Knot for raising a flag

The Unit is in formation, the Director gives the command, and the flag climbs halfway up the pole. Then it stops. The halyard has tangled, the knot has slipped, or the end has run out through the pulley. Often the trouble began before the ceremony, when someone chose the knot for raising a flag. This guide works down the flagpole from top to bottom, with the reason for each knot, when to avoid it and how to check it. The step-by-step video is on each knot's page in the knots and lashings catalog.

🏳️What is the knot for raising a flag?

The halyard is the rope that raises and lowers the flag; the Portuguese dictionary Priberam defines adriça, its name in Brazil, as the line used to hoist flags and sails. It usually runs through a pulley at the top of the pole. Lower down is the cleat, the two-horned fitting where the halyard is wrapped and made fast. The nautical origin of these names is covered in the guide to sailor knots.

On the flag, the classic knot is the Sheet Bend. An activity sheet published by Escoteiros do Brasil, the Brazilian Scout association, says the sheet bend and the slipped sheet bend (escota alceado, in Portuguese) are used to tie flags to the halyard for raising and lowering. The Manual de Especialidades de Desbravadores, a Portuguese-language honors compilation by Gerson Boiko dos Santos kept in the Arquivos Adventistas collection (not an official South American Division document), describes the sheet bend as the knot for joining ropes of different diameters, and the halyard is not always as thick as the flag's cord. The activity sheet teaches the rule that prevents the most common mistake: the bight is formed with the thicker rope, and the thinner one wraps around it.

The weak point shows up when the flag hangs still: the portal's catalog warns that the sheet bend can loosen without steady tension and suggests, in those cases, the double sheet bend, with one extra turn around the bight. Animated Knots, a go-to site for knot animations, calls for much longer tails when the load matters.

🧵How do you tie a flag to a flagpole rope with a pulley?

A flag made for a pole usually has two grommets on the pole side, one at the top and one at the bottom. With a pulley, the halyard often forms a loop that goes up one side and comes down the other, and the flag closes that loop. The top end goes to the top grommet and the bottom end to the bottom grommet, each with its own sheet bend. On a 5-meter pole, the halyard needs a little more than 10 meters, because it goes up and comes back down.

When the flag has a ring or a snap hook, use the Halyard Hitch, which the catalog describes as compact and designed not to snag in the pulley. The trade-off, according to Animated Knots: it cannot be tied or untied under load and, after heavy loading, it can be hard to release. Tie it before the ceremony.

The loose end of the halyard gets a Figure 8 Knot, the stopper that will not pass through the pulley. According to Animated Knots, it beats the overhand knot because, even after slamming hard into the pulley, it does not jam and unties easily. The same site warns that the figure 8 can shake loose on its own: check it before every ceremony.

The American site Scout Pioneering, which specializes in Scout pioneering, gives a warning: without the flag, the halyard loop stays open, and an end that rides up beyond arm's reach is nearly impossible to recover without lowering the pole. When you take the flag off, join the ends.

⚓How do you tie a flagpole rope to a cleat and fly the flag at half-staff?

At the cleat, the Cleat Hitch (Halyard) holds firm and comes free in seconds when the flag is lowered: the halyard goes once around the base of the cleat, crosses in figure eights over the horns and finishes with a locking half hitch. Too many turns and locks can trap the halyard under tension, the catalog warns, and lowering the flag turns into a fight with the rope. Animated Knots notes that, under extreme load, the tension reaches the final locking hitch; that is why, on large boats, the site says to replace the lock with extra crossings. On a flagpole, two or three crossings and a single lock are enough.

The cleat also answers the question of how to fly the flag at half-staff in Brazil. Under Article 17 of Lei nº 5.700 of September 1, 1971, Brazil's law on national symbols, the National Flag in mourning is flown at half-mast or half-staff and, in that case, must first be taken to the peak when it is raised and when it is lowered. In practice, it goes all the way up, comes down to the middle and only then is the halyard locked; when lowering, it returns to the peak before coming down. Article 18 lists when it is flown in mourning, such as during official mourning decreed by the President of the Republic, across Brazil.

When in mourning, the Flag is flown at half-mast or half-staff.Lei nº 5.700/1971 (Brazil), art. 17, our translation

🎋What knot should you use when the pole has no pulley or cleat?

Without a pulley, the flag is tied straight to the pole by the cords at its corners, and the Clove Hitch is the quick choice. Animated Knots is blunt: it should not be used on its own, because it can slip under load. Back each one up with a half hitch.

With a ring at the base instead of a cleat, the halyard can be tied off with Two Half Hitches, always tied in the same direction. Animated Knots points to the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches as more secure, since the round turn holds the load while the other hand ties the hitches.

The Highwayman's Hitch releases with a single tug, handy for bringing the flag in when rain arrives. The catalog warns that it can loosen by itself under a swinging load, like a flag in the wind: use it only with someone watching and never at a National Flag ceremony. Among quick-release knots, Animated Knots considers the Tumble Hitch more trustworthy.

In Brazil, many people search for a "nó catau de bandeira", a name that does not appear in the technical sources consulted. The Sheepshank (catau, in Portuguese) shortens a rope without cutting it, and the Manual de Especialidades lists it for shortening ropes and bypassing damaged sections. On a halyard, though, it only holds under steady tension, and the halyard goes slack every time the flag comes down. Animated Knots recommends avoiding it, notes that it will not pass through a pulley and quotes Clifford Ashley, author of The Ashley Book of Knots, the standard reference on knots: the sheepshank should be seized unless the need is very brief. The site prefers to shorten one of the ends and tie it off again. If you need the sheepshank, secure each end with a half hitch, as the catalog advises.

🏕️How do you make a pioneering flagpole for camp?

A camp flagpole is usually bamboo or poles spliced together with a Round Lashing: the poles overlap and get two tight lashings, one on each side of the overlap, near the end of each pole, as Scout Pioneering describes. For more stiffness, the site overlaps a quarter of the length, with the thicker pole at the bottom. For bamboo that slips, see how to lash bamboo with rope.

The pulley, the halyard and the guylines, the ropes that hold the pole upright, are all rigged with the pole lying down. Scout Pioneering uses three guylines, tied about three quarters of the way up, with the stakes in an equilateral triangle, ideally at a distance from the base of at least twice the height where the guyline is tied (tied at 3 meters, stake at 6 meters or more); according to the site, much shorter distances often do the job.

At the pole, each guyline gets a Rolling Hitch, which keeps the guyline from sliding down. Animated Knots warns that the pull has to run along the line of the pole and that the hitch will not grip very slick rope, such as polypropylene. At the stake, the Trucker's Hitch tightens the guyline like a pulley system built into the rope itself (see the knot to tighten a rope). On a tree trunk, the Timber Hitch goes on fast, but Ashley observes that it all but falls apart when the pull stops. On a guyline that goes slack in the wind, choose the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches, one of the knots Scout Pioneering recommends for guylines, and check everything after each gust.

Article 21 of Lei nº 5.700/1971 says that, at Brazilian public offices and military organizations, when the flag is flown on a pole set in the ground, its width must be between one seventh and one fifth of the pole's height. A club can use that math as a reference: a flag that is too big catches the wind like a sail and strains the guylines.

Our calculation from arts. 4 (45 cm panels), 5 (14 units of width to 20 of length) and 21 of Brazil's Lei nº 5.700/1971; the art. 21 rule applies to public offices and military organizations.

🦺How do you raise a flagpole safely?

A tall pole goes up as a team, with an adult in charge: the Counselor or an Instructor trained in pioneering. For Scout Pioneering's flagpole of nearly 10 meters, each guyline is handled by one person lined up with its stake, others lift the pole by walking it up, one guides the foot into a shallow hole about 10 centimeters deep, and someone gives the signal to start. Once it is upright, the guylines bring it plumb.

Nobody stands in the line where the pole would fall, and nobody climbs it to free a stuck halyard: the pole comes down with the same team and goes up again. Lashed poles are not built to hold someone hanging from them; the guide to the pioneering tower shows how much care height demands.

A falling pole reaches as far along the ground as it is tall: set yours up away from power lines, at a distance much greater than its height. In a thunderstorm, lower the flag and move the group away: the Atmospheric Electricity Group (ELAT) of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) recommends keeping clear of tall, isolated objects such as trees, poles and antennas.

📋Table: which knot to use at each point on the flagpole

The 14 knots in this guide and the difficulty of each one in the portal's catalog.

Difficulty from the portal's catalog; uses checked against Animated Knots, Scout Pioneering and Escoteiros do Brasil (October 2026).

✅What does the flag-raising team check before the ceremony?

The Drilling and Marching Advanced honor asks, in requirement 9, for taking part in a ceremony raising and lowering the National Flag with the help of a Unit. Posture and the position of honor are covered in the flag etiquette guide; the rope gets checked before the formation.

Clear halyard. Pull both sides and watch the rope run without catching on the pulley.

Right side up. Before tying the knots, check that the flag will go up the right way, never upside down; on Brazil's National Flag, the motto Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress) must read correctly.

Knot checked by someone else. Sheet bend with a long tail, figure 8 at the loose end, a single lock on the cleat.

Rope in good shape. The halyard spends days in the sun, and the Manual de Especialidades compilation notes that nylon degrades in sunlight. A faded rope or one with broken strands is retired (see how to care for rope).

Jobs assigned. One Pathfinder pulls the halyard, another keeps the cloth off the ground and a third handles the cleat. Run a full rehearsal with the flag you will actually use.