"Changing of the Flags"

Decorating the Duck were flags of the respective Latin American countries the crew was traveling through. As they crossed borders, they made a point of changing the Duck's flag to that of the country they had crossed into—although they always kept an American flag flying.

A few times, this little ceremony even got them out of trouble...

 On November 18th, 1961, the crew infamously attempted to smuggle Robin across the Costa Rican border. The crew's dramatic "changing of the flags" saved Robin from being discovered. In a letter, Dan writes:

"When we drove up we made a show of changing the flags from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Every time someone came over we'd stand by the side and talk to him. Then came the crucial moment, the inspector said he was going aboard to put the seal on! But we couldn't let him, so we whpped out the movie camera and had him pose passing up the seal to Bob. Then we all signed and he said, "OK, you may go!" It was music to our ears."

Not only was the Duck decorated with the flags of Latin American countries, but it was also decorated with the flags of the guys' respective universities and alma maters, some flags from the universities they visited, as well as Rotary Club flags. In his essay "Americans All," Bob Hinds remarks:

"We climax our program with presenting our University banners to the school we are visiting. This usually makes for a grat [sic.] hit and developes [sic.] a closer feeling between the audience and ourselves."

"El Pato Valiente's" flags.