" I got a flag to paint before my French customer invades the States looking for me. "

So? You grab the white cloth in the middle - dip one end in red, the other end in blue, voila!

And if your customer doesn't like it, turn it around and put it up on eBay as the letter "T" signal flag.

Then you get back to the Forum! No big deal.

Nick

By the way, for a good discussion of wool flags and ply, see Grace Cooper's book "Thirteen Star Flags- Keys to Identification"

PDF linked below.