FORTISVEX Maryland State Flag 4x6 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

A 4x6 foot flag is the first size that really needs a flagpole in the ground. It is too large for a standard house bracket, and that is the honest reason to step up to it rather than any question of appearance.

This is the Maryland state flag at 4x6 Feet (24 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the Maryland flag specification

The Maryland flag is set out in Chapter 48 of the Acts of 1904, effective March 9, 1904, with a gold cross bottony finial made official in 1945. It is a heraldic banner quartering the Calvert arms, gold and black paly with a bend, and the Crossland arms, a red and white quartered cross bottony counterchanged.

Adopted March 9, 1904.

What is fixed by law here is the design, the colors and the seal or emblem — not a size requirement for an outdoor flag. Most states leave it the same way, which is why the whole industry has settled on the same standard sizes.

We build a faithful reproduction of that design at the standard outdoor sizes the industry uses, the same sizes states order for themselves. Correct colors, seal and emblems are what an outdoor flag has to get right, and that is what this one gets right.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Maryland Code, General Provisions, Section 7-202 reads:

(a) The State flag is divided into quarters. (b) The first and fourth quarters are a paly of six pieces, or (gold) and sable (black), and a bend dexter (right diagonal band) counterchanged, so that they consist of six alternating gold and black vertical bars with a diagonal band on which the colors are reversed. (c) The second and third quarters are quartered argent (white) and gules (red), a cross bottony counterchanged, so that they consist of a quartered field of white and red, charged with a Greek cross that has arms terminating in trefoils and opposite coloring so that red is on the white quarters and white is on the red quarters, as represented on the escutcheon of the State seal.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Maryland Code in full at Justia, 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

Calvert is the founding Lords Baltimore. Crossland is the maternal line of George Calvert. The combined banner symbolizes reconciliation after the Civil War, because Calvert colors were flown by Unionist Marylanders and Crossland colors by Confederates.

What most listings get wrong

State law requires that the flagstaff ornament be a gold cross bottony, not a ball or an eagle. That is a legal requirement about the hardware, not the flag, and almost nobody selling the flag mentions it.

It is the only state flag based entirely on British heraldry, and one of the highest rated designs in the country.

Where the Maryland flag flies

Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore is where the garrison flag flew on September 14, 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key. The original Star-Spangled Banner, made in Baltimore by Mary Pickersgill at thirty by forty two feet with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, is preserved at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Note that it is held in Washington rather than in Maryland.

Fly it on Maryland’s birthday

Maryland became the 7th state on April 28, 1788. 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 Maryland 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 Maryland

Nylon inland in the Baltimore suburbs and at Frederick. Polyester on Chesapeake and Atlantic tidewater.

For scale, the National Weather Service ultraviolet index forecast for Baltimore on July 23, 2026 was 9 at solar noon, in the very high band. That is the sun this flag has to survive.

Wind load becomes a real factor at twenty four square feet, and the verdict above matters more at this size than it does for a 3x5 Feet house flag.

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.

This is the detail people usually only figure out after buying twice: nylon will fly on a day too calm for polyester to move at all. If flying on a still morning, a holiday, at a funeral, or at a ceremony matters to you, that is reason enough to choose nylon even where polyester would survive longer. A motionless flag fails at its purpose regardless of how 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 4x6 Feet is built

The extra area on a 4x6 foot flag — more than half again a 3x5 Feet's — means more wind caught and a harder-working fly end. Four rows of lock stitching, all four earning their place.

Work the numbers and you get 24 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.

One person can still manage this, though the first attempt on a windy day makes the extra size obvious. Take it down before the storm, not in the middle of it.

Lock stitching means each stitch is knotted into the next, so a broken thread stops where it broke rather than unzipping the seam. 4 rows does not mean 4 times the strength; it means 3 backups. The heading is reinforced heavy duty white, an inch and a half, with brass grommets and tooth washers taking a real load across twenty four square feet.

This is commercial grade nylon: light enough to fly in a light wind, quick to shed water instead of holding it, and fast to dry, which matters because a waterlogged flag is a heavier flag putting more strain on its seams. UV resistant, field tested ink is what fights the sun, which is the real driver of color loss over time.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

Intricate heraldic quartering with precise counterchanging. It is the most heraldically demanding flag in the country and the easiest to build slightly wrong.

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 Maryland flag placed 4, at 7.97 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

Eighteen to twenty five feet of in-ground flagpole suits this size. A standard six foot house bracket will have it dragging and wrapping instead.

Questions about the 4x6 Feet

What flagpole does a 4x6 foot flag need? An in-ground flagpole of eighteen to twenty five feet. It is too large for a standard house bracket, which is the honest reason to choose it.

Is a 4x6 foot flag worth it over a 3x5 foot flag? Only if the flagpole is tall enough. On a twenty foot flagpole a 3x5 foot flag looks lost and a 4x6 foot flag fills it. On a six foot bracket the 4x6 foot flag will wrap.

Can I fly a 4x6 foot state flag with a 4x6 foot United States flag? Yes, and on two flagpoles of equal height that is the correct pairing, with the United States flag to the viewer’s left.

Where the step up starts to cost you

Going from a 3x5 foot flag to a 4x6 foot flag is where buying cheap begins to be expensive. The extra area means more force at the fly end and more load on the grommets, so a 4x6 Feet built to a budget fails faster than a 3x5 Feet built the same way. This is the size where construction stops being a nicety.

Specifications

• Size: 4x6 Feet
• Area: 24 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 4 rows of lock stitching
• Heading: heavy duty white, reinforced, 1-1/2 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.

We carry the full range whether or not every size appears on this website. If the size you need is not listed, we can still supply it.

About the back of the flag

A printed flag's reverse face is a mirror image of the front, and that is standard, not a fault — it describes most of the flags flown across the country. Double sided construction, which reads correctly from either face, sews two flags together with a liner and roughly doubles both weight and price. Single sided remains standard, and correct, unless a state's statute specifically calls for double sided.

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

Alternate two flags on a monthly schedule and you will get more life from both than from three flags flown until they wear out, because resting fabric recovers and the fly end stops absorbing the same repeated stress. A severe storm is the one condition worth taking the flag down for; it can do more damage in a night than six calm months. The fly end frays first, not the center, and stitching it early adds a season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

Municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies all buy state flags from us regularly. The tax exempt page handles tax exempt accounts, and the contact page is the route for quantity orders, replacement schedules or a size not shown here.

Why buy it from us

This is a small American company, and what you see listed is what we actually stock. Every flag is made in the United States, printed with UV resistant ink, and built to the construction described above, not to whatever a price point demands. Selling one flag that lasts beats selling three that fail. Orders over twenty five dollars ship free.