FORTISVEX Utah State Flag 3x5 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

When most people picture a flag, this is the size they mean. It fits the bracket that already came with the house, and it is the single most replaced size in the country.

This is the Utah state flag at 3x5 Feet (15 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the Utah flag specification

The Utah flag is set out in Senate Bill 31 of 2023, signed March 21, 2023 and effective March 9, 2024, Utah State Flag Day, 113 years after the 1911 original. It is horizontal bands of blue, white and red, with the white forming mountain peaks, and a gold hexagon containing a gold beehive and a white five-pointed star.

Adopted through the 2022 More Than A Flag campaign, which drew 7,031 total submissions including 5,702 flag designs, 2,500 of them from students, from all 29 counties.

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.

We hold to a faithful reproduction of that design, at the standard outdoor sizes the industry uses and the states themselves buy. What matters on a flag that flies outdoors is accurate colors, seal and emblems, and that is exactly what this one has.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Utah Code Section 63G-1-501, State flag, Description, Image, Display reads:

(1) The state flag of Utah shall be a rectangle that has a width to length ratio of three to five and contain the following: (a) two irregular, horizontal lines dividing the flag into three separate segments, of which: (i) the top segment: (A) is located above the higher horizontal line; and (B) is shaded in blue; (ii) the middle segment: (A) is located between the two horizontal lines; (B) is shaded in white; (C) at the higher horizontal line, takes the shape of a mountain with five peaks, the center peak being the tallest and following the shape of the highest point of the hexagon described in Subsection (1)(b); and (D) at the lower horizontal line, follows the shape of the lowest point of the hexagon described in Subsection (1)(b); and (iii) the bottom segment: (A) is located below the lower horizontal line; and (B) is shaded in red; (b) one hexagon that: (i) is shaded in blue; (ii) contains a smaller gold hexagon outline; and (iii) is placed within the center of the middle segment described in Subsection (1)(a)(ii); (c) one beehive that: (i) is shaded in gold; (ii) contains five hive sections with a small semicircle removed from the center of the base of the lowest section; and (iii) is placed within the center of the hexagon described in Subsection (1)(b); and (d) one five-pointed Utah star that: (i) is shaded in white; and (ii) is placed below the center of the beehive described in Subsection (1)(c).

The prior 1911 flag is retained as the historic state flag under Section 63G-1-503.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Utah Code Section 63G-1-501 in full at the Utah 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 beehive is industry and community, and the settler arrival of 1847. The hexagon is the people’s strength and unity. The star marks statehood in 1896. Red is southern Utah’s red rock, white the mountains and snow, blue the sky.

What most listings get wrong

The pre-2024 seal-on-blue flag is now the historic flag. It still flies at the Capitol but it is not the state flag. Some sources date this design to 2023 because it was signed then, but it became official March 9, 2024.

This flag is new. It took effect March 9, 2024, and the seal flag it replaced is now designated the historic flag.

Where the Utah flag flies

By the governor's 2023 executive order, Utah's historic state flag flies continuously atop the State Capitol, above the new state flag when both are flown together, and both fly on separate poles on the Capitol grounds daily. Big Betsy, seventy eight by one hundred and fifty feet and about four hundred pounds, was made by Colonial Flag Company of Sandy and is flown by the nonprofit Follow the Flag over Grove Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove each Fourth of July since 2017. It is documented as the largest free flying United States flag in existence, larger than the George Washington Bridge flag.

Fly it on Utah’s birthday

Utah became the 45th state on January 4, 1896. 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 Utah 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 Utah

Nylon in the sheltered Wasatch Front valleys at Salt Lake City and Provo. Polyester in the high desert and canyon wind zones, and at St. George for ultraviolet.

This is a house flag, fifteen square feet, where the material determines whether it flies in a light breeze and how fast it dries once it rains.

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 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 3x5 Feet is built

The fly end is where this size gives out, and it gives out sooner than it should on most flags people buy, because the 3x5 foot flag is bought on price more than any other size. Four rows of lock stitching on the fly end is the difference between one season and three.

The arithmetic behind that: 15 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.

Raising or lowering this size is a one person task, and it folds to fit a drawer. Rotating two flags monthly is a minute of effort, no more, at 3x5 Feet.

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. Two solid brass grommets sit in a reinforced, inch and a half heading. At fifteen square feet, there is enough sail area to put real strain on them whenever the site sees wind.

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 clean geometric design replacing a detailed seal. It costs less to make than the flag it replaced and it will last considerably longer.

Will it fit my flagpole?

It suits a five or six foot house bracket, or an in-ground flagpole of fifteen to twenty feet. That is the most common residential setup in the country and this is the size built for it.

Questions about the 3x5 Feet

What size flagpole does a 3x5 foot flag need? A six foot house bracket, or an in-ground flagpole of fifteen to twenty feet. It is the most common residential pairing in the country.

How long does a 3x5 foot nylon flag last outside? The federal working figure is about ninety days for a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset, and about a quarter of that flown around the clock. Retailers commonly see three to six months in daily use and one to three years flown on occasions only.

Is this flag printed or sewn? The design is printed in UV resistant ink on one side and reads through in reverse on the back, which is how nearly every state flag sold in the country is made. The construction, the heading, the stitching and the grommets are sewn.

Why this size gets replaced most

It is not that the 3x5 foot flag is weaker. It is that it is the size sold on price, which means most of them are built to a price. A cheap 3x5 foot flag with one or two rows of stitching on the fly end will fray inside a season and be six inches shorter by the end of the next one. The construction is the whole difference.

Specifications

• Size: 3x5 Feet
• Area: 15 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?

One rule sits under both tables: the flag should run about a quarter to a third the height of the flagpole. On the border between two rows, the smaller flag flies more and lasts longer; the larger one is the one you can see from the road.

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 rule keeps holding above a hundred feet of flagpole, but the buying decision does not stay simple: the flag, the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load now have to be specified as one engineered system, and a flag chosen without checking the flagpole rating puts the pole at risk before the flag. Some of the most recognizable flags in the country deliberately run larger than the rule, always with an engineer behind that call.

The full range is available to order even where a size is not shown on the site. If what you need is not listed here, ask and we can still get it made.

About the back of the flag

Hold a printed flag up to the light and the reverse side shows the design in mirror image. That is not a defect — it is how nearly every flag flown in America is made. A flag correct on both sides is a double sided flag, two flags sewn together around a liner, and it runs roughly double the price and double the weight. Unless a state’s own statute calls for it, single sided is standard and it is the right call.

Flying it with the United States flag

Section 7 of Title 4, the United States Flag Code, addresses this directly: the United States flag is never outranked in position, staying above every other flag and to the right at the same level, which reads as the viewer’s left. Same-height flagpoles put the United States flag on the viewer’s left with matching flag sizes; different heights put it on the taller pole; one flagpole with two flags puts it at the top. There is no legal penalty for civilians under the Flag Code, but it is what every institution follows anyway.

Buy two and they both last longer

Buy two flags and swap them every month. That habit alone outlasts three flags flown into the ground, since the material recovers while resting and the fly end is not repeatedly stressed in the same place. Take the flag down for real storms; overnight wind damage can exceed six months of ordinary wear. Inspect the fly end rather than the middle, and a few minutes of repair stitching when 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

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.