A SCHOOLBOY with autism has collected more 60 flags which he flies from a pole in his garden – and he knows the history and politics behind every one.

Joshua Moss, 13, says the flags help combat anxiety and encourage him out of bed in the morning. A different flag is flown outside the house in Lymington every day, and Joshua encourages a Facebook following of 200 to guess which country the flag is from.

He was diagnosed with autism a year ago and has always had an interest in flags and the meanings behind them.

His mother, Isabel, thinks Josh’s passion for vexillography – the design of flags – came from travels with his family.

Joshua’s favourite flag is Bhutan which shows a white dragon on a yellow-and-orange backdrop.

He said: “When I didn’t have my flagpole , I would focus more on the stress of the day and I would feel very tense and very anxious.

“But when I have a flagpole I don’t get up thinking ‘oh no it’s a new day’, I get up thinking ‘good, let’s put up the flag on the flagpole’.”