FORTISVEX Delaware State Flag 6x10 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

This is the size where a state flag leaves residential territory behind. Sixty square feet is commercial, flown on a commercial flagpole, and it is the last size built with grommets before rope takes over.

This is the Delaware state flag at 6x10 Feet (60 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the Delaware flag specification

The Delaware flag is set out in Delaware Code, Title 29, Section 306. It is a colonial blue field with a buff diamond containing the state coat of arms, and the date December 7, 1787 set below the diamond.

The design was adopted July 24, 1913.

This state's statute covers the design, the colors and the seal or emblem, and stops there — it sets no overall size for a modern outdoor flag to match. Most states take the same approach, which is exactly why every manufacturer builds state flags in the same standard sizes.

The reproduction here is faithful to the design, in the standard outdoor sizes used industry wide and bought by the states themselves. On an outdoor flag, correct colors, seal and emblems are what counts, and that is what you get.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Delaware Code, Title 29, Section 306 reads:

The design of the official state flag shall be as follows: A background of colonial blue surrounding a diamond of buff in which diamond is placed the correct coat of arms of the State in the colors prescribed by law and in accordance with § 301 of this title, with the words, "December 7, 1787," to be inscribed underneath the diamond. The official state colors, colonial blue and buff, are designated by the Textile Color Card Association of the United States, Inc., New York, as "arno blue" Cable No. 10663, and "golden beige" Cable No. 10781 respectively; the color shades having been determined by Colorimetric Specifications of the National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce, in Test No. 2, 1/140565, dated November 18, 1954, which is on file with the Delaware Public Archives, Dover, Delaware. The colors of the coat of arms and other elements of the state flag shall be the following: Husbandman, trousers of gray brown, shirt of red, hat and hilling hoe of brown; rifleman, suit of green, binding, bag and leggings of buff, hat of brown, powder flask and feather of gray; shield, frame of shaded yellow, top panel of orange, center panel of blue, lower panel of white, ox of red brown, grass and corn of green, wheat and branches underfoot of yellow, heraldric wreath to be blue and silver (twisted); ship under full sail to have a dark hull and white sails; date, December 7, 1787, to be white; cord and tassels to be blue and gold.

The spelling heraldric is the statute’s own. The arms themselves are defined at Section 301 of the same title.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Delaware Code in full at the Delaware Code, and check what we sell against it.

This is the actual flag we manufacture, not an approximation.

What is on it and what it means

The colors are colonial blue and buff, Washington’s uniform colors. The date marks Delaware as the first state to ratify the Constitution. The arms carry a farmer, a rifleman, a ship, an ox, wheat and corn.

Worth knowing about this flag

The layout is genuinely unusual. Almost no other state flag sets a date outside the central device, and the buff of the diamond is frequently printed as yellow.

Where the Delaware flag flies

Delaware's senators offer only the federal program and route residents who want a Delaware flag to contact a state legislator to obtain one, rather than to fly it over Legislative Hall. The Governor maintains an official flag status page for half staff orders at state buildings. Legislative Hall is a Colonial Revival building of 1931 to 1933, with wings added in 1965 to 1970 and again in 1994.

Fly it on Delaware’s birthday

Delaware became the first state on December 7, 1787. Under the United States Flag Code as amended July 7, 1976, a state flag flown on the state’s birthday takes its place beneath the United States flag, and that day is the one date every year the Delaware flag has an official reason to go up.

Have it on hand before the date arrives and it is on the flagpole in time. The full state-by-state list is on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in Delaware

Nylon in the Wilmington and Dover interior. Polyester at the coast at Rehoboth and Lewes.

At sixty square feet this is a commercial flag, and on the exposed sites above the choice of flag material is the difference between one season and three.

What you have here is the nylon, appropriate for the sheltered and moderate wind sites listed above, for any house bracket, and for anywhere the flag is brought down during storms. Two things decide it: it is light, flying on an ordinary breeze rather than going limp, and it dries fast, which is the defense against mildew in humidity. The trade is ultraviolet durability — nylon’s amide bonds break under sun, fading and weakening faster than polyester, and it loses about a tenth of its strength wet. For an exposed site on the list above, the polyester version is worth a look instead.

The part most buyers learn only the second time around: nylon flies in wind too light to move polyester. When it matters that the flag is actually moving — a still morning, a holiday, a funeral, a ceremony — that favors nylon even somewhere polyester would last longer. A flag that hangs motionless is not doing its job either, however durable it is.

The figure most institutions use is from the American Legion, citing the United States government's expectation of about ninety days for a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset, and roughly a quarter of that around the clock. Retailers see three to six months in practice for nylon flown daily, four to eight for polyester, and one to three years when flown occasionally. These are practical figures, not a guarantee, and real-world exposure shifts them considerably.

How the 6x10 Feet is built

Six rows of lock stitching replace four at this size, because sixty square feet generates far more force at the fly end than any house flag experiences. Four rows would not hold.

Work the numbers and you get 60 square feet of nylon at roughly two ounces a square yard. At thirty miles an hour, the fly end actually outpaces the wind, because the wave running to the tip accelerates along the way — the reason the tip fails first, and the reason fly-end stitching count is the number that matters.

Two people and a clean, open surface are what this size needs for a proper fold. A tailgate will not do at sixty square feet.

Each lock stitch knots into the one beside it, so a broken thread stays broken right where it snapped instead of unraveling the whole seam. 6 rows is not 6 times the strength — it is 5 backups. Two inches of reinforced heavy duty white heading carries brass grommets and tooth washers here — the part of the flag under the most sustained strain at this size.

The flag material is commercial grade nylon. It is light enough to fly in a gentle breeze, it sheds water rather than holding it, and it dries fast, which matters because a flag that stays wet stays heavy and works its seams harder. The ink is UV resistant and field tested; sun is what takes a flag’s color, and the ink decides how long it holds.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

Detailed arms plus dated lettering. Two elements that both need to stay legible, on a diamond that has to sit square.

For what it is worth, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed 72 state, provincial and territorial flags in 2001 and rated them from zero to ten. The Delaware flag placed 52, at 4.08 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

Thirty to forty feet of in-ground flagpole is the right pairing for this size.

Questions about the 6x10 Feet

What size flagpole for a 6x10 foot flag? Thirty to forty feet. At this size the flag is commercial and the flagpole has to be an in-ground pole with a truck and halyard.

Why does the 6x10 foot flag have grommets when the 8x12 foot flag has a rope? Sixty square feet is the most two brass grommets can be asked to carry. Above this the load is spread along a rope sewn the length of the heading.

Does a 6x10 foot flag need a heavier flagpole? A sixty square foot flag in a gust loads a flagpole hard. If the pole was sold for a 4x6 foot or 5x8 foot flag, check its rating before stepping up.

The last size on grommets

Everything above this is finished with a rope sewn the full length of the heading rather than two grommets, because two points can no longer carry the load. The 6x10 foot flag sits right at that boundary, which is why it runs six rows of stitching and a two inch heading while still using grommets.

Specifications

• Size: 6x10 Feet
• Area: 60 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 6 rows of lock stitching
• Heading: heavy duty white, reinforced, 2 inch
• Finish: Brass Grommets
• Ink: UV resistant, field tested
• Made in the United States by FORTISVEX

Which size do I need?

The proportion that makes both tables work is simple: length equal to roughly a quarter to a third of the flagpole’s height. Sitting between two sizes is common, and the choice there is really a trade between a flag that flies often and one that is seen from a distance.

If you know your flagpole height, start here.

• 6 Feet house bracket: 2x3 Feet or 3x5 Feet
• 15 to 20 Feet flagpole: 3x5 Feet or 4x6 Feet
• 20 to 25 Feet flagpole: 4x6 Feet or 5x8 Feet
• 25 to 35 Feet flagpole: 5x8 Feet or 6x10 Feet
• 35 to 45 Feet flagpole: 6x10 Feet or 8x12 Feet
• 45 to 60 Feet flagpole: 8x12 Feet or 10x15 Feet
• 60 to 80 Feet flagpole: 10x15 Feet or 12x18 Feet
• 80 to 100 Feet flagpole: 12x18 Feet or 15x25 Feet
• 100 to 120 Feet flagpole: 15x25 Feet or 20x30 Feet
• 120 to 150 Feet flagpole: 20x30 Feet or 20x38 Feet
• 150 to 200 Feet flagpole: 20x38 Feet or 30x50 Feet
• 200 to 240 Feet flagpole: 30x50 Feet or 30x60 Feet
• 240 Feet and above: 30x60 Feet or 50x80 Feet, engineered to the flagpole

If you know your flag size, start here.

• 2x3 Feet: 4 to 8 Feet bracket or garden flagpole
• 3x5 Feet: 6 Feet bracket, or 15 to 20 Feet in-ground flagpole
• 4x6 Feet: 18 to 25 Feet in-ground flagpole
• 5x8 Feet: 25 to 35 Feet flagpole
• 6x10 Feet: 30 to 40 Feet flagpole
• 8x12 Feet: 40 to 50 Feet flagpole
• 10x15 Feet: 50 to 60 Feet flagpole
• 12x18 Feet: 60 to 80 Feet flagpole
• 15x25 Feet: 80 to 100 Feet flagpole
• 20x30 Feet: 100 to 120 Feet flagpole
• 20x38 Feet: 120 to 150 Feet flagpole. This is the garrison size under Executive Order 10834, at a one to one point nine ratio rather than the two to three of the commercial sizes, and it is the size flown at the White House and the Capitol
• 30x50 Feet: 150 to 200 Feet flagpole
• 30x60 Feet: 200 to 240 Feet flagpole. This is the largest standard commercial size
• 50x80 Feet: 240 Feet and above, engineered to the flagpole

Above roughly a hundred feet of flagpole, the quarter to a third guide keeps its accuracy but loses its simplicity: the flag now has to be specified alongside the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load as a single system, and skipping that step is how a flagpole gets damaged rather than the flag. Several famous installations fly flags larger than the rule on purpose, with an engineer deciding it rather than a table.

Every size in both tables can be ordered, listed here or not. If the size you want does not appear on the website, contact us and we can still supply it.

About the back of the flag

The reverse of a printed flag mirrors the front, which is ordinary and true of nearly every flag in the country. To have both faces read correctly requires a double sided construction: two flags joined with a liner in between, at about twice the material and twice the price. Single sided is the industry standard, and the sensible pick unless a state’s statute says otherwise.

Flying it with the United States flag

Governing this is Title 4, Section 7 of the United States Flag Code, which keeps the United States flag in the position of honor: never below another flag, never to the right of one at the same level, meaning never right of the viewer’s left. Two flagpoles at equal height put the United States flag at the viewer’s left with equal-sized flags; unequal heights put it on the taller pole; a single flagpole with two flags carries it at the top. No penalty attaches for private citizens under the Code, but it is what institutions follow as standard practice.

Buy two and they both last longer

Rotate two flags on a monthly cycle and they will outlast three flags flown until they fail, because the fabric gets a rest and the fly end is not taking the same beating in the same spot every day. Bring it down before severe weather; one real windstorm can do more damage overnight than six ordinary months. Check the fly end, not the middle — a few minutes of stitching at the first sign of fraying buys another season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

Cities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies buy state flags from us as a matter of routine. The tax exempt page is where a tax exempt account is set up; the contact page is where quantity orders, replacement schedules, and sizes not shown here get handled.

Why buy it from us

We are a small American company and we stock what we sell. Every flag here is made in the United States, printed in UV resistant ink, and finished to the construction described above rather than to a price point. We would rather sell you one flag that lasts than three that do not. Free shipping on orders over twenty five dollars.