Well, there two answers to your question a) are some gifted folks out there who actually can paint the most intricate flag and shield patterns in this small scale. If you are one of them, chapeau!

I'm most certainly and sadly not one of them so I use solution

b) cut away the plastic flag with a razor so that only the flagpole is left. Search for the desired flag on the web, print it (you may have to experiment to get the right scale) and glue it to the flagpole, voilà!

warflag.com is a good site to start.

Of course you can also buy flags:

rofur-flags.de or littlebigmanstudios.com
have very good flags in 20mm scale.

Exactly what Flambeau said.

I too cannot paint flags, so do the same, often either printing them off the web or buying ready printed/scaled ones off ebay.

Thank you all! This is exactly the information I was looking for. I Greatly appreciate it

I agree with the comments made by Flambeau and Roger. Paper flags are a better option in many ways, not least because:

- Moulded flags are usually too 'thick' to represent a fabric banner.

- Moulded flags also sometimes come with an engraved design. In some cases this is a fantastically-detailed piece of work by the sculptor; nevertheless, the design may not be what you need for your brave unit, and in some cases the engraving only comes on one side of the moulded flag anyway.

-Paper flags allow you to create more realistic folds in the banner itself. Flags are rarely if ever 'flat' when mounted vertically on the staff/pole.


If you have the time/patience/skill, here is an alternative to purchasing ready-printed flags. You can draw/paint your own, preferably at a larger scale than required for your 1/72 soldiers, then photograph it, shrink the photo to the required size on your computer, then print. Whilst there are very many very good comercially-available flags out there, they do not necessarily cover everything, and sometimes the only recourse is to make your own.

Also, I tend to find that many commercially-made flags look too 'exact'...because they are generated using a software package and/or computer drawing package. Producing your own good drawing still has the slight 'handmade' quality that the eye picks up, even on a small scale. And if you are able to see real examples of standards/colours which are a couple of hundred years old or older, you will notice that this handmade quality is apparent, in some cases very much so as the colour was. of course, hand-painted or hand-stitched for real!