Added to my collection for flag day

[coasterville]

Yeah, I wonder if my new Betsy Ross has such large grommets because of the sheer weight of the flag. Its cotton, and when I compare it to my cotton Bennington (which is an Annin Bulldog line flag) the nBetsy Ross is a heavier cotton.

It looks like there is no official style guide given how varied our two flags are in terms of canton size, size of the stars, etc. I suppose we are back at "Does it look right"

In terms of those $8 poly flags, I'd say you are safe to assume they are not of American origin. A great thing about eBay is you can get just about any flag you want, printed on poly for around $5-$10. (3x5) They look pretty good, I just don't know how durable they are. (Think back to the deluge of printed poly 50-star american flags that hit our country shortly after 9/11 when every shopkeeper wanted to appear patriotic and cash in on the fact that our own leading flagmakers couldn't keep up with the sudden demand. I know you were lucky to get a couple months out of those if you wanted to fly them constantly) I know thats what Flags Goergia deals in with their printed poly budget line, but if you are only going to fly those types of flags sparingly, they may last a while. Since American_Flags_UK is reading this thread, I just chose my printed poly union jack to look at, and its tags clearly state it came from a nation that just hosted the summer Olympics.

In rereading the Flags Goergia advert for the 3x5 cotton Betsy Ross, I note the phrase "Made in USA" is missing. That combined with no tags or markings on the flag or its pouch lead me to beleive it might be an import, but what foreign flagmaker would put the effort into making a cotton flag with sewn stripes (with color matched thread even, red thread on the red strpes and white thread on the white stripes) and sewn stars?

Thats just one of my quirks, I need to have sewn stars and stripes on any American flag I buy. My *official* flag is an Annin Nyl-Glo, which meets those qualifications, as well as being American made. From what I understand, and looking in the Annin catalog I have here, the Sun-Glo line is meant for tall inground poles where the viewr can't tell from their vantage point if the stars are printed or sewn, so they are printed so they appear even if you have a bright sun right behind them, whereas sewn stars will appear as dark blotches in that condition.

It is fun to hand around a bricks and mortar flag shop that deals in full lines, not just the value lines you find at the big box stores. Watch a person come in and ask to buy an American flag then hear the kindly shopkeeper ask what type of pole they are using, how windy it is, what size do you want, what material do you want, how much do you want to spend, etc. The customer has this dumbfounded look like "All I wanted was a flag"

[Peter Ansoff]

I've bought many flags from Flags Georgia. They are quite good for my purposes, since I only display a given flag a few times per year, and the price is certainly right. Also, because they are lighter-weight, they actually fly better than nylon flags in light winds. It's interesting to watch a nylon flag and a poly flag flying side by side -- the poly flag will "take off" more quickly in a gust.

The FG poly flags are obviously made abroad, and the quality control is iffy. Some of the ones I've received have had little blobs of a black tar-like substance on them -- I'm guessing that it's some byproduct of the printing process. The most amusing example was an Icelandic flag on which the horizontal bar of the cross was not straight -- it looked like a reflection in a fun-house mirror. For what it's worth, FG is very good about replacing defective flags.

One tip about those poly flags -- if you plan to display them outdoors, be sure to iron them before you fly them. They typically come very tightly folded, and the dye tends to bleed along the creases if the flag gets wet.

There seem to be different printing techniques for the poly flags, which result in different properties. Some of them are very flexible and "silky", while others are stiff. The silky ones seem to wear better, and they also look better.

Peter Ansoff

[coasterville]

No ill will meant towards Flags Georgia, II too have ordered several flags from them. Great prices, fast service, what's not too like.

[american_flag_uk]

Ahh Peter- yes - I know all all too well about the different printing techniques on flags..

The stiff printed flags tend to lose their color quickly I find.. If they get wet the color fades.
The white grays, the red goes slightly pinkish and the 'blue' goes more purple than it originally was to start.
Another characteristic of these flags I noticed i the canton seems to start off at a purplish blue hue rather than the more standard blue more commonly seen - and goes more purple when fading.

The soft printed flags are quite good in my opinion. I have quite a number of printed flags varying in style and materials used.
Printed nylon seems to be the best in my opinion.
I have a lovely nylon flag with big well proportioned well spaced printed stars, and sewn stripes, that flies well, and looks great in the sun.

If there is any advantage towards printed flags vs sewn flags - the downside of a flag with all sewn stars and stripes flying in the wind- the sun cannot penetrate the stars, and in some cases the stars can appear black or dark.
The sun will shine up a printed flags stars twinkly white!