[Closed] Would flagpole in a neighbours garden put you off buying a house?

Millions of Americans would disagree with you.

It will only put off bellends so he's done you a favour. 🙂

I'd be more worried about the noise of the wire whipping against the flag pole in the wind than I would the flag.

Our neighbour erected a flag pole which looked as though it was part of our garden. The dinging of the rope was pretty irritating at night. Luckily they moved house and it mysteriously disappeared just before the new owner moved in. What annoyed me most is the church is in view of our houses and has a perfectly good and well weathered historic flag so the flag pole was not even necessary in the first place.

Cool story I know. 8)

I wouldn't want to live next door to a flag pole owner: they're either gonna be BNP, UKIP or footy fans (or all three). I want none of that, ta.

I can see why some narrow minded souls might dislike it and thus I suspect it will reduce those making an offer.
I would be rather worried if he changed it around though. Cannot for the life of me see why and English man would fly, say, a Scottish or Welsh flag.
Quite possibly your neighbour, being older, is proud of his country. Has he served in the forces for example.
It saddens me that the English flag has become a symbol for foot supporters. Unfortunately many of the characteristics of those people are not endearing and thus the flag is associate, rightly or wrongly, with football.

Flying flags in your garden isn't exactly normal behaviour unless you're having a party or something
Millions of Americans would disagree with you.

And in doing so would prove the OP's point instantly. The type of American that flies a flag in their garden is justasmuch a person I wouldn't want to live next to as an English who flies the StG Cross.

(Well, maybe now quite as much)

With Scotland being so politically emotive currently I think it's an even bigger issue. Lots of new flags popping up all over. It would certainly put me off. Flags in Scotland have a very strong meaning. There are places in Scotland where national chains have had to change their corporate identifying colours so as not to get their windows smashed. Can't recall the details. St Andrews flag is now very political too. Which is a shame.

Purchasers will make snap judgements based on stereotyping. They have nothing else to go on. That's what stereotyping is for, rightly or wrongly - for helping you make a decision when you don't have much evidence to evaluate. Doesn't make them bellends for erring on the side of caution.

There are worse things for them to see when they look over the fence - a rubbish dump full of dog shit and discarded nappies, half a dozen cars on bricks, or a handily placed sex pool, BBQ and sound system. Some people will even be put off by stuff like trampolines.

Seeing a flagpole in a well-tended garden might make me ask a gentle follow-up question about whether I'm likely to be reported to the council if I leave my bin out for too long. 🙂

Have viewer arriving shortly.... should I a. Acknowledge the flag and explain neighbour is a harmless old buffer who collects flags or b. Ignore the elephant in the room and not draw attention to it

Make a gentle joke about it which explains how nice he is, and not an interfering old git.

Mention it while saying how wonderful all your neighbours are.

It wouldn't put me off. The comments about it being chavtastic seem strange to me - surely such people wouldn't own a flagpole and just hang the flags out of the window?

Hide it behind a giraffe.

ask them if they use singletrack forum

Turn it to your advantage!

If the viewer looks like a leftie liberal snowflake, explain the flag flyer is a lovely old gentleman who collects flags of all nationalities and flies a different one every so often to celebrate diversity.

If the viewer looks like a knuckle dragging patriot/racist, explain flag flyer is an up and coming leader of the BNP/Britain First/UKIP or whatever the leading racist party is these days.

or whatever leading racist party is these days.

I think you will find it is still the Tory party.

A decently constructed flagpole in a well tended garden owned by an eccentric old gent might make me more likely to make an offer.

Hot tubs, on the other hand . . .

Isn't it sad that a Belgian or dane or many other nationalities can fly a flag whether in uk or their home countryside it's seen as normal or quaint yet if an English person does it its seen as racist.

I'd see it more odd (and noisy)
than racist but there you go.

One of my neighbours had one with union flag on and he said it was as he was in the army. But I was also in the army and didn't see the point but each to their own. He took it down in the end as it made a right noise in the wind clanging all bloody night

If it was a UK flag it would bother me due to the racist connotations. If it was the Danish one it wouldn't. Every house in Denmark has a flagpole and everyday they use it and every evening they take the flag down before sunset so as not to upset the neighbours.

Last year I was in La Palma staying in a German-owned apartment. Nearby was a Danish-owned house and every morning and evening the flag went up or down as appropriate. We thought it was quirky but now it makes sense. Small countries can be patriotic without coming across as fascistic. The German who owned our apartment thought it was a bit wrong, but given his country's history I guess he has a different viewpoint.

For me a St George's cross outside a private house would make me wary simply because I associate it with UKIP/EDL or just noisy bar-b-qs and football-related shenanigans. Knowing it was just an old buffer with a mild flag obsession would fully alleviate my concerns, even if he did have dodgy political leanings.

my next door but two neighbour has a flagpole in his back garden and flies a flag all the time.

Mind you he's an ex-RAF type in his 70's and it's usually an RAF flag (sky blue with a roundel) and he's normally out the front cleaning, polishing or fixing his RAF ambulance that looks a bit like this.

[img] [/img]

He also has an old metal railway signal in his back garden and a small gauge railway that runs the length of his garden (circa 100 metres) and then through his garage and out onto the front garden before disappearing down the side of his house again.

Interesting guy.

Buy him a new flag of a rampant lion on a field of azure blue. Then just say he watches a lot of E4.

Onzadog - Member
Buy him a new flag of a rampant lion on a field of azure blue. Then just say he watches a lot of E4

I literally have no idea what this means

I went to Cornwall with the in-laws a couple of years ago and my FIL was concerned about the number of ISIS flags that were on display #palmface

[img] [/img]

I literally have no idea what this means

http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Official_Apartment_4A_Flag

nealglover - Member
I literally have no idea what this means
http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Official_Apartment_4A_Flag

ah ok cheers. Don't watch it.

It's all about the context when it comes to flags.

[url= http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/retro/254874/retro-football-graeme-souness-plants-his-enormous-galatasaray-flag-in-fenerbahces-centre-circle-1996-video.html ]Graeme Souness[/url]

He also has an old metal railway signal in his back garden and a small gauge railway that runs the length of his garden (circa 100 metres) and then through his garage and out onto the front garden before disappearing down the side of his house again.

Best Neighbour Evah!

as a concept, a flagpole? I'd prefer an apple tree, but fine, whatever.

... wondering why the neighbours would be upset if it's already dark.

in practise, flagpoles are noisy things, clanging away in anything more that a breeze.

and, as a guide, the people who put them up are idiots.

It would put me off, even if it didn't have a flag on it during a viewing as it seems unlikely that anyone with a flagpole wouldn't have a flag to go with it.

Have you upset him in the past? Sounds like revenge.

Rightly or wrongly, to me a flag says 'nationalist' which, again rightly or wrongly, has some connotations beyond the dictionary definition that would put me off.

I like flag poles me and would love one... asking for flags as bday and xmas presents and swapping the flag as appropriate for a more international feel

So for this weekend ..,. Mayday weekend ... it might be this....

[img] [/img]

In a couple of weeks this one for their national day on 17th May

[img] ?i10c=img.resize(height:160)[/img]

And then around July 14th...

[img] [/img]

And when not in use Id have the flags draped of hooks along the hall

Small countries can be patriotic without coming across as fascistic.

I think it's down to a power thing - I presume Denmark doesn't have an equivalent song to Rule Britannia and hasn't ever had an empire. So nationalism there is more about being defending their country from invasion than invading other countries. Nationalism from any country with a tradition of fighting territorial wars outside their own borders is always dodgy.

I'm white British and I find it very distasteful, council estate trash.

I'd execute anyone with a flag pole in their garden, It's the only reasonable option I can see.

zanelad - Member 
Millions of Americans would disagree with you.

Not flying one is practically an offence of being unpatriotic and likely to get you run out of town 😉

Whereas in the UK it's grounds for complaints and councils ordering you to take the flag down (depending on Chavness/UKIPness of the area).

This is the America that has a flypast for every football game and where children pledge allegiance at the start of every day… Fascist superstate much?

I'd be cool with this

[img] [/img]

but I'm guessing your neighbour doesn't fly that one much.

aracer - Member

I presume Denmark ... hasn't ever had an empire. So nationalism there is more about being defending their country from invasion than invading other countries.

who's going to tell him?

I presume Denmark ... hasn't ever had an empire. So nationalism there is more about being defending their country from invasion than invading other countries.

Apart from the UK, Ireland, France, parts of Germany, Iceland, Greenland and a small part of the US.

My next door neighbour has been flying a St George's cross flag on his 35ft flagpole for over forty years. He's neither a racist, UKIP voter or football fan.
I barely even notice the thing now. Admittedly it's an old house with a big garden/orchard so isn't overbearing but the assumption that all flag-flyers are racist chavs is well wide of the mark.

Is he English?

the assumption that all flag-flyers are racist chavs

You do know this is STW?

It takes absolutely nothing for the left wing hand wringers on here to call "racist" and start getting the pitchforks out.

Flying a Union Flag would be considered a custodial offence by some on here!

Maybe he forgets what country he's living in and needs the flag to remind him.

I do find flagsters a bit weird (I try not to laugh at them) but in and of itself it's not a crime.
Frequently of course there are nastier things associated with it. Happily agree with the last couple of posters that said that flagsters are not exclusively racists though.

Is he English?

Yes, I've never heard him shouting about it though.

My (Australian) FIL turned up one day with a flag pole for us and I didn't have the heart not to put it up. He keeps sending us all kinds of flags. We put it up in the back garden and it is currently flying the South Australia flag, which has a Piping Shrike on it (a bird). Before that it was the Dominica flag which has a parrot on it! We change it whenever we remember. I quite like the Hampshire flag, but am also keen to get a Wessex one.
Am I a bad neighbour?

It takes absolutely nothing for the left wing hand wringers on here to call "racist" and start getting the pitchforks out.

FWIW i agree it terrible/a shame that many folk think racist when they see the country's flag and we should all be working together to change this perception but you are going to have to reclaim the flag from them first - especially the St georges flag.

Blaming those who observe it for the fault is not going to help "reclaim the flag"

RichT - Member

Am I a bad neighbour?

if the noise it makes is keeping people awake at night, then... er... yes.

sorry.

I'd never really though about this beofre this thread.
Honestly, I'd be a bit put off by a flag-hanger, TBH.

I think I see it as fitting into one of:
Football hooligan
BNP/UKIP
Crazy ex army major

I'm wrong, I know that. Plenty of nice people hang a flag.
However, it would put me off (Just a bit, but if it was the choice of 2 equal houses, I'd choose the non-flag neighbour one)

I can't relly talk - my drive is a tip from time to time - it'd put potential viewers off if next door were selling - I'm not a nut, I'm not noisy, I just have logs and bike parts on the drive at times!

DrP

I was actually thinking of getting a flag pole up at my new house but maybe I'll think again after this thread!

No the noise doesn't disturb them. I have asked of course.

I really wanted to make a sarky comment about prejudice against flagists, but TBH the only person with a flag pole I know is my brother's neighbour who has a very large poorly trained aggressive dog whose shit he does not clean up, he (allegedly) steals parcels, and plays loud music at all hours.

eta: the flag he flies looks like this:

[img] [/img]

And you can't really see it from their garden or the road. It is in our back garden. The chickens are the noisy ones, but next door can't hear those either.

I fly a white rose flag at some mtb events, mostly so Mrs Slug can find her way back to base if she goes for a wander. Her sense of direction is so poor she can get lost at work!!!. Maybe he forgets where he lives and needs a marker?.

Flags at campsites / events far more acceptable

My neighbour has a flagpole with the St Georges Cross.

He lives in Portugal for 10 months of the year.

No evidence that he is a racist chav but he is definitely a bellend.

I was thinking about this last night.

Living in Scotland I would not be offended if an English neighbour flew the St George's cross flag. If he's proud of being English, why not?

However I would be somewhat antagonistic if he flew the Butcher's Apron.

Edinburgh council stole my flagpole ( well the mountings for it)

I wanted to fly flags from it as well and am most annoyed about it

This is the America that has a flypast for every football game and where children pledge allegiance at the start of every day… Fascist superstate much?

Having lived in America this used to irk me and question how free the 'land of the free' is.

Would it put me off? Depends how close your neighbour is, and the state of the rest of their house and garden.

But basically yes, it would.

We're not a flag nation are we? So I might be a tad put off by the flagpole. But at least he has made the effort in erecting the pole. Most bellends just drape their flag of choice out of the bathroom window.

I suppose it's not much worse than someone who wears more than four metal pin badges.

[img] http://wordwenches.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c84c753ef01b8d20cd8c8970c-pi [/img]

Is that BoJo's house?

Not at all unless it was close enough to hear the noise it can make. However I can see how the whiney soft handed office wallahs would cry in hysteria and feel the only option would be to vent their fury on stw. Lunch time over.

It is strange behaviour to feel the need to fly a flag in your garden for sure.
I actually know of one person personally who fairly recently put up a flag pole and started flying a flag in their garden - he is very well known for being a very strange fella to be fair, so ...

I think Marin might be a little over protective of his wee flaggywag.

😆

Coming back to the original question it can put people off a house.

When the house next door to a friend of mine went up for sale he hung a flag out the window and filled his front yard with empty beer cans. His best mate ended up buying the house, apparently there had been very little interest after first viewings.