See "serious Old Glory post below..."

Say for the 4th or for any other day you wanted to fly a giant flag from your backstay... how would you do it?

What I am thinking of is to put a couple shackles on the backstay and attach the flag to the shackles and then use the topping lift or a spare halyard to raise the flag; using a spare line as a downhaul to tension the whole thing and bring it back down. I might also run a line between the shackles to take the load off the flag itself, so it is not stretched under tension.

Any other ideas?