South Carolina 12x18 Feet Nylon State Flag Made in USA

A 12x18 foot flag is a major installation. Two hundred and sixteen square feet is the size flown at large civic sites, memorial grounds and highway locations where the flag is meant to be seen from a long way off.

This is the South Carolina state flag at 12x18 Feet (216 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with a sewn rope and plated steel thimbles.

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.

What the statute here fixes is the design, the colors and the seal or emblem; it does not fix a size for an outdoor flag to hit. That is the position in most of the country, and it is the reason every manufacturer settles on the same standard sizes.

This flag reproduces the design faithfully, built to the standard outdoor sizes used across the industry and bought by the states themselves. The colors, the seal and the emblems are the part that has to be right on an outdoor flag, and they are right here.

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.

This is what we actually make, not a stand-in for it.

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.

Order it ahead of the date and it is ready to fly that day. Every state’s birthday is listed 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.

At two hundred and sixteen square feet, an installation flag, any exposed site above that calls for polyester means it absolutely, with the flagpole engineered to carry it.

This listing is the nylon. It is the right choice for the sheltered and moderate wind sites named above, on any house bracket, and anywhere the flag comes down in storms. Two things decide that. Nylon is light, so it flies on the breeze most yards actually get instead of hanging limp, and it dries fast, which is what fights mildew in a humid climate. What it gives up is ultraviolet life: nylon’s amide bonds absorb ultraviolet and break, so under hard sun it loses strength and color faster than polyester, and it loses roughly a tenth of its strength while it is wet. If your site is one of the exposed ones above, look at the polyester version of this flag instead.

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 12x18 Feet is built

Six rows of lock stitching on the fly end and zig zag stitched corners. Everything about the construction at this size exists to manage a load that would destroy a house flag in an afternoon.

Here is the arithmetic: 216 square feet of nylon at roughly two ounces a square yard. A thirty mile an hour wind sends the fly end moving faster than the wind itself, since the wave traveling toward the tip picks up speed as it goes — which is why the tip wears out first, and why the fly end's stitching count is the figure to check on any listing.

Two hundred and sixteen square feet is not an errand you fit in casually. Schedule it, account for the site, and never attempt it on a day the wind is already up.

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. A nylon rope sewn the full length of the heading with two plated steel thimbles, spreading the load across the entire hoist.

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

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?

Sixty to eighty feet of in-ground flagpole, with hardware rated for it, is the right fit for this size.

Questions about the 12x18 Feet

What size flagpole for a 12x18 foot flag? Sixty to eighty feet with hardware engineered for two hundred and sixteen square feet of load.

Who buys a 12x18 foot state flag? Civic sites, memorial grounds, highway frontages and campuses, anywhere the flag is meant to be seen from a long way off.

Does a flag this size need special care? It needs a rotation, hardware checks, and taking down in severe weather. Flown properly it lasts. Flown carelessly it does not last a season.

This size is a commitment

A flag this large is a scheduled maintenance item rather than something you put up and forget. It wants a rotation, it wants the hardware checked, and it wants taking down in severe weather. Flown properly it lasts. Flown carelessly it does not last a season.

Specifications

• Size: 12x18 Feet
• Area: 216 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?

The proportion that makes both tables work is simple: length equal to roughly a quarter to a third of the flagpole’s height. Sitting between two sizes is common, and the choice there is really a trade between a flag that flies often and one that is seen from a distance.

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

Title 4, Section 7 of the United States Flag Code sets the rule: no flag flies above the United States flag, and none takes its place to the right at the same level, meaning the viewer’s left. Two equal-height flagpoles put the United States flag on the viewer’s left, with both flags matched in size. Unequal flagpoles put the United States flag on the taller one, and a single flagpole with two flags carries the United States flag at the top. Civilians are not bound by penalty under the Flag Code, but it remains the standard institutions follow.

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

Municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies all buy state flags from us regularly. The tax exempt page handles tax exempt accounts, and the contact page is the route for quantity orders, replacement schedules or a size not shown here.

Why buy it from us

We are a small American company and we stock what we sell. Every flag here is made in the United States, printed in UV resistant ink, and finished to the construction described above rather than to a price point. We would rather sell you one flag that lasts than three that do not. Free shipping on orders over twenty five dollars.