Guides' Patrol Flags

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Hello Guiders! It has been a while since my last post.  I have been busy getting our first few Guide meetings started and dealing with Cookies {keeping track, collecting cookie money and doing deposits ...and also busy sending Owl & Toadstool files to tons of Guiders! Thank you so much for your interest in this blog!}. 

Violet Patrol Emblem

At our first meeting we broke the girls up into Patrol groups.  Their first Patrol challenge was to choose a name for their Patrol...they chose Violets and Bluebells. At our second meeting we made Patrol Flags.   I can not remember where I got this idea.  Not sure if this was something that we did with my Saskatoon Guide unit back in the late 1990s or not...but I know for sure that I did this activity with my Antigonish Guides about 13 years ago.  So now that I am a Guide Guider again I thought this would be a fun Patrol activity. {The beauty of having 17+ years experience as a Guider is recycling your ideas!}

Bluebell Patrol Emblem

I had purchased 1 meter of cotton blend fabric to make both flags. {cotton blend was $1.30 /meter...much cheaper than 100% cotton} I pre-cut 4 pieces of fabric into rectangular shapes then masked off the area to be painted {with regular masking tape}.  We used regular acrylic water based paint.

Antigonish Guides having some ART fun!

The first week the girls painted their flag {set a time limit or else every inch of fabric will be covered in paint }.  The girls were instructed to work as a Patrol team and decide what they would like on their flag.  They all agreed that the patrol name, emblem, and their names should go on the flag {I supplied foam stampers so a few of those were added to the design}. The girls then pitched in to help clean up the mess results of their productivity before moving on to our next activity!

After the paint dried, the edges were sewn with a serger. A pocket was made on the left side to allow for the rope. {My mother has a serger sewing machine...so when I was home for Thanksgiving weekend she we did the sewing}.

Bluebells Patrol Flag -front view

Bluebells Patrol Flag -back view

Violets Patrol Flag -front view

Violets Patrol Flag -back view

I used two different thicknesses of rope.  The rope attached to the pole is 1/4 inch thick cotton and the rope on the flag is 1/8 inch thick nylon. {you could use the 1/8 inch nylon for the pole too but I just used what I already had...you do not need to use the same rope}.  The 1/8 inch nylon was purchased for $2.28 for the 48 foot bundle {at Central Building Supplies}.  I still had the practice knots from years ago so we used those. {the practice ropes are about a foot long...you will need to burn the ends to prevent fraying}.

1/8 inch nylon rope comes in a 48 foot bundle as shown

I guess it was about 13 years ago when hubby made the flag stand base for us {my hubby rocks}.  The base is a square piece of 1/2 inch plywood with 4 holes drilled all the way through at angles {I think 30 degrees but I would have to measure it}.  

The poles are dowels purchased from Walmart.  I attached an eye hook at the top and a cleat to the lower part of the dowel.  You will also need a toggle {I used a wooden spool}.  Also, varnish is a good idea to protect the wood. 

I have a pdf of Flag Raising instructions showing which knots to use and where.  If you are interested in the file leave a comment or email me directly...my address is in my profile.

The top knot is a clove hitch and the bottom knot is the sheet bend.

 

Hardware for the flag pole

I like to have a challenge activity ready for each Patrol as they arrive at our meeting {to keep them busy while waiting...we have a few happy cart wheelers in our group this year...oh to have an ounce of their energy}.  This week the challenge was knot tying.  I had printed out the knots for them to try and supplied them with small pieces of rope for practicing.  They practiced the knots for flag raising and also the reef knot for tying their tie.  

Patrol Challenge - Knot Tying

This is the knot that attaches to the toggle at the top of the flag

This is the knot that attaches the pole rope to the flag rope

This is the knot used to tie the Guide Tie

I have a pdf of the printable knots for anyone interested.

Learning how to tie knots requires lots of practice so we will continue to practice each week by challenging the patrols to set up their flags.  The flags will be carried by the Patrol Seconder during our opening  horseshoe formation.

Here is a good source for 

Animated Knots!

Hope you are all enjoying being back to Girl Guides!  Have a great day!