Rustic Flag Project

So, when a friend offers you some old fencing, you don’t say no. I knew this reddish stockade fence would make a great rustic flag for the 4th of July. With just a little paint, I was finished with this project in no time.

How to Make a Rustic Flag

This project is so easy, there are very few directions. First you will need some reclaimed fence. This stockade fence is the perfect specimen, but there are other ways to make an Americana flag for your garden. Check out my Easy DIY American Flag project.

Cut & Paint Fence Boards

You will want to cut your fence boards to size. I cut mine approximately 36 inches long using my compound miter saw. You can use any saw to cut your fence, even a jigsaw.

If your fence is already stained the reddish color, you’re only going to need to whitewash 3 boards. Otherwise, you will want to use a red wash on the boards if it has a weathered gray hue.

Brace Boards

After painting your boards, you need to connect them on the backside.

This image is from another project, but I wanted to show you that you simply use two pieces on the back of the fence boards to stabilize your flag pieces.

Add Stars

Now that you have your red and white boards, tape off the corner and do a blue washed square. Add stars to your liking. I really like the primitive look of my rustic flag.

I made a star template by laying a piece of printer paper on my computer monitor and tracing a star pattern I found by doing a Google image search. After tracing the star on the paper, I cut the shape out of a piece of cardstock.

I made this in less than an hour. These 7 planks were cut down to about 36 inches. The 7 planks added up to about 24 inches in height. I used two of the pieces left over to nail the planks together on the back.

Updated to add:

Do you see the rustic flag hanging on the fence of my backyard camper retreat, ten years later?

Rustic Flag Made from Fence Boards

The darkest boards were best for the red stripes, and the most faded boards were used for the white stripes.

I very randomly placed the stars on the blue square. This was a temporary spot to take a couple of pictures. I screwed two screws into the back braces, leaving them raised enough to “catch” the fence to hold it.

I actually ended up moving it to a prettier place in the yard, still on the fence though. It was either hang it on the fence or “stake” it in the yard. While I was working on securing it to the fence with zip ties, and man and woman drove by. His window was down and he slowed down to comment on my new artwork. He said it was “very nice”.

Easy Scrap Wood Firecracker Decor

More rustic fence projects here

see more bits and pieces projects here