“I did the bunting as part of the show,” said Mr Mcbride.
“The original idea was to frame them with two pennants in each frame. Then I thought I could do them as bunting for something a bit different in the show.”
When he heard about Gisborne Boardriders Club’s fundraising bid for a trailer, he had another idea for the pennants and offered to auction them.
“I always liked pennants,” Mr Mcbride said. “I grew up with them.”
Souvenir pennants were particularly popular in New Zealand in the 1970s when people flew them from bicycle and car aerials.
Mr Mcbride began making pennants when he was asked to create trophies for a Dunga Derby. He made the triangular flags from fabric that was patterned on one side and plain on the other.
“Around the edge it had frills from a bright orange candlewick bedspread. It was really over the top. The fabric was garish and hideous. I did it as a bit of a joke but everyone loved them.”
The lurid orange and brown counterpane pattern which had survived from the ‘70s has since featured in various motifs in some of Mr Mcbride’s recent work — and in the alternating pennants in the bunting.
The five pennants that feature surfing scenes act as a kind of storyboard. In his signature cartoon style, the first flags, left and right, depict a surfer paddling into a wave, the next shows the boardrider making a bottom turn and in the centre flag he or she is carving a cut-back on the wave.
