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The British Open Collection

 

A word about British Open flags: The Open Championship, St. Andrews, and everyone else affiliated with the British Open has not copyrighted or trademarked any designs or logos dealing with The Open Championship.  The only logo that St. Andrews has copyrighted is the "Crossed Sticks" logo.  Everything else is fair game for people to reproduce.  Therefore, there are always lots of reproduction flags produced. 

The only Official flags that have been sold by the Open Championship have been 1995 and 2000-Present.  The 1995 and 2000 flags, however, do not have any tags so it's difficult to differentiate between the authentic and reproduction flags, especially if just looking at a picture online.  The Official flags are of a much higher quality than most reproduction flags.  Check out the pictures below for some comparisons of Official British Open flags and Unofficial, Reproduction Flags. 

 

Comparisons: An example of a very common 1999 Reprint with an official 1995

 

Notice the size difference between the reprint 1997 and an official 2001.  The color is also different.  The official flags are of a much higher quality.

 

 

 

 

 

Official British Open Flags:

   1995 Official White British Open

John Daly won this tournament at St. Andrews.  It was also Arnold Palmer's last British Open.  Pro Tour Memoribilia sells signed Palmer official '95 flags for $1600.   

 

 

Unsigned Value: $65-$80            (this is the official version sold by the Open Championship.  Most lower quality British Open flags are worth $20-$35.)

 

 

 

 

 2000 Official British Open

Very hard to find.  99% of the 2000 British Open flags that you see are reproductions.  Here is the official one sold by The Open Championship.  Check out the picture of it compared to another 2000 British Open flag purchased on Ebay.  It is obviously much larger and nicer.  Also, there is NO authentic RED British Open flag.  If it isn't yellow, it's fake.  And if it is Yellow, it's still probably fake.  Beware.

                                        Unsigned Value: $80-$100

 

 

 

 

 

   2001 Official British Open Flag

This is the first British Open flag to come with a copyright tag.  David Duval won the tournament at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.  The flag is approx. 13 3/4"x19".  The tag is a black Claret Jug tag.

 

 

Unsigned Value: $75-$85

 

 

2002 Official British Open Flag

This is the authentic flag from Ernie Els's 2002 British Open victory.  As with all post-2000 British Open flags, the claret jug tag MUST be attached to the bottom right of the flag. 

 

Unsigned Value: $80-$100

 

 

 

 2003 Official British Open Flag

 

 

 

 

Unsigned Value: $60-$80

 

 

 2004 Official British Open Flag

 

 

 

 

Unsigned Value: $60-$80

 

 

 

 

 

Unofficial, Reprint British Open flags

 Here are some pictures of some Unofficial, Reproduction British Open flags that are frequently found on eBay.  Remember that just because you are buying from a seller in Scotland doesn't mean that the flags are Official.  Of lesser quality and can be reproduced at any time.  There are also many reproductions of the 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2002 flags, but I wouldn't touch them.  Since there are real ones, they are as good as fakes to me.