FORTISVEX California State Flag 4x6 Feet Nylon - Made in USA Bear Flag with Brass Grommets

A 4x6 foot flag is too big for a house bracket and needs ground-mounted hardware. That practical fact, not appearance, is the real reason to choose this size over a 3x5 Feet.

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

Built to the California flag specification

The California flag is set out in California Government Code Section 420, one of the most precise flag statutes in the country. It is two thirds as tall as it is long, with a red stripe along the bottom exactly one sixth of the height, a grizzly bear walking left across a green grass plot of twelve tufts and measuring two thirds of the flag’s height from nose to hind paw, one red five-pointed star in the upper hoist corner, and the words California Republic in condensed gothic capitals between the grass and the stripe.

Adopted in 1911 and standardized to its current form in 1953; it derives from the original Bear Flag raised at Sonoma during the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, when a short-lived republic declared independence from Mexico and lasted twenty five days; the design is credited to William Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln, who painted the original at Sonoma.

California is precise about proportion. Government Code Section 420 makes the flag two thirds as tall as it is long, which is two to three, and a 4x6 foot flag, an 8x12 foot flag, a 10x15 foot flag and a 12x18 foot flag all match it exactly. A 3x5 foot flag is a three to five ratio and is therefore slightly deeper than the statute describes, which is true of almost every 3x5 foot state flag sold in the country.

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

California Government Code Section 420 reads:

The Bear Flag is the State Flag of California. As viewed with the hoist end of the flag to the left of the observer there appears in the upper left-hand corner of a white field a five-pointed red star with one point vertically upward and in the middle of the white field a brown grizzly bear walking toward the left with all four paws on a green grass plot, with head and eye turned slightly toward the observer; a red stripe forms the length of the flag at the bottom, and between the grass plot and the red stripe appear the words CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC. Dimensions, excluding heading and unfinished flag ends: The hoist or flag width is two-thirds of the fly or flag length; the red stripe width is one-sixth of the hoist width. The state official flag hoist widths shall be two, three, four, five, six and eight feet.

The section continues with the proportions of the star, bear, grass plot and lettering, then the Textile Color Card Association references: White cable 70001, Old Glory red 70180, Irish Green 70168, Maple Sugar brown 70129, Seal dark brown 70108. The bear illustration itself appears only in the printed Statutes of 1953, chapter 1140.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read California Government Code Section 420 in full at Justia, 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 bear is a California grizzly, a subspecies now extinct. The last one held in captivity, a bear named Monarch, was the model used when the flag was standardized. The star recalls the lone star of the 1836 California revolt. The original 1846 flag was destroyed in the San Francisco fire of 1906.

What most listings get wrong

Three errors are repeated constantly by other retailers and by general reference sites. The bear walks on all fours; it does not stand upright. The words California Republic sit below the bear, not above it. And the word Eureka belongs to the state seal, not to the flag, so any California flag carrying it is wrong.

Where the California flag flies

The Superflag, five hundred and five by two hundred and twenty five feet and about three thousand pounds, was made for Thomas Demski of Long Beach and was recognized by Guinness as the world's largest flag in the 1994 and 1995 editions. Its 1996 unfurling at Hoover Dam made it the largest flag flown. It no longer holds the world title but is still cited as the largest American flag. Calipatria in Imperial County has a one hundred and eighty four foot municipal flagpole so the flag flies at sea level in a town one hundred and eighty four feet below it. Dorris is documented as having one of the tallest United States flagpoles.

Fly it on California’s birthday

California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850. 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 California flag has an official reason to go up.

California Admission Day is September 9, a legal observance, and some cities close offices for it.

Order ahead and this flag is ready for the day. The complete list of state birthdays lives on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in California

Nylon in the mild sheltered coastal valley metros, the Los Angeles basin, San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento. Polyester on the immediate coast for salt, in the high wind passes at San Gorgonio and Altamont, and in the high ultraviolet desert at Palm Springs and the Bakersfield edge.

For scale, the National Weather Service ultraviolet index forecast for Los Angeles on July 23, 2026 was 11 at solar noon, in the extreme band. That is the sun this flag has to survive.

At twenty four square feet the wind load starts to matter, and the verdict above applies with more force than it does to a house flag.

The nylon is what you are looking at here — the right choice for the sheltered and moderate wind sites named above, for a house bracket, and for anywhere the flag comes down ahead of storms. Two things settle it. It is light enough to fly on an ordinary yard’s breeze rather than sag, and it dries fast, fighting mildew in humid conditions. What it gives up is resistance to ultraviolet — nylon’s amide bonds break under sun, costing strength and color faster than polyester, and it loses roughly a tenth of its strength while wet. If the site is one of the exposed ones above, the polyester version fits better.

Here is the part usually learned the hard way, after a second purchase: nylon catches wind on days polyester simply will not move. When the flag needs to be visibly flying — a quiet morning, a holiday, a funeral, a ceremony — that argues for nylon even on a site where polyester would technically last longer. A flag that just hangs there is not doing its job either.

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.

Work the numbers and you get 24 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.

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.

With lock stitching, every stitch knots into its neighbor, so damage stays contained at the break instead of running down the seam. Read 4 rows not as 4 times the strength but as 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.

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.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

A detailed bear silhouette, a twelve-tuft grass plot, lettering and a star, and a statute that fixes proportions precisely enough that a sloppy reproduction is visibly wrong.

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 California flag placed 13, at 7.00 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

An in-ground flagpole between eighteen and twenty five feet is the right fit; a six foot house bracket will leave it dragging and wrapping.

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

Stepping up from a 3x5 Feet to a 4x6 Feet is where a cheap build starts costing real money. The extra area means more force at the fly end and more load on the grommets, so a budget 4x6 Feet fails faster than a budget 3x5 Feet ever would. Construction stops being optional 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?

Underneath both tables is a single ratio: a flag a quarter to a third the flagpole’s height. When you land between two rows, that is a real choice, not a rounding error — smaller flies more often, bigger reads 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 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

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

This is governed by the United States Flag Code, Title 4, Section 7: the United States flag always outranks every other flag in position, never displayed below it or to its right at the same level — right from the viewer’s side, that is. Two flagpoles of equal height place the United States flag at the viewer’s left with both flags the same size; if the poles differ in height, it goes on the taller pole; on one pole flying two flags, it sits at the top. The Flag Code carries no penalty for private citizens, but institutions treat it as the standard.

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

State flags go out to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies as a matter of course. Tax exempt purchasing runs through the tax exempt page, and anything involving quantity, a replacement schedule or a size we do not list goes through the contact page.

Why buy it from us

Small and American describes this company, and we stock what we list. Every flag is made in the United States, printed with UV resistant ink, and finished to the construction described above rather than to a price target. We’d rather sell one flag that holds up than three that don’t. Free shipping on orders over twenty five dollars.