Over the years my wife and I have acquired quite a few souvenirs from the numerous countries and regions we have visited, and storing them was in danger of turning into a major problem. A couple of years ago we decided that we would be more selective with regard to what we bought, and since then my wife has tended to buy shot glasses from each place we have been to ... and I have begun to collect flags.
It is surprising how quickly my collection has grown, and it now includes the following flags:
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
India
Montenegro
Norway
Portugal
Sicily
Spain
I have also bought several flags to use with specific wargames, and these include:
Confederate States of America
Cross of St George/England
It is surprising how quickly my collection has grown, and it now includes the following flags:
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
India
Montenegro
Norway
Portugal
Sicily
Spain
I have also bought several flags to use with specific wargames, and these include:
Confederate States of America
Cross of St George/England
Looks like you are short of a certain Saltire.
ReplyDeleteJim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteThat's because I have yet to visit Scotland to buy one ... or were you - perhaps - referring to the Russian Naval Standard, which is also 'missing' from my collection? :)
All the best,
Bob
WHAT! You visited Canada and didn't pick up a Maple Leaf flag?
ReplyDeleteAll I can say, sir, is "tsk, tsk, tsk."
-- Jeff
*grin*
You know me Bob, you know me!!
ReplyDeleteBluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI looked for one ... but did not see any on sale at the places I visited!
- St John, New Brunswick (where trying to see anything in the fog was difficult!);
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (where I met Ross Mac, which was as good - if not better - than buying a flag!);
- Quebec City, Quebec (where buying anything was a challenge thanks to my appalling command of French!); and
- Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (where buying anything that was not about 'Anne of Green Gables' or potatoes was problematic).
It will give me an excuse to come back to Canada soon, won't it!
All the best,
Bob
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteI think that I am just about getting the measure of you!
All the best,
Bob
Good heavens, you visited the Confederate States of America (judging from the flag) and didn't drop in for a visit? I just live a short way from Jefferson Davis' home -- you could have visited us both! You need a CSA national flag (one of three) rather than a battle flag, but do drop by next time you are in the area.
ReplyDeleteCoastConFan,
ReplyDeleteThe CSA battle flag was bought to form part of a display that was intended to go with a wargame that I planned to put on at a wargames show.
I do hope to visit one or more of the southern states of America one day ... but I don't know when.
All the best,
Bob
We would be happy to see you. By the way another old-timer gamer lives near by, Lou Zocchi lives nearby also. He used to have Gamescience and an early mail-order game company along with having designed Battle of Britain and Luftwaffe back in the old days. He still has some polydice lying about. I worked for him back in the mid '70s.
ReplyDeleteCoastConFan,
ReplyDeletePerhaps I will make it over one day ... hopefully sooner rather than later.
I have certainly heard of Lou Zocchi, although I have never heard of Gamescience.
All the best,
Bob
What an interesting collection. I have two flags but they both mean rather a lot; a battered Afghan army flag I was presented with by a police commander, and a 6 x 4.5' Soviet Union flag, which came back from Germany and my old boss let me have. Apart from making nice displays these sorts of things can be an interesting talking point, although as you seem to have done I prefer to get them myself (preferably from their country of origin) rather than scooping them up from car boot sales. Do you have these on display?
ReplyDeleteColonel Scipio,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting story! Your flags are obviously of great importance to you ... and for very good reasons.
Each of my flags is large enough to cover my wargames table, and are designed to be flown from a flagpole, and are too large for me to have on display ... which is a great pity.
The only flags that I have bought that were NOT bought in the country of origin are the CSA battle flag and the Indian flag. The former was bought in an army surplus store in the UK and the latter at a one-day cricket match between India and an English county team (Kent).
All the best,
Bob