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

The 4x6 foot flag is where a house bracket stops being enough. It needs an in-ground flagpole, and that is the real reason people move up to it — not appearance, just size.

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

Built to the South Carolina flag specification

The South Carolina flag is set out in no detailed statutory design since 1940, which leaves the shape, the size and the shade of blue formally unspecified. It is a blue field with a white palmetto tree and a white crescent in the upper hoist.

Roots in Moultrie’s Revolutionary flag of 1775, with the current palmetto and crescent design adopted January 28, 1861 after a gold palmetto version that lasted two days.

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.

Faithfully reproduced, that is the standard we hold this design to, at the outdoor sizes the whole industry uses and states themselves order. What an outdoor flag needs right is the color, the seal and the emblems, and this one has them right.

The law that defines it, in its own words

South Carolina Code Section 1-1-710 reads:

The color indigo blue worn on the uniform of Colonel William Moultrie's soldiers and adopted as the background of the South Carolina State flag, is designated as the official color of the State of South Carolina.

The South Carolina Code contains no design specification for the flag; this color provision is the only statutory statement about its appearance. A 2021 bill proposing one did not become law, which is why palmetto and crescent shapes vary between manufacturers.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read South Carolina Code Section 1-1-710 in full at the South Carolina 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 palmetto is Fort Moultrie’s palmetto log walls, which absorbed British cannon fire in 1776 rather than splintering. The crescent is the silver gorget worn on Revolutionary soldiers’ caps.

What most listings get wrong

Because the law says almost nothing, manufacturers’ palmettos and crescents vary widely and no two brands match. A standardization effort between 2018 and 2021 stalled and nothing is settled. This is the one state where asking what the official design is has no clean answer.

It is the only state whose flag has no statutory design specification, which is why versions differ between suppliers.

Where the South Carolina flag flies

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park holds the Fort Sumter garrison flag, a thirty three star flag wind damaged the night of April 11, 1861, the Fort Sumter storm flag that flew during the thirty four hour bombardment opening the Civil War on April 12, 1861, and the Palmetto Guard flag, the first Confederate aligned flag over the fort on April 14, 1861. All three were removed from display in September 2023 for long term conservation. The Revolutionary War Fort Moultrie flag is referenced by the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.

Fly it on South Carolina’s birthday

South Carolina became the 8th state on May 23, 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina

Nylon in the Midlands and Upstate at Columbia and Greenville. Polyester on the coast at Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

Twenty four square feet is where wind load starts to matter in earnest, and the verdict above carries more weight here than on a standard house flag.

This listing is nylon, right for the sheltered and moderate wind sites above, for a standard house bracket, and for anywhere you take the flag down before a storm. Two things make it the pick. It flies on the breeze most yards actually see instead of hanging flat, being light, and it dries fast, which fights mildew where humidity is high. What it sacrifices is ultraviolet resistance: nylon’s amide bonds absorb and break under sun, losing strength and color faster than polyester, plus roughly a tenth of its strength while wet. For an exposed site from the list above, the polyester version is the better choice.

The part most buyers learn only the second time around: nylon flies in wind too light to move polyester. When it matters that the flag is actually moving — a still morning, a holiday, a funeral, a ceremony — that favors nylon even somewhere polyester would last longer. A flag that hangs motionless is not doing its job either, however durable it is.

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 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.

The arithmetic behind that: 24 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.

Still a one person job, but you will notice the difference the first windy day you try to take it down alone. Do it before the weather, not during it.

A lock stitch ties into the stitch next to it, so one broken thread does not unzip the whole seam — it just stops. 4 rows is not 4 times the strength; it is 3 backups. Two solid brass grommets with tooth washers sit in a reinforced, inch and a half heavy duty white heading. Twenty four square feet puts genuine load on those two points.

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.

A design that reproduces cleanly

A palmetto silhouette and a crescent, with no seal. The variation between suppliers is a legal gap rather than a manufacturing one.

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 South Carolina flag placed 10, at 7.16 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

It suits an in-ground flagpole of eighteen to twenty five feet. On a six foot house bracket it will drag and wrap.

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

Buying cheap gets expensive right at the 3x5 Feet-to-4x6 Feet step up. The added area puts more force on the fly end and more load on the grommets, so a budget-built 4x6 Feet fails sooner than a budget 3x5 Feet would. Construction is no longer a nicety at this size.

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 rule behind both tables below is that a flag’s length should run about a quarter to a third of the flagpole’s height. Where two sizes both fit, the smaller one flies more often and lasts longer, and the larger one reads from further away.

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

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

Title 4, Section 7 of the Flag Code is the source for this. The United States flag is never subordinate in position — nothing flies above it, and nothing takes its place at the viewer’s left when flags are level with each other. On matched flagpoles, the United States flag takes the viewer’s left and the flags should be sized the same; on unequal flagpoles, it goes on the taller one; and on a single pole flying two flags, it goes at the top. There is no penalty for civilians who do not follow the Code, but institutions treat it as the standard regardless.

Buy two and they both last longer

The simplest way to make a flag last is to own two and rotate them monthly — that alone outlasts three flags flown to failure, because rest lets the fabric recover and the fly end is not hammered day after day. Take it down ahead of real storms, since one bad night of wind can undo six good months. Watch the fly end, where fraying starts, and a quick repair there is worth a whole extra 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.