Canadian couple entertain and educate neighbours with ever-changing flags outside their home

For a couple in Halifax, putting up various flags on their front step is about sharing a love for history.

The house belonging to local historians Dan Conlin and his wife Patricia Acheson looks like any other on the block, except for one detail: every day, they fly a different flag outside of their house.

“I’ve always been interested in the history of flags and the beauty and interest of their designs and I used to work at the Maritimes Museum of the Atlantic — flags are a big part of the world of ships,” Conlin, a local historian in Halifax, told CTV News.

Each morning, the couple decides which colours they will fly. Then comes a discussion on what hand-written fact to put outside with the flag for passersby.

The day CTV News visited, the house was sporting the bold red and white stripes of Austria.

“We just do it for fun,” Acheson told CTV News. “It’s a little hobby and it’s a chance to talk to the neighbours.”

It’s not always official flags — the couple has flown a homemade patchwork design for Christmas, the infamous black flag flown by the pirate Blackbeard, and even an IKEA bag, mounted with its handles blowing in the breeze. Variety is the key, the couple says.

“Patricia and I love to sort of take an interesting look at some strange inventions or oddball coincidences,” Conlin said, explaining that finding out an interesting occurrence happened on a certain day could help them choose that day’s flag.

“Zazel the Human Cannonball, that’s a good excuse to use the British flag,” he said, referring to an English aerialist from the 1800s.

The idea for posting flags outside of their home came to them two years ago during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As more people were working from home, more were also in need of getting out of the house.

“People were looking for a destination and our flag became the destination for a lot of people’s walks,” Conlin said.

Because the couple post a handwritten note about that day’s flag on the banister of their steps, some who pause to read are even treated to a quick history lesson.

The flying of the Austrian flag, for instance, came with a note stating that it was marking the birthday of artist Gustav Klimt in 1862, “known for his decorative and symbolic works using gold leaf, such as ‘The Kiss’.”

“It’s both history and art,” one neighbour told CTV News, standing underneath the Austrian flag. “This one is about Gustav Klimt and Austria, which I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell you, and I hope it’s not in the exam.”

The couple now have more than 70 flags, which they keep tucked away in their basement when not on display.

People have even gifted them new flags, but for Conlin, the best part isn’t the flags themselves, but hearing the excitement of pure discovery when others see them.

“We see people slowing down or crossing the street all the time – interesting discussions of ‘oh, that’s the day he was born,’” Conlin said.

So no matter what colour flag they fly, the couple says the reward is in the new relationships they make along the way.