FORTISVEX New Hampshire State Flag 5x8 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

Businesses fly this size on thirty foot flagpoles: dealerships, banks, fire stations, churches, schools. A homeowner with a tall flagpole reaches for it too, once a 4x6 foot flag starts looking small up there.

This is the New Hampshire state flag at 5x8 Feet (40 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the New Hampshire flag specification

The New Hampshire flag is set out in New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated 3:2, with the seal at 3:8. It is the state seal, showing the frigate USS Raleigh, a granite boulder, a laurel wreath and nine stars, on a blue field.

Adopted in 1909 and modified in 1931.

The law governing this flag addresses design, colors and the seal or emblem, but leaves overall size unspecified for a modern outdoor flag. That is typical across most states, which is why the industry has converged on the same standard sizes.

This flag reproduces the design faithfully, built to the standard outdoor sizes used across the industry and bought by the states themselves. The colors, the seal and the emblems are the part that has to be right on an outdoor flag, and they are right here.

The law that defines it, in its own words

New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 3:2 reads:

The state flag shall be of the following color and design: The body or field shall be blue and shall bear upon its center in suitable proportion and colors a representation of the state seal. The seal shall be surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with nine stars interspersed. When used for military purposes the flag shall conform to the regulations of the United States.

The emblem itself is defined by reference to the state seal, so these words are the frame and not the whole picture.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 3:2 in full at the State of New Hampshire, and check what we sell against it.

It is the real flag we produce, not a simplified version.

What is on it and what it means

The Raleigh was one of the first warships of the Continental Navy and was built at Portsmouth. The nine stars mark New Hampshire as the ninth state. The granite boulder is the state’s granite.

What most listings get wrong

It is reported to be the only state flag whose seal contains the United States Stars and Stripes, though that claim traces to secondary sources rather than to the state itself, so we will not state it as settled.

Where the New Hampshire flag flies

New Hampshire's distinctive tradition is its own Hall of Flags in the State House, built 1816 to 1819, displaying the tattered battle flags carried by New Hampshire regiments from the Civil War through Vietnam. The flags first arrived in 1866 and moved into the State House in 1900, and their fragile condition has driven ongoing preservation debate. Sources on the collection are largely news and preservation group rather than an official state catalogue, and the count varies by source.

Fly it on New Hampshire’s birthday

New Hampshire became the 9th state on June 21, 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 New Hampshire flag has an official reason to go up.

Buy it now and it is on the flagpole for the day. The full list of state birthdays is on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in New Hampshire

Nylon in the sheltered interior at Concord and Manchester. Polyester on the short coast and exposed summits. Mount Washington recorded a 231 mile per hour gust on April 12, 1934, long the fastest surface wind ever measured at a staffed weather station.

Forty square feet puts real load on the heading in any gust, and an exposed site from the list above will show the difference between materials inside a single season.

This listing is the nylon. It is the right choice for the sheltered and moderate wind sites named above, on any house bracket, and anywhere the flag comes down in storms. Two things decide that. Nylon is light, so it flies on the breeze most yards actually get instead of hanging limp, and it dries fast, which is what fights mildew in a humid climate. What it gives up is ultraviolet life: nylon’s amide bonds absorb ultraviolet and break, so under hard sun it loses strength and color faster than polyester, and it loses roughly a tenth of its strength while it is wet. If your site is one of the exposed ones above, look at the polyester version of this flag 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 5x8 Feet is built

Forty square feet of flag on a business flagpole fails visibly, from the road, the same vantage point it was put up to be seen from in the first place.

Work the numbers and you get 40 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.

At this size, two people beat one, especially in wind. Forty square feet of loose fabric catches wind mid-fold if you are working alone.

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. This size steps the heading up to two inches, heavy duty white and reinforced, with brass grommets and tooth washers. Forty square feet in a gust pulls hard, and that extra half inch of heading earns its place.

This flag is commercial grade nylon, light enough to move in a gentle breeze, and it sheds water instead of soaking it up, drying fast — which matters, since a wet flag is a heavy flag that works its own seams harder. UV resistant, field tested ink is what stands between the flag and the sun, since sun is what fades a flag over time.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

A rigged ship on water inside a laurel wreath. Ship rigging is the single hardest thing to reproduce on a flag at any size.

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 New Hampshire flag placed 63, at 3.18 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

Twenty five to thirty five feet of in-ground flagpole is the standard commercial pairing for this size.

Questions about the 5x8 Feet

What size flagpole for a 5x8 foot flag? Twenty five to thirty five feet in the ground, which is the standard commercial flagpole. This is the size on most dealerships, banks and fire stations.

Should a business choose nylon or polyester at 5x8 Feet? Nylon flies more often and looks better on a calm day. Polyester lasts longer on an open, windy or coastal site. The section above names which your state is.

How often does a 5x8 foot commercial flag need replacing? A flag flown daily on an exposed commercial flagpole is typically replaced two to four times a year. A rotation of two flags swapped monthly stretches that.

What the condition of it says

People see the flag before they see the building it stands in front of. A worn, faded flag on a business flagpole sends a message, and that message costs something different from the price of a replacement.

Specifications

• Size: 5x8 Feet
• Area: 40 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 4 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?

Both tables follow the same logic. A flagpole reads best with a flag whose length falls between a quarter and a third of its height. Where a size could go either way, smaller means more flying days and a longer life, bigger means more visibility at range.

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 ratio does not fail at a hundred feet, but the transaction does change: past that height the flag, the flagpole, the truck, the halyard and the foundation have to be engineered together, and a flag ordered without checking the flagpole rating tends to cost the flagpole first. A few of the country’s best known flags deliberately exceed the rule, on the strength of an engineer’s calculation rather than a chart.

If a size in either table is missing from the website, it does not mean we do not carry it. The full range is available to order regardless of what is currently listed.

About the back of the flag

A single sided printed flag shows its design correctly on one face and reversed on the other. That is expected, and it describes almost every flag flying in the United States. A flag readable on both sides is built as two layers sewn around a liner, roughly double the cost and double the weight of a single sided flag. Unless a state’s law requires double sided, single sided remains the standard choice.

Flying it with the United States flag

The United States Flag Code, at Title 4, Section 7, sets this out: the United States flag holds the position of honor, never below another flag and never displaced from the viewer’s left when flags fly level. With two flagpoles of matching height, the United States flag takes the viewer’s left and the flags match in size; with unequal heights, it goes on the taller pole; on a single pole carrying two flags, it is at the top. The Code has no penalty attached for civilians, but it remains the standard every institution follows.

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

Fire and police departments, school districts, courthouses, municipalities and state agencies are all regular buyers of our state flags. Tax exempt purchasing is set up through the tax exempt page, and quantities, replacement schedules or an unlisted size are handled through the contact page.

Why buy it from us

A small American company runs this store, and everything listed here is something we actually stock. Every flag is made in the United States, printed in UV resistant ink, and built to the construction described above rather than built down to a price. We would rather one flag last than sell three that fail early. Free shipping kicks in over twenty five dollars.