FORTISVEX Hawaii State Flag 5x8 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

Businesses fly this size on thirty foot flagpoles: dealerships, banks, fire stations, churches, schools. A homeowner with a tall flagpole reaches for it too, once a 4x6 foot flag starts looking small up there.

This is the Hawaii state flag at 5x8 Feet (40 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the Hawaii flag specification

The Hawaii flag is set out in the Hawaii Revised Statutes provisions on the state flag, which carry a detailed heraldic blazon. It is eight horizontal stripes in white, red and blue repeating, with the British Union Jack in the canton.

In use since 1816, with the stripe count fixed at eight by King Kamehameha the Third on May 25, 1845, and retained at statehood in 1959.

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.

The reproduction here is faithful to the design, in the standard outdoor sizes used industry wide and bought by the states themselves. On an outdoor flag, correct colors, seal and emblems are what counts, and that is what you get.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 5-19 reads:

The official description of the Hawaiian flag as authorized to represent the State of Hawaii on land and sea, and authorized for executive state agencies, second to the stars and stripes of the United States shall be: (1) The Hawaiian flag shall consist of eight horizontal stripes, alternately white, red, blue, etc., beginning at the top, having a jack cantoned in the dexter chief angle next to the point of suspension; (2) The jack shall consist of a blue field charged with a compound saltire (crossing) of alternate tincture white and red, the white having precedence; a narrow edge of white borders each red side of the saltire; (3) A red cross bordered with white is charged (placed) over all; (4) The proportion shall be as follows: (A) The fly (length) is twice the hoist (width); (B) The jack is half the hoist (width) in breadth and 7-16 the fly in length; (C) The arms of the red cross with border shall be equal in width to one of the horizontal stripes; the white border shall be one-third the width of the red cross; (D) The arms of the compound saltire (crossing) are equal in width to the red cross, the tinctures white, red, and the border being in the proportion of 3, 2, 1, respectively.

The statute then adds that when the Hawaiian flag is flown from the same halyard as the flag of the United States it shall be underneath the national colors, and gives the ceremonial folding method.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 5-19 in full at the Hawaii State Legislature, and check what we sell against it.

This is the actual flag we manufacture, not an approximation.

What is on it and what it means

The eight stripes are the eight major islands, Hawaii, Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. The Union Jack reflects historic ties to Britain, after Vancouver gave Kamehameha the First a British flag in 1793. The colors themselves carry no individual official meaning.

What most listings get wrong

The Union Jack reflects friendship, not colonial status. Hawaii was never a British colony. The designer is uncertain, either Alexander Adams or George Beckley, and sources do not agree.

It is the only state flag containing another country’s flag, and the only one that flew over an independent kingdom.

Where the Hawaii flag flies

The Hawaii State Archives on the Iolani Palace grounds holds royal standards and historic Hae Hawaii, including Queen Liliuokalani's personal royal standard that flew over Iolani Palace on January 17, 1893, the day of the overthrow. It was seized, disappeared for eighty five years, and returned to Hawaii in 1978. The Archives also holds the Hae Hawaii lowered at annexation on August 12, 1898 and one flown over the capitol on statehood day, August 21, 1959. The popular story that the palace flag was torn into souvenir pieces at annexation is treated by archivists as a myth. The flag was tattered from age.

Fly it on Hawaii’s birthday

Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959. 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 Hawaii flag has an official reason to go up.

Statehood Day, also called Admission Day, falls on the third Friday in August and is an official paid state holiday. In 2026 it is August 21.

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 Hawaii

Polyester statewide. Constant trade winds, relentless ultraviolet and salt air everywhere, at Honolulu, Hilo and Kailua.

At forty square feet the load on the heading is real in any gust, and the exposed sites above will show the difference between the two cloths inside a season.

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.

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 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 5x8 Feet is built

At forty square feet this flag is working hard and it fails in public. A frayed tip on a business flagpole is visible from the road, which is the point of flying it at all.

Work the numbers and you get 40 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.

Two people handle this more easily than one, especially on a windy site, since forty square feet of unsecured fabric catches wind during folding.

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. The heading grows to two inches at this size, reinforced heavy duty white with brass grommets and tooth washers, since forty square feet in a gust pulls hard enough to need it.

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

The compound saltire of the Union Jack has to be proportioned exactly or it reads as wrong to anyone who knows it, and it sits in a canton over eight stripes that all have to line up.

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 Hawaii flag placed 11, at 7.15 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

This size belongs on an in-ground flagpole between twenty five and thirty five feet — the standard commercial setup.

Questions about the 5x8 Feet

What size flagpole for a 5x8 foot flag? Twenty five to thirty five feet in the ground, which is the standard commercial flagpole. This is the size on most dealerships, banks and fire stations.

Should a business choose nylon or polyester at 5x8 Feet? Nylon flies more often and looks better on a calm day. Polyester lasts longer on an open, windy or coastal site. The section above names which your state is.

How often does a 5x8 foot commercial flag need replacing? A flag flown daily on an exposed commercial flagpole is typically replaced two to four times a year. A rotation of two flags swapped monthly stretches that.

What the condition of it says

Anyone driving past a business sees the flag before they see the building. A faded, frayed flag outside a place of business says something about the business, and it is a different kind of cost from the price of replacing it.

Specifications

• Size: 5x8 Feet
• Area: 40 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 4 rows of lock stitching
• Heading: heavy duty white, reinforced, 2 inch
• Finish: Brass Grommets
• 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

Push the flagpole past a hundred feet and the same ratio still applies, but it stops being a simple lookup: the flag, the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load need to be engineered as a unit, and skipping that step damages the flagpole before it damages the flag. A number of famous large flags deliberately break the rule of thumb, on an engineer’s word rather than a table’s.

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 printed flag reads correctly from the front and reversed from the back. That is normal and it is true of almost every flag flown in the country. A flag that reads correctly from both sides is a double sided flag, built as two flags sewn together with a liner between them, and it costs roughly twice as much and weighs roughly twice as much. Unless the statute for a particular state requires it, single sided is the standard and the right 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

Alternate two flags on a monthly schedule and you will get more life from both than from three flags flown until they wear out, because resting fabric recovers and the fly end stops absorbing the same repeated stress. A severe storm is the one condition worth taking the flag down for; it can do more damage in a night than six calm months. The fly end frays first, not the center, and stitching it early adds a 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.