FORTISVEX Oregon State Flag 8x12 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Rope and Thimbles

The 8x12 foot flag belongs to institutions: civic buildings, campuses, large commercial sites, on a flagpole forty to fifty feet tall. This is not a size anyone ends up with by accident.

This is the Oregon state flag at 8x12 Feet (96 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with a sewn rope and plated steel thimbles.

Built to the Oregon flag specification

The Oregon flag is set out in Oregon Revised Statutes Section 186.010, with the seal at Section 186.020 and official colors of navy blue and gold. It is the obverse carries the state escutcheon in gold with 33 stars, the words State of Oregon above and 1859 below; the reverse carries a gold beaver.

Adopted February 26, 1925.

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.

What we build is a faithful reproduction of that design, sized to the standard outdoor sizes every manufacturer uses and the states themselves order in. On an outdoor flag, the colors, the seal and the emblems are what has to be right, and here they are.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Oregon Revised Statutes Section 186.010 reads:

(1) A state flag is adopted to be used on all occasions when the state is officially and publicly represented, with the privilege of use by all citizens upon such occasions as may be fitting and appropriate. It shall bear on one side on a navy blue field the state escutcheon in gold, supported by 33 gold stars and bearing above the escutcheon the words "State of Oregon" in gold and below the escutcheon the figures "1859" in gold, and on the other side on a navy blue field a representation of the beaver in gold. (2) The official colors of the State of Oregon are navy blue and gold.

Both the obverse and the reverse are in words.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Oregon Revised Statutes Section 186.010 in full at the Oregon Legislature, and check what we sell against it.

That is the flag as we build it. Nothing about it is approximate.

What is on it and what it means

The escutcheon shows mountains, an elk, a covered wagon, and the Pacific with a departing British man-of-war and an arriving American steamer, above the word The Union. The 33 stars mark Oregon as the 33rd state. The beaver is the state animal and the fur trade.

What most listings get wrong

A real Oregon flag is two flags sewn together. Any single-sided Oregon flag, with the seal showing through backwards on the reverse, is not the flag the statute describes.

It is the only state flag in the United States with a different design on each side, a distinction it shares only with the national flag of Paraguay.

Where the Oregon flag flies

Dan Kirkman's Baskin Robbins in Grants Pass flies a forty by sixty foot flag on a pole taller than a hundred and fifty feet, called by KTVL the largest flag in southern Oregon and possibly the entire state. A prior benchmark was Crater Lake Ford in Medford at a hundred and twenty five feet flying a thirty by sixty foot flag.

Fly it on Oregon’s birthday

Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. 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 Oregon flag has an official reason to go up.

Buy it in time and it goes up on the day it matters. Every state’s date is on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in Oregon

Nylon in the sheltered Willamette Valley at Portland, Salem and Eugene. Polyester on the coast and in the Columbia River Gorge, a world class wind corridor.

At ninety six square feet the flag loads its flagpole in earnest. On the exposed sites above, polyester is not a preference but the only sensible choice, and the flagpole and truck need to be rated for it.

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.

One more consideration, learned by most people only after a repeat purchase: a nylon flag moves in conditions where polyester hangs still. If the flag needs to actually be flying — a calm morning, a holiday, a funeral, a ceremony — that is an argument for nylon even on a site where polyester would technically outlast it. A flag that just hangs there has failed just as much as one that frays.

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 8x12 Feet is built

Six rows of lock stitching on the fly end, and the corners are zig zag stitched rather than run straight, because a straight seam at a corner can be worked open by the wind over a season.

The arithmetic behind that: 96 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 on the ground, two people at the flagpole: this size demands it. Ninety six square feet can knock you off balance in a gust while clipping it on alone.

With lock stitching, every stitch knots into its neighbor, so damage stays contained at the break instead of running down the seam. Read 6 rows not as 6 times the strength but as 5 backups. This size drops grommets entirely. The heading carries a nylon rope its full length, ending in plated steel thimbles, so the load runs through the rope instead of two vulnerable points.

The material here is commercial grade nylon. Its lightness lets it fly on a gentle breeze, it sheds rather than absorbs water, and it dries quickly, sparing the seams the extra weight and strain of staying wet. Field tested UV resistant ink handles the part that actually determines fade life: sun exposure.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

This is the only genuinely double-sided state flag, which means two printed or appliqued faces and usually a light-blocking liner between them. It is heavier, costlier and slower to make than any other state flag, and there is no way around it.

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 Oregon flag placed 62, at 3.30 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

This size needs an in-ground flagpole between forty and fifty feet, with a truck and halyard, not a bracket.

Questions about the 8x12 Feet

What size flagpole for an 8x12 foot flag? Forty to fifty feet, on a truck and halyard rated for the load. This is an institutional flag.

What are the thimbles for? The rope sewn through the heading ends in two plated steel thimbles. The halyard snaps clip to the thimbles, so the pull runs through the rope along the whole hoist rather than tearing at two grommets.

Can an 8x12 foot flag fly around the clock? It can, on a lit flagpole, but a flag flown twenty four hours lasts roughly a quarter as long as one flown sunrise to sunset. Budget for that.

Why rope and thimbles carry most of the load

Ninety six square feet of pull, concentrated onto two small brass rings, is more than grommets alone can take, which is why a single reinforced grommet at the center of the heading now serves only as a secondary attachment point. A rope sewn the full heading length spreads that load across the entire hoist, with thimbles carrying the attachment instead. It costs more to build, and it is the only way this size lasts.

Specifications

• Size: 8x12 Feet
• Area: 96 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 6 rows of lock stitching
• Heading: heavy duty white, reinforced, 2 inch
• Finish: Rope, Thimbles and Center Grommet
• 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 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.

The website does not show every size we can supply. If yours is missing from the listing, the full range above is still available to order.

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

Title 4, Section 7 of the United States Flag Code sets the rule: no flag flies above the United States flag, and none takes its place to the right at the same level, meaning the viewer’s left. Two equal-height flagpoles put the United States flag on the viewer’s left, with both flags matched in size. Unequal flagpoles put the United States flag on the taller one, and a single flagpole with two flags carries the United States flag at the top. Civilians are not bound by penalty under the Flag Code, but it remains the standard institutions follow.

Buy two and they both last longer

Fly one for a month, then swap. Two flags rotated monthly will outlast three flags flown to destruction, because the fabric recovers when it rests and the fly end stops taking the same abuse in the same place. Take it down in severe weather; a flag left up through a real windstorm can take more damage in one night than in six normal months. And watch the fly end rather than the middle, because a few minutes with a needle when the fraying starts buys another season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

This is a flag we sell to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies as standard business. Use the tax exempt page for a tax exempt account, and the contact page for quantity orders, a replacement schedule, or a size not shown on this listing.

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.