Flagpole heights

[byline]

Will and I have been having this discussion about flagpole heights and various points in time when the standard has changed.

When I first started marching guard back in '78, 6-foot poles were the standard height . . . but they were coming down. This was the beginning of when poles kept getting chopped down to facilitate faster, more complex work and better timing. So in the middle of my '78 season, we chopped the poles down to 5 1/2 feet, and also cut the flags down a fair bit (they went from being bedsheets to table runners). In the early '80s, a lot of the flags (not just the poles, but the flags, themselves) were really chopped down to be proportional to the pole heights. But flags started losing their visual impact, too. So then they started creeping back up in size so that by the early '90s, we were seeing bedsheets again.

Here are Madison's "piano" flags from 1980. Any guesses on the flagpole height? I'm thinking 5 feet, but possibly even shorter.

[rochguardguy]

Will and I have been having this discussion about flagpole heights and various points in time when the standard has changed.

When I first started marching guard back in '78, 6-foot poles were the standard height . . . but they were coming down. This was the beginning of when poles kept getting chopped down to facilitate faster, more complex work and better timing. So in the middle of my '78 season, we chopped the poles down to 5 1/2 feet, and also cut the flags down a fair bit (they went from being bedsheets to table runners). In the early '80s, a lot of the flags (not just the poles, but the flags, themselves) were really chopped down to be proportional to the pole heights. But flags started losing their visual impact, too. So then they started creeping back up in size so that by the early '90s, we were seeing bedsheets again.

Here are Madison's "piano" flags from 1980. Any guesses on the flagpole height? I'm thinking 5 feet, but possibly even shorter.

should I be seeing a photo of a flag??? and if yes...why can I not see it????

[TrishDish1002]

I'm guessing 5 ft. also

[SBrancheau]

Sue:

When I was teaching (85-90 time frame) 5' to 5.5' was the norm and standard.

When I marched (78-81 in high school) we were at 6.5', then chopped down to 6'. In college (81-85) 5.5' was what we used. That was a HUGE difference to me! At 5.5', the flag and pole were so much lighter and easier to manuever!

I did notice the creep back up to the 6' range in the 90's...and change back to spinning "bed sheets".

Also (and I don't mean to open a can of worms), we did not put bolts inside the poles (at least in the groups I marched with and taught)...that was an interesting addition.

Sally

[ItsOnTheField]

Also (and I don't mean to open a can of worms), we did not put bolts inside the poles (at least in the groups I marched with and taught)...that was an interesting addition.

Sally

Not a can of worms, but the type of choreography today vs the type you may have performed is different with the type of tosses, etc...thus the addition of bolts/weights. Just one exapmle.

[HornsUp]

I remember the 8-footers being cut down to 7' in the mid-60s. Then a half-decade later, they were being trimmed down to 6'.

Hey, anyone wanna buy a boxful of slightly used leather flag slings? They have the diecast aluminum inserts, so you won't tear out the stitching when you do all those presents.

[byline]

should I be seeing a photo of a flag??? and if yes...why can I not see it????

Yup, there's a photo there. Can't tell you why you can't see it. I'm assuming that others can?

[byline]

Sue:

When I was teaching (85-90 time frame) 5' to 5.5' was the norm and standard.

When I marched (78-81 in high school) we were at 6.5', then chopped down to 6'. In college (81-85) 5.5' was what we used. That was a HUGE difference to me! At 5.5', the flag and pole were so much lighter and easier to manuever!

I did notice the creep back up to the 6' range in the 90's...and change back to spinning "bed sheets".

Also (and I don't mean to open a can of worms), we did not put bolts inside the poles (at least in the groups I marched with and taught)...that was an interesting addition.

Sally

Hi, Sally!

In the mid- to late '80s, I tried weighting my flagpoles with stacks of washers taped together. Unfortunately, the tape inevitably came loose, and then the washers slid up and down the flagpole, so we sounded like jingle bells every time we changed flags or did anything that involved a solid impact, so finally I gave up. Nobody told me about bolts!

I wish I had found a better way to weight the flagpoles, as the higher tosses would've been a lot cleaner. As it was, I resorted to really tight rotations on my flag tosses, which didn't have as much visual power.

[MsBusDriver]

A bit of history. SCV had all different sizes of flag poles during the early 70s. Since we all wore " flag holsters", we needed different sizes for different height girls. The tallest girl had a 5' pole and the shortest girl had a 6' pole. That way, when we were at "Right shoulder arms" the top of the poles were all at the same height. Really made a difference in the G.E. area I'm thinkin'

Needless to say, the short girl really had her work cut out for her trying to keep that pole from dropping and catching on the turf during spins and stuff. The tallest had to make different adjustments to keep the work all even looking.

Oh, and Sue, I found that the best weighted flag pole I ever had was when we had those metal pikes on top. Of course, they wouldn't let us do tosses during the shows back then because of the "tick" system. That didn't stop us from tossing them during rehearsal though.

Edited June 6, 2008 by MsBusDriver

[byline]

A bit of history. SCV had all different sizes of flag poles during the early 70s. Since we all wore " flag holsters", we needed different sizes for different height girls. The tallest girl had a 5' pole and the shortest girl had a 6' pole. That way, when we were at "Right shoulder arms" the top of the poles were all at the same height. Really made a difference in the G.E. area I'm thinkin'

Needless to say, the short girl really had her work cut out for her trying to keep that pole from dropping and catching on the turf during spins and stuff. The tallest had to make different adjustments to keep the work all even looking.

Wow, never even thought of that. So I'm assuming that you had to redo the pole heights every year? The short girl would be praying to grow 5 or 6 inches between this season and next so she didn't have to work so hard!

Oh, and Sue, I found that the best weighted flag pole I ever had was when we had those metal pikes on top. Of course, they wouldn't let us do tosses during the shows back then because of the "tick" system. That didn't stop us from tossing them during rehearsal though.

Cool! Though I'm thinking you definitely would not want to mistime a toss/miss a catch with one of those, eh? I can just see a gust of wind blowing, and all kinds of bloody mayhem ensues. "You could put somebody's eye out with that!" (in a mom's nagging voice)