Virginia 2x3 Feet Nylon State Flag Made in USA

The 2x3 foot flag fills the gap a 3x5 foot flag cannot: small boats, RVs, garden flagpoles, and narrow porch brackets, anywhere a bigger flag would be constantly brushing against the building.

This is the Virginia state flag at 2x3 Feet (6 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the Virginia flag specification

The Virginia flag is set out in Code of Virginia Section 1-506. It is a deep blue field with a white circle carrying the state seal.

In use from 1861 and standardized in 1930 and again in 1950.

This state's statute covers the design, the colors and the seal or emblem, and stops there — it sets no overall size for a modern outdoor flag to match. Most states take the same approach, which is exactly why every manufacturer builds state flags in the same standard sizes.

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

Code of Virginia Section 1-506 reads:

The flag of the Commonwealth shall be a deep blue field, with a circular white centre of the same material. Upon this circle shall be painted or embroidered, to show on both sides alike, the coat of arms of the Commonwealth, as described in § 1-500 for the obverse of the great seal of the Commonwealth; and there may be a white fringe on the outer edge, furthest from the flagstaff. This shall be known and respected as the flag of the Commonwealth.

The spelling centre is the statute’s own.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Code of Virginia Section 1-506 in full at the Code of Virginia, 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 seal shows Virtus, or Virtue, standing over a defeated tyrant, with the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis, Thus Always to Tyrants.

What most listings get wrong

Virtus is depicted in the Amazon style with one breast exposed, and that detail is frequently sanitized in reproductions. A Virginia flag with Virtus covered up is not the seal the Code describes.

Where the Virginia flag flies

The United States Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington, the Iwo Jima Memorial, flies the United States flag twenty four hours a day by presidential proclamation.

Fly it on Virginia’s birthday

Virginia became the 10th state on June 25, 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 Virginia 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 Virginia

Nylon inland at Richmond and the northern Virginia suburbs. Polyester on the coast and Hampton Roads at Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

Six square feet is small enough that nylon versus polyester here is a question of drying and flying, not whether the flag survives.

This listing is nylon, right for the sheltered and moderate wind sites above, for a standard house bracket, and for anywhere you take the flag down before a storm. Two things make it the pick. It flies on the breeze most yards actually see instead of hanging flat, being light, and it dries fast, which fights mildew where humidity is high. What it sacrifices is ultraviolet resistance: nylon’s amide bonds absorb and break under sun, losing strength and color faster than polyester, plus roughly a tenth of its strength while wet. For an exposed site from the list above, the polyester version is the better choice.

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 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 2x3 Feet is built

Six square feet does not spare the fly end — it cracks more than people expect, because a small flag is usually low and close to a building, where turbulent air does more damage than open wind. Four rows of lock stitching on the fly end answers that.

The arithmetic behind that: 6 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 size comes off the bracket with one hand and folds small enough for a coat pocket — the only size in the range you carry without a second thought.

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, heavy duty white and reinforced at an inch and a half, holds two solid brass grommets that take the entire load on every snap. A thin heading with stamped grommets is what gives out first at this size.

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

Two human figures in classical dress inside a white circle on blue. Figure work at this scale is the most demanding thing in flag printing.

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 Virginia flag placed 54, at 3.93 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

This size fits a garden flagpole, a boat staff, or a four to six foot bracket. Put it on anything taller than about eight feet and it disappears.

Questions about the 2x3 Feet

Will a 2x3 foot flag look right on a house bracket? It is the size that looks right on a short bracket, a boat staff, a garden flagpole or a narrow porch, anywhere a 3x5 foot flag would drag or wrap. On a full six foot bracket it reads small.

Is a 2x3 foot flag the same design as the big ones? Yes. Every size reproduces the same official design in the same proportions. Only the size and the hardware change.

How long will a 2x3 foot flag last on a boat? Salt, sun and constant motion make a boat the hardest place to fly a flag. Expect months, not years, in any material, and rinse it in fresh water when it comes off the water.

Handled more than it is flown

A flag this size is handled constantly: on for the weekend, off Sunday night, over and over. That repeated handling wears a flag in its own way, and it is why the heading and grommets carry more weight than the small size implies.

Specifications

• Size: 2x3 Feet
• Area: 6 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?

There is one number behind both tables. A flag reads right when its length is somewhere between a quarter and a third of the flagpole it is on. If your flagpole puts you between two sizes, go smaller for a flag that flies more and lasts longer, or bigger for one that carries 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 quarter to a third rule holds all the way up, but above about a hundred feet the flag and the flagpole stop being two purchases and become one engineered system: the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load all have to be specified together, and a flag bought without checking the flagpole rating damages the flagpole first. Several famous installations deliberately fly longer than the rule, which is a choice made with an engineer rather than from a chart.

What is on the website is not the limit of what we carry. Any size in the tables above can be ordered, listed or not.

About the back of the flag

Every printed flag looks right from one side and mirrored from the other, and that is simply how the overwhelming majority of American flags are built. Making both sides read correctly means building what is really two flags stitched together over a liner, at roughly twice the price and twice the weight. Single sided is the standard, and it is the right choice unless a state’s statute specifically requires otherwise.

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

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

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.