FORTISVEX Utah State Flag 8x12 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Rope and Thimbles

Ninety six square feet, on a forty to fifty foot flagpole outside a civic building, a campus, a large commercial site: that is the 8x12 foot flag, and it is bought on purpose, never by accident.

This is the Utah state flag at 8x12 Feet (96 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with a sewn rope and plated steel thimbles.

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.

Design, colors and the seal or emblem are what this state's statute defines; a fixed size for an outdoor flag is not among them. Most of the country works the same way, and that is why manufacturers all build to 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

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.

It is the real flag we produce, not a simplified version.

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.

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 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.

At ninety six square feet the flag loads its flagpole in earnest. On the exposed sites above, polyester is not a preference but the only sensible choice, and the flagpole and truck need to be rated for it.

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.

This is the detail people usually only figure out after buying twice: nylon will fly on a day too calm for polyester to move at all. If flying on a still morning, a holiday, at a funeral, or at a ceremony matters to you, that is reason enough to choose nylon even where polyester would survive longer. A motionless flag fails at its purpose regardless of how durable it is.

The working benchmark most institutions use comes from the American Legion, which reports that the United States government expects a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset to last about ninety days, and one flown around the clock about a quarter of that. Retailer experience runs three to six months for nylon and four to eight for polyester flown daily, and one to three years for a flag flown only on occasions. Those are working figures, not a warranty, and exposure moves them a long way in either direction.

How the 8x12 Feet is built

Six rows of lock stitching on the fly end, and the corners are zig zag stitched rather than run straight, because a straight seam at a corner can be worked open by the wind over a season.

The arithmetic behind that: 96 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.

This is a two person flag on the ground and a two person job at the flagpole. Ninety six square feet will take you off balance in a gust while you are clipping it on.

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. This size drops grommets entirely. The heading carries a nylon rope its full length, ending in plated steel thimbles, so the load runs through the rope instead of two vulnerable points.

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?

A forty to fifty foot in-ground flagpole with proper truck and halyard hardware suits this size, not a house bracket.

Questions about the 8x12 Feet

What size flagpole for an 8x12 foot flag? Forty to fifty feet, on a truck and halyard rated for the load. This is an institutional flag.

What are the thimbles for? The rope sewn through the heading ends in two plated steel thimbles. The halyard snaps clip to the thimbles, so the pull runs through the rope along the whole hoist rather than tearing at two grommets.

Can an 8x12 foot flag fly around the clock? It can, on a lit flagpole, but a flag flown twenty four hours lasts roughly a quarter as long as one flown sunrise to sunset. Budget for that.

Why the grommets disappear

Ninety six square feet of pull, concentrated onto two small brass rings, is more than grommets can take. A rope sewn the full heading length spreads that load across the entire hoist, with thimbles carrying the attachment instead. It costs more to build, and it is the only way this size lasts.

Specifications

• Size: 8x12 Feet
• Area: 96 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 rule that governs both tables is a length-to-height ratio of about one quarter to one third. Borderline cases favor the smaller size if you want it flying often and lasting, or the larger size if the point is to be 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 proportion still applies past a hundred feet, but the decision changes character: the flagpole, the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load stop being separate line items and become one engineered whole, and ordering a flag without confirming the flagpole rating puts the flagpole at risk first. A few famous flags fly deliberately larger than the rule suggests, and all of them do it with engineering behind the choice.

Every size in both tables can be ordered, listed here or not. If the size you want does not appear on the website, contact us and we can still supply it.

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

Rotate two flags on a monthly cycle and they will outlast three flags flown until they fail, because the fabric gets a rest and the fly end is not taking the same beating in the same spot every day. Bring it down before severe weather; one real windstorm can do more damage overnight than six ordinary months. Check the fly end, not the middle — a few minutes of stitching at the first sign of fraying 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

This company is small and American, and what is on the site is in stock. Every flag here is made in the United States, uses UV resistant ink, and is built to the construction described above rather than priced down to a cheaper build. We would rather you buy one flag that lasts than replace three that do not. Orders over twenty five dollars get free shipping.