How to Temporarily Hang the American Flag with Photography Gear

It’s a holiday weekend and one of the ways we celebrate is by hanging the American flag outside our home, apartment, studio and office.

Years ago I screwed a flag mount into the side of the house and hung the flag, but I was never really happy with its location and how it was positioned.  So it got me thinking how can I easily repositioned the flag without having to permanently secure a new flag mount.  The answer was in my gear bag.

Below is an easy step by step tutorial on how to temporarily hang a flag with a simple piece of photography gear:

 

Items needed:

1. Flag and flag mounting bracket (these are usually sold together).
2. Rock Solid Master Clamp or a similar style clamp
3. Tripod plate or a 1/4″-20 bolt found at any hardware store (bolt should be between 1/4″ to 1/2″in length).
4. Depending on the bolt your are using, a screwdriver or allen wrench to tighten the bolt.
5. A beer (please note your brand may vary from pictured)

 

Step by Step Mounting Instruction:

1. Open beer
2. Take a drink of beer
3. Remove the 1/4″-20 screw from the tripod plate (if you have a separate bolt not attached to a tripod plate you can skip this step and repeat step 2).
4. Screw the flag mounting bracket into the 1/4″-20 thread on the Master Clamp.  The flag mounting bracket can be positioned in any direction so it is important to determine its orientation based on where you are going to ultimately mount the clamp and hang the flag.
5. Mount the clamp in the desired location.  The Master Clamp can be secured on any round object from 0.5″ to 2″ in diameter.  There is also a wedge insert for clamping to a flat surface or shelf up to 2″ wide (if you are using a different clamp from the Rock Solid Master Clamp check manufacturers specifications).  For details on the flat mount wedge insert and proper use click here.

    

6. Assemble the flag and insert it into the flag mounting bracket.

    

   

7. Job well done.  Return to beer and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

    

   
   Additional Tip:

   If you do not have a round or flat surface to secure the clamp, use a C-Stand and Tether Tools Dual Wing Sandbag.  It makes a perfect flagpole.

   

Enjoy the holiday weekend.

– Tether Tools