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

This is an institutional size. Ninety six square feet of flag, flown on a forty to fifty foot flagpole outside a civic building, a campus, a large commercial site — nobody buys this size without meaning to.

This is the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island flag specification

The Rhode Island flag is set out in the Rhode Island General Laws provisions on the state flag. It is a white field with a gold anchor encircled by thirteen gold stars and a blue ribbon carrying the motto Hope.

The current design was adopted in 1897.

Rhode Island General Laws Section 42-4-3 gives five feet six inches by four feet ten inches and then adds the words, or in these proportions. The statute authorizes scaling in as many words.

We reproduce that design faithfully, in the standard outdoor flag sizes the whole industry uses and that the states themselves buy. What matters on an outdoor flag is that the colors, the seal and the emblems are right, and they are.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Rhode Island General Laws Section 42-4-3 reads:

The flag of the state shall be white, five feet and six inches fly and four feet and ten inches deep on the pike, bearing on each side in the center a gold anchor, twenty-two inches high, and underneath it a blue ribbon twenty-four inches long and five inches wide, or in these proportions, with the motto "Hope" in golden letters thereon, the whole surrounded by thirteen (13) golden stars in a circle. The flag shall be edged with yellow fringe. The pike shall be surmounted by a spearhead and the length of the pike shall be nine feet, not including the spearhead.

The statute writes the measurements with foot and inch marks in parentheses; they are spelled out here.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Rhode Island General Laws Section 42-4-3 in full at Justia, 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 anchor is hope, a colonial symbol used since the seventeenth century. The thirteen stars are the original states and Rhode Island as one of them.

Worth knowing about this flag

It is one of only a handful of state flags on a white field, and it is normally made with gold fringe, which is part of the specification rather than an optional extra.

Where the Rhode Island flag flies

No citizen state capitol program was confirmed. the white state flag flies over one of the world's largest self supported marble domes. On Rhode Island Independence Day, the fourth of May, commemorating the 1776 Act of Renunciation in which Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to King George the Third, the Department of State opens the State House on a special Saturday, encourages residents to display the state flag, and sells large Rhode Island flags at the State House Visitor's Center. The original Act of Renunciation is held by the Department of State and viewable at the State Archives.

Fly it on Rhode Island’s birthday

Rhode Island became the 13th state on May 29, 1790. 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island

Polyester leans favorable given near total coastal and Narragansett Bay salt exposure and wind at Providence. Nylon only well inland.

Ninety six square feet genuinely loads a flagpole. On an exposed site from the list above, polyester stops being a preference and becomes the only sensible choice, with the flagpole and truck rated to match.

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.

There is one more factor, and most people only discover it after buying the wrong material once: a nylon flag moves on days a polyester flag stays limp. If it matters to you that the flag is actually flying on a still morning, a holiday, at a funeral, at a ceremony, that favors nylon even where polyester would outlast it. A flag hanging motionless has failed at its job too.

The number most institutions rely on traces to the American Legion, which reports a roughly ninety-day expectation from the federal government for a flag flown daily sunrise to sunset, and about a quarter of that flown around the clock. Retailer experience puts nylon at three to six months daily, polyester at four to eight, and an occasionally flown flag at one to three years. These figures are practical guidance, not a warranty, and exposure will move them considerably.

How the 8x12 Feet is built

The fly end carries six rows of lock stitching, and the corners use zig zag stitching rather than a straight seam, because a straight corner seam works loose under 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.

This is a two person flag on the ground and a two person job at the flagpole. Ninety six square feet will take you off balance in a gust while you are clipping it on.

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. The grommets are gone at this size. A nylon rope is sewn the full length of the heading with two plated steel thimbles, so the load runs through the rope rather than tearing at two fixed points.

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.

A design that reproduces cleanly

An anchor, thirteen stars and a short motto. No seal, which keeps it well clear of the expensive end, though the white ground shows soiling.

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 Rhode Island flag placed 28, at 6.12 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

It suits an in-ground flagpole of forty to fifty feet, on a truck and halyard rather than 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

A single reinforced grommet sits at the center of the heading as a secondary attachment point, but concentrating ninety six square feet of pull onto grommets alone does not hold, which is why a rope runs the full length of the heading, spreading the load across the whole hoist and letting thimbles carry the attachment point. It costs more to build, but it is the only construction that survives at this size.

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?

There is one number behind both tables. A flag reads right when its length is somewhere between a quarter and a third of the flagpole it is on. If your flagpole puts you between two sizes, go smaller for a flag that flies more and lasts longer, or bigger for one that carries further.

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 quarter to a third rule holds all the way up, but above about a hundred feet the flag and the flagpole stop being two purchases and become one engineered system: the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load all have to be specified together, and a flag bought without checking the flagpole rating damages the flagpole first. Several famous installations deliberately fly longer than the rule, which is a choice made with an engineer rather than from a chart.

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

Every printed flag looks right from one side and mirrored from the other, and that is simply how the overwhelming majority of American flags are built. Making both sides read correctly means building what is really two flags stitched together over a liner, at roughly twice the price and twice the weight. Single sided is the standard, and it is the right choice unless a state’s statute specifically requires 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

Two flags, alternated month to month, beat three flags flown until they fall apart, because the material recovers on its days off and the fly end is not worked in the same place every day. Severe weather is the one time to take it down; a real windstorm can cost more in one night than six ordinary months of flying. Fraying starts at the fly end, not the middle, and a few minutes with a needle there adds a 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

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.