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Dunedin man Ron Geddes has a flag for all occasions: so he knows exactly what his role will be this morning.
The owner of more than 400 flags, Mr Geddes has got both the Argentinian and Spanish flags ready for the Fifa Football World Cup final.
‘‘Whoever wins, I’ll fly. It’s as simple as that.’’
Mr Geddes acknowledges his hobby is a ‘‘little different’’, but it comes from a lifelong interest in history and geography.
He did not even collect flags until relatively recently.
‘‘When I was young I saw a book on flags when I was up in Wellington and it just fascinated me because I’m interested in geography and history, even as a youngster.
‘‘So I bought books on flags and I didn’t have any flags until a good friend of mine around the road, he had flags and when he died his partner gave them to me and I just added on to the collection,’’ Mr Geddes said.
He had his own aesthetic preferences, but he tried to be ‘‘politically neutral’’ when flying a flag from his house every day.
‘‘I always flew the American flag on July 4 and all that, but in the last couple of years with the way a certain gentleman in the White House carries on, I’m reluctant to put the American flag up, for instance, because I don’t want a brick through the window,’’ Mr Geddes said.
‘‘The same goes for Russia and Belarus too, of course, since they walked into the Ukraine.’’
While he did not have a favourite flag, he had a certain admiration for the ‘‘poorly designed’’ ones.
‘‘The worst flag of mine is Grenada.
‘‘It’s an absolute dog’s dinner and I reckon they must have designed that just before Christmas Eve and the government round the table got out the rum, got stuck into it and they finished up with that.’’
As for his preference this morning, Mr Geddes said he hoped to fly the Argentinian flag.
‘‘I have nothing against Spain, but Lionel Messi is a wonderful player, some would say the greatest.’’