DIY: How To Make A Holiday Flagpole (with lights)

This year, turn your flagpole into a holiday pole! Here are 3 good reasons to do so:

1. Give your community holiday cheer, focused on the flag and boost moral
2. Take advantage of the long nights with festive lights, at a low cost
3. Send in your picture/video and be featured on FlagDesk.com and FlagRunners.com, just email: support@flagdesk.com

Now you know why it is the perfect time to turn your flagpole into a holiday pole, we thought we'd put together a little DIY (Do-It-Yourself) tutorial! There are many ways out there to hang lights on the flagpole, this is just one way we have found to be easy and fun. Following these simple rules and steps will help you be in-charge of your holiday cheer this year!

Before you get started, there are 3 rules we like to keep in mind. These rules are intended to help you as you plan your holiday mission. Let's get started.

1. Safety first

• While these are low voltage outdoor lights, there is still an electric component. If you are worried about foot traffic or possible issues with safety, take the precautions necessary to prevent accidents. 
1. Stake the power lines down
2. Use electric tape to tie connections
3. Position the lighting lines away from the path of everyday traffic.

2. Flag flies free

• Let's not forget this is a flagpole designed to fly a flag. Sometimes we see displays where the flag has been removed and the lighting display has been attached to the top of the flagpole. In our minds, this is no longer a flagpole, but a pole. We'll show you later, how you can get the best of both worlds by attaching lights where they will be out of the way of the flag and allow the flag to fly free.

3. 3/4ths the height of the pole determines the length of the lights

• Before you get started you need to work out how long your lights need to be. One of the ways we have come up with to figure this out is to follow this rule (shown above). If you watch the tutorial video, you'll notice we are working on a 20 ft. flagpole. In this case, 3/4ths the height of the flagpole is 15 ft. This means that the lines extending from the ground to the flagpole will be 15 ft. Each line has two rows of lights. If we want 6 strands, we need 180 feet of lights (30 x 6). We round up to 200. Here are some other flagpole heights with corresponding line length, calculated in the same way:
• 25 ft. flagpole = 225 ft. of holiday lights
• 30 ft. flagpole = 270 ft. of holiday lights
• 35 ft. flagpole = 315 ft. of holiday lights

We've covered the mental preparation, now let's get into the tools and parts you'll need to make the holiday pole festive. Feel free to swap out anything we mention here for what might work for you, or what you have lying around.

• Stakes
• Coffee Can
• Tape Measure
• Holiday Lights
• Extension Cord
• Hammer
• Electric Tape
• Timer
• Quick Link
• Swivel Connector

You have your parts and tools, you have your plan, you know it is going to look great! We've broken down the process into a few simple steps that should take you no more than an hour to complete for any flagpole at any height. Just follow these 15 steps...

1. With your tape measure, find the appropriate length for you lines. 

 2. Starting on the outside, stake the light line and walk to the flagpole and place a center stake

3. Again, using the tape measure walk the lights out in an adjacent clockwise direction

4. From this second line, stake the lights down and double back to the flagpole

5. Where necessary, tie off the light plugs and connect circuit tape to prevent weather damage or electrical accident

6. Once you have made six lines, the last line will double back the original light line from step 2

7. Remove outer stakes

8. Lower the flag and tie off the line where the line closest to the flagpole is taught but the line with the flag still attached about 7 ft. up has slack

9. Hold the flag downward to find the point at which it brushes the bottom of the halyard (rope)

10. At this point, where the hardware is out of the way, attach a carabiner to hold all light lines

11. Take out center stake and put light lines through the carabiner system

12. Lock the carabiner and slowly raise the flag so the light lines come toward the pole

13. Re-stake the lights, adjust lines as needed for a safe, pleasing appearance

14. Optional: You can add a timer to automate the lights turning on/off

15. Run the electrical extension cord out to this original first line

Winter is the time when nights grow longer and daylight becomes more and more precious. That might be one reason, we take this time to celebrate the holidays. While some people see the sun setting earlier and earlier, we see an opportunity to put on a fantastic light display everyone can enjoy!

Related post: 5 Must-Know Flag Flying Tips: How-To Prepare for Winter