I am at my happiest when researching, painting or playing medievals.
For a long time I have been working on my Scottish Wars of Independence.
This week I have finished painting a second unit of Islemen and done the flags and shields for the lairds.
While I am OK at painting simple designs, age has caught up with me on the more complex ones. So I cheat and use mspaint.
I stopped using metal flagpoles/spears a while ago. Too expensive, sharp and they bled through rust even if I painted and sealed them.
The answer was a dustpan and brush set from the range I think. £3.99 and I have over a 1000 pikes, spears, lances, flagpoles even vehicle antennas.
For the more complex flag and shield designs, I find image on Internet and snippet into paint. Having measured the shield in this case 10mm x 14mm I design the shield and flag. Cut out and glue with PVA.
The figure are from Antediluvian Miniatures.