Texas 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 Texas 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 Texas flag specification

The Texas flag is set out in Texas Government Code Chapter 3100, at a two to three proportion, with the statute giving precise star geometry. It is a blue vertical hoist stripe one third the length carrying a white five-pointed star, with white over red horizontal stripes.

This was the 1839 national flag of the Republic of Texas, drawn by Peter Krag and approved by President Lamar January 25, 1839; it became the state flag at annexation in 1845 and was re-adopted August 31, 1933 after a period with no active flag statute.

Texas is precise about proportion rather than size. Government Code Chapter 3100 requires a width to length ratio of two to three, which a 4x6 foot flag, an 8x12 foot flag and a 10x15 foot flag all match exactly. A 3x5 foot flag is a three to five ratio and is therefore slightly deeper than the statute describes.

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

Texas Government Code Section 3100.002, Description: In General reads:

(a) The state flag is a rectangle that: (1) has a width to length ratio of two to three; and (2) contains: (A) one blue vertical stripe that has a width equal to one-third the length of the flag; (B) two equal horizontal stripes, the upper stripe white, the lower stripe red, each having a length equal to two-thirds the length of the flag; and (C) one white, regular five-pointed star: (i) located in the center of the blue stripe; (ii) oriented so that one point faces upward; and (iii) sized so that the diameter of a circle passing through the five points of the star is equal to three-fourths the width of the blue stripe. (b) The red and blue of the state flag are: (1) the same colors used in the United States flag; and (2) defined as numbers 193 (red) and 281 (dark blue) of the Pantone Matching System. (c) The red, white, and blue of the state flag represent, respectively, bravery, purity, and loyalty.

Section 3100.001 separately states that the state flag is the 1839 national flag of the Republic of Texas.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Texas Government Code Section 3100.002 in full at the Texas 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 lone star stands for Texas unity, one for God, State and Country. Chapter 3100 assigns the colors directly: blue is loyalty, white is purity, red is bravery.

Worth knowing about this flag

For most of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Texas had no flag statute in force. The 1933 act put the Lone Star Flag back into law.

With Hawaii, it is one of only two state flags that previously served as the flag of a sovereign nation.

Where the Texas flag flies

The original Battle Flag of San Jacinto has hung in the Texas House of Representatives at the State Capitol in Austin since 1933, with a reproduction displayed when the House is not in session to protect the fragile original. The World's Largest Texas Flag, one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, was made by Dixie Flag and Banner of San Antonio and is unfurled at Longhorns football games.

Fly it on Texas’s birthday

Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. 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 Texas 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 Texas

Polyester across the wind and ultraviolet Panhandle and West. Amarillo at 13.5 and Lubbock at 12.4 miles per hour are among the very windiest American stations, and El Paso for ultraviolet. Polyester also on the Gulf Coast at Houston and Corpus Christi. Nylon acceptable in the sheltered central metros at Austin, San Antonio and the Dallas interior.

Two hundred and sixteen square feet makes this an installation flag. Where the sites above call for polyester, they call for it without exception, and the flagpole must be engineered for the load.

This is the nylon listing, suited to the sheltered and moderate wind sites named above, to any house bracket, and to anywhere you bring the flag in during storms. Two factors drive that choice. Nylon is light, catching the breeze most yards actually get instead of hanging still, and it dries quickly, which is what keeps mildew at bay in humid air. The cost is ultraviolet life: nylon’s amide bonds absorb and break under ultraviolet exposure, fading faster than polyester, and it loses about a tenth of its strength wet. On one of the exposed sites named above, look instead at the polyester version.

One more consideration, learned by most people only after a repeat purchase: a nylon flag moves in conditions where polyester hangs still. If the flag needs to actually be flying — a calm morning, a holiday, a funeral, a ceremony — that is an argument for nylon even on a site where polyester would technically outlast it. A flag that just hangs there has failed just as much as one that frays.

Institutions commonly cite the American Legion’s figure: the federal government expects about ninety days from a flag flown daily sunrise to sunset, and roughly a quarter of that flown around the clock. On the ground, retailers report three to six months for nylon flown daily, four to eight for polyester, and one to three years for occasional flying. Take these as working estimates, not warranties — exposure can move them a long way in either direction.

How the 12x18 Feet is built

The construction here — six rows on the fly end, zig zag stitched corners — exists for one reason: managing a load that would destroy a house flag inside 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.

Treat this as a scheduled operation rather than a quick task. Two hundred and sixteen square feet goes up and down with the site in mind, and never when the wind is already blowing.

A lock stitch ties into the stitch next to it, so one broken thread does not unzip the whole seam — it just stops. 6 rows is not 6 times the strength; it is 5 backups. Two plated steel thimbles finish a full-length nylon rope sewn into the heading, spreading two hundred and sixteen square feet of load across the entire hoist.

This is commercial grade nylon: light enough to fly in a light wind, quick to shed water instead of holding it, and fast to dry, which matters because a waterlogged flag is a heavier flag putting more strain on its seams. UV resistant, field tested ink is what fights the sun, which is the real driver of color loss over time.

A design that reproduces cleanly

Three colors and one star. It is among the cheapest state flags to build properly and among the longest lived, because there is no fine detail to fail.

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 Texas flag placed 2, at 8.13 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

This size needs a flagpole between sixty and eighty feet, with hardware sized to match.

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

This size is not something you put up and forget — it is a scheduled maintenance item, needing rotation, regular hardware checks, and removal ahead of severe weather. Flown properly, it lasts. Flown carelessly, it will not make it 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 and Thimbles
• 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 ratio does not fail at a hundred feet, but the transaction does change: past that height the flag, the flagpole, the truck, the halyard and the foundation have to be engineered together, and a flag ordered without checking the flagpole rating tends to cost the flagpole first. A few of the country’s best known flags deliberately exceed the rule, on the strength of an engineer’s calculation rather than a chart.

If a size in either table is missing from the website, it does not mean we do not carry it. The full range is available to order regardless of what is currently listed.

About the back of the flag

The reverse of a printed flag mirrors the front, which is ordinary and true of nearly every flag in the country. To have both faces read correctly requires a double sided construction: two flags joined with a liner in between, at about twice the material and twice the price. Single sided is the industry standard, and the sensible pick unless a state’s statute says otherwise.

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

Cities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies buy state flags from us as a matter of routine. The tax exempt page is where a tax exempt account is set up; the contact page is where quantity orders, replacement schedules, and sizes not shown here get handled.

Why buy it from us

A small American company runs this store, and everything listed here is something we actually stock. Every flag is made in the United States, printed in UV resistant ink, and built to the construction described above rather than built down to a price. We would rather one flag last than sell three that fail early. Free shipping kicks in over twenty five dollars.