Ah, I see - thanks Gaieus. So easy when you know how! I notice that your flag has a reflected version of the image on the reverse. To prevent this (my flag is not symmetrical, see http://www.flyingcolours.org/product-detail.php?ID=62) I assume that I need to give the surface some thickness first?

Wow, thanks for the rapid replies guys!

TIG, you say "you can, of course, create a rippled cloth effect and project an image on it". I must be more of a newbie than I thought, because it is not obvious how to me, sorry. The Tgi3d plugin looks promising, but that seems to depend on a textured image existing BEFORE transformation. Is there another way?

I have been using Sketchup for some time and find it rather addictive, but have recently got stuck on trying to create a realistic looking flag. I would like to take a flat surface with applied image as texture for the design and deform it as if wind is blowing it (static, no moon on a stick just yet!). Any ideas gratefully accepted.