I can see some people dismissing this photograph as another patriotic flag shot, but the B&W portrayal of all those lines makes it a very interesting capture for me. The tones of the sky do indeed provide a good background for the silhouetted ropes and mast, and for the flag. The visible texture of the creased fabric as it moves in the wind is a nice bonus.
However, I'm not quite convinced that this was the best possible composition. The dominant flag is rather centrish, and the upper right part looks somewhat empty next to the line-filled left part of the image. The mast on the right, of which only the bottom part is visible, also doesn't quite seem to belong into the photograph. Maybe you could try playing around with various crops - including ones that cut through the flag.
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{K:24381} 8/8/2003