Rustic Wood Flag Made from Reclaimed Fence Boards

When someone offers you old fence boards, you take them. At least, I do. Weathered wood has so much built-in character, and these reddish stockade fence pieces were just right for a rustic wood flag. With a few cuts, a little whitewash, and a simple blue corner with stars, this turned into an easy patriotic project for the fence, porch, or backyard.

How to Make a Rustic Wood 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 the Fence Boards to Size
Add a Whitewash or Red Wash
Brace the Boards from the Back
Paint the Blue Corner
Add Simple Rustic Stars

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 a reddish color, you’ll only need to whitewash 3 boards. Otherwise, you will want to use a red wash on the boards if they have a weathered gray hue.

Brace Boards

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

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 leftover pieces 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, a man and a woman drove by. His window was down, and he slowed down to comment on my new artwork. He said it was “very nice”.

I love how simple this rustic wood flag is. It’s one of those projects that proves you don’t need fancy supplies to make something with character. A few reclaimed fence boards, a little paint, and an afternoon are all it takes to make patriotic decor that looks right at home in the yard.

Why This Project Works:

This project works because the old wood does most of the decorating for you. The weathered boards already have texture and age, so the paint can stay simple. A light wash lets the wood grain show through, and the random stars keep the whole flag looking handmade instead of store-bought.