birthday of Nelson who is considered to be one of the most famous sailors in the world.
Cargo ships will fly a banner that does not necessarily have anything to do with where they come from. Very often it is not it is not possible to know where the ship is domiciled. This is a 'convenience' pennant and is used for general tax purposes to avoid tax laws in that particular country. So any ships that look like they come from Panama, a favorite 'convenience' country, is usually not from anywhere near there. Before the days of electronic communications, small pennants were the only form of communication between ships. Each position adopted by the sailor given the task of sending the message meant something to those who could understand the system and other ships in the area could clearly see what the message was meant to convey.
Today many companies will have a pennant designed to bring attention to it. It may be the company logo, or perhaps show something on the pennant that will show what the company does. These are usually made bigger than normal to be flown from either the top of the building or from the car park to show the world that the outlet is open for business. Just notice how much bunting car sales lots have wrapped around every fence and post to attract the attention of shoppers.
Finally, for family members it is sometimes good to have a kind of crest designed to represent the family in general. For example, in many European countries in days gone by, each family would have a family crest to represent their family ties with the past. This was used to identify that particular family in times of troubles and strife. Anyone not showing the family crest was thought to be a spy or traitor and systematically hung, drawn and quartered, whichever came first!
Author Resource:
Connor Sullivan bought some Custom Flags for the local high school booster club. The booster president ordered custom flags from an internet flag store for the local high school fall sports.