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

Built to the Massachusetts flag specification

The Massachusetts flag is set out in the current seal and flag provisions, with a redesign commission established by Chapter 140 of the Acts of 2024. It is the state seal and coat of arms, showing a Native American figure beneath an arm holding a sword, on a white field.

The arms and the flag remain as originally adopted; a redesign commission announced finalists in 2025 and then missed its deadline.

Massachusetts is the clearest case in the country. Its regulation at 950 CMR 34 treats four feet four inches by five feet six inches as the manufacturing pattern, then expressly authorizes commercial two by three and four by six sizes, applies a two percent tolerance, and states that silence in the specification means only the best commercial practice is to prevail.

The design here is reproduced faithfully, at the standard outdoor sizes the whole industry works in and that states buy for themselves. What actually matters on a flag flown outdoors is that the colors, the seal and the emblems are correct, and they are.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 2, Section 3 reads:

The flag of the commonwealth shall consist of a white rectangular field, bearing on either side a representation of the arms of the commonwealth, except that the star shall be white. The naval and maritime flag of the commonwealth shall consist of a white rectangular field bearing on either side a representation of a green pine tree.

The arms are defined in Chapter 2, Section 1, and the manufacturing specifications are in 950 CMR 34.00.

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

That is the flag we build, not a rough version of it.

What is on it and what it means

The seal shows a Native American figure beneath an arm holding a sword.

What most listings get wrong

A redesign commission announced finalists in 2025 and then missed its December 2025 deadline. As of now no new flag has been adopted and the original remains official. Anyone selling you a new Massachusetts flag is selling you something that is not the state flag.

Where the Massachusetts flag flies

The signature tradition is the Hall of Flags, the marble hall inside Charles Bulfinch's State House built specifically to display the Commonwealth's military color collection of more than four hundred flags, from the Civil War forward. The tradition began December 22, 1865 with the Return of the Colors, when Civil War regimental flags were returned, starting Forefather's Day. Flags have been returned after every subsequent war. To protect them, textile conservators moved the original flags into climate controlled storage in 1987, so what visitors see today are transparencies rather than the originals. Doric Hall, opened in 1798, is where flags were historically issued to troops, and its center doors open only for a head of state, the return of military colors, or a departing governor's long walk.

Each holds a significant Civil War battle flag collection. Connecticut's is at the Museum of Connecticut History in Hartford. Illinois has the State Military Museum in Springfield. Massachusetts has the State House Hall of Flags. Michigan runs a Save the Flags program with rotating display at the Capitol. Minnesota's Historical Society holds the First Minnesota's colors associated with Gettysburg.

Fly it on Massachusetts’s birthday

Massachusetts became the 6th state on February 6, 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 Massachusetts flag has an official reason to go up.

Get it now so it is flying on the day itself. See every state’s birthday on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in Massachusetts

Polyester on the coast and in Boston, the windiest major American city at about 12.3 to 12.5 miles per hour, plus Cape Cod salt. Nylon acceptable in the sheltered interior at Worcester and Springfield.

For scale, the National Weather Service ultraviolet index forecast for Boston on July 23, 2026 was 8 at solar noon, in the very high band. That is the sun this flag has to survive.

This is a commercial flag at sixty square feet, and on the exposed sites named above, material choice separates a one-season flag from a three-season one.

You are looking at the nylon here, the right pick for the sheltered and moderate wind sites named above, for any house bracket, and for anywhere the flag gets brought in during storms. Two things make that case. It is light enough to move on the breeze most yards actually get rather than hang limp, and it dries fast, which keeps mildew away in a humid climate. What it trades away is ultraviolet durability — nylon’s amide bonds break down under ultraviolet light, losing strength and color faster than polyester, and it loses roughly a tenth of its strength while wet. For one of the exposed sites named above, the polyester version is the better fit.

One more thing that decides it, and it is the part people only learn after buying twice: a nylon flag flies on days a polyester flag will not. If the flag matters to you on a still morning, on a holiday, at a funeral, at a ceremony, that is an argument for this one even on a site where the polyester would last longer. A flag that hangs is not doing its job either.

Most institutions work from the same benchmark, reported by the American Legion: the United States government's expectation is roughly ninety days for a flag flown daily sunrise to sunset, and about a quarter of that for one flown around the clock. In practice, retailers report three to six months for nylon flown daily, four to eight for polyester, and one to three years for a flag flown only on occasions. These are working numbers, not a guarantee, and exposure can move them substantially either way.

How the 6x10 Feet is built

At sixty square feet the force at the fly end outstrips anything a house flag sees, which is why the stitching steps up to six rows here instead of four.

The arithmetic behind that: 60 square feet of nylon at roughly two ounces a square yard. In a thirty mile an hour wind the fly end of a flag this size travels faster than the wind itself, because the wave running out to the tip accelerates as it goes. That is why the tip wears out first and why the stitching count at that end is the number worth reading on any listing.

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.

Lock stitching means each stitch is knotted into the next, so a broken thread stops where it broke rather than unzipping the seam. 6 rows does not mean 6 times the strength; it means 5 backups. The heading is two inches of heavy duty white, reinforced, with two solid brass grommets and tooth washers. At this size the heading is the part under the most sustained strain.

Commercial grade nylon is the material in this flag. Light enough to catch a gentle breeze, it sheds water rather than holding onto it and dries fast, which keeps a flag from staying heavy and stressing its seams. The ink is UV resistant and field tested, since sun exposure is what determines how long the color lasts.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

A detailed figure and arms on white. White fields soil faster than any other ground, and the figure’s detail is where cheap versions fail.

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 Massachusetts flag placed 38, at 4.78 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

Above this size, every flag switches to a full-length sewn rope instead of two grommets, because two points can no longer bear the load. The 6x10 foot flag sits right on that line, which is why it carries six rows of stitching and a two inch heading while still keeping 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 rule that governs both tables is a length-to-height ratio of about one quarter to one third. Borderline cases favor the smaller size if you want it flying often and lasting, or the larger size if the point is to be 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

The proportion still applies past a hundred feet, but the decision changes character: the flagpole, the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load stop being separate line items and become one engineered whole, and ordering a flag without confirming the flagpole rating puts the flagpole at risk first. A few famous flags fly deliberately larger than the rule suggests, and all of them do it with engineering behind the choice.

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 back of a printed flag shows the design reversed, not missing. That is true of almost every flag in the country, and it is normal rather than a flaw. Getting both sides to read correctly means sewing two flags together with a liner between them, which roughly doubles the cost and the weight. Single sided is standard practice, and the right choice unless a particular state’s law says otherwise.

Flying it with the United States flag

This is governed by the United States Flag Code, Title 4, Section 7: the United States flag always outranks every other flag in position, never displayed below it or to its right at the same level — right from the viewer’s side, that is. Two flagpoles of equal height place the United States flag at the viewer’s left with both flags the same size; if the poles differ in height, it goes on the taller pole; on one pole flying two flags, it sits at the top. The Flag Code carries no penalty for private citizens, but institutions treat it as the standard.

Buy two and they both last longer

Keep two flags and swap them monthly. That single habit will outlast three flags run to destruction, since resting fabric recovers and the fly end is spared the repeated wear of constant flying. Take the flag down ahead of severe weather, since one bad storm night can outdo six calm months. Watch the fly end rather than the center; a little stitching early saves a whole season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

We supply state flags to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies. Tax exempt accounts are handled through the tax exempt page. For quantities, replacement schedules or sizes not listed, use the contact page.

Why buy it from us

We are a small, American-based company that stocks what it lists. Every flag is made in the United States, uses UV resistant ink, and is finished to the standard described above rather than cut down to hit a price. One flag that lasts is worth more to us than three that do not. Free shipping applies over twenty five dollars.