Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin flag specification

The Wisconsin flag is set out in Wisconsin Statutes Section 1.08, at a two to three proportion. It is the state coat of arms on royal blue, with the word Wisconsin above and the date 1848 below.

Originally 1863 and standardized in 1913; the word Wisconsin and the date 1848 were added by Chapter 286, Laws of 1979, mandatory for flags made on or after May 1, 1981.

This statute sets the design, the colors and the seal or emblem, without pinning down a size for an outdoor flag. That is how most states have written their flag laws, and it explains why every manufacturer uses the same standard sizes.

We reproduce that design faithfully, in the standard outdoor flag sizes the whole industry uses and that the states themselves buy. What matters on an outdoor flag is that the colors, the seal and the emblems are right, and they are.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Wisconsin Statutes Section 1.08 reads:

(1) The Wisconsin state flag consists of the following features: (a) Relative dimensions of 2 to 3, hoist to fly. (b) A background of royal blue cloth. (c) The state coat of arms, as described under s. 1.07, in material of appropriate colors, applied on each side in the center of the field, of such size that, if placed in a circle whose diameter is equal to 50 percent of the hoist, those portions farthest from the center of the field would meet, but not cross, the boundary of the circle. (d) The word "WISCONSIN" in white, capital, condensed Gothic letters, one-eighth of the hoist in height, centered above the coat of arms, midway between the uppermost part of the coat of arms and the top edge of the flag. (e) The year "1848" in white, condensed Gothic numbers, one-eighth of the hoist in height, centered below the coat of arms, midway between the lowermost part of the coat of arms and the bottom edge of the flag. (f) Optional trim on the edges consisting of yellow knotted fringe. (2) The department of administration shall ensure that all official state flags that are manufactured on or after May 1, 1981 conform to the requirements of this section. State flags manufactured before May 1, 1981 may continue to be used as state flags.

The emblem itself is defined by reference to the coat of arms at Section 1.07, so these words are the frame and not the whole picture.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Wisconsin Statutes Section 1.08 in full at the Wisconsin 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

A sailor and a miner represent labor on water and on land. The shield quarters agriculture, mining, manufacturing and navigation. The crest is a badger and the motto is Forward.

Worth knowing about this flag

The lettering was added for a specific reason. Without it the flag was nearly indistinguishable from several other blue seal flags at a distance, and that is why the 1979 act required it.

Where the Wisconsin flag flies

The Acuity Insurance flagpole in Sheboygan is the tallest flagpole in the United States at four hundred feet, erected in 2014. It weighs approximately four hundred and twenty thousand pounds, uses three pendulum style tuned mass dampers to reduce movement and vibration, and is designed to withstand a low temperature of minus forty two degrees. The current flag is seventy by one hundred and forty feet. The original was sixty by one hundred and twenty. Flags fly about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty days before retirement, and a heavier flag is used in harsh weather.

Fly it on Wisconsin’s birthday

Wisconsin became the 30th state on May 29, 1848. 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 Wisconsin flag has an official reason to go up.

Order ahead and this flag is ready for the day. The complete list of state birthdays lives on our state birthdays page.

Nylon or polyester in Wisconsin

Nylon inland at Madison. Polyester on the Lake Michigan shore at Milwaukee and Green Bay.

For scale, the National Weather Service ultraviolet index forecast for Milwaukee on July 23, 2026 was 9 at solar noon, in the very high band. That is the sun this flag has to survive.

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.

One more thing that decides it, and it is the part people only learn after buying twice: a nylon flag flies on days a polyester flag will not. If the flag matters to you on a still morning, on a holiday, at a funeral, at a ceremony, that is an argument for this one even on a site where the polyester would last longer. A flag that hangs is not doing its job either.

The benchmark institutions generally lean on comes from the American Legion: the federal government's own expectation is about ninety days for a daily sunrise-to-sunset flag, and roughly a quarter of that flying around the clock. Retailers report three to six months for nylon flown daily, four to eight months for polyester, and one to three years for occasional flying. Treat those as working estimates rather than a warranty, since exposure can shift them a great deal.

How the 12x18 Feet is built

Six rows of stitching and zig zag corners at this size are not decorative choices — they manage a load a house flag could not survive for one afternoon.

The arithmetic behind that: 216 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.

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.

Each lock stitch knots into the one beside it, so a broken thread stays broken right where it snapped instead of unraveling the whole seam. 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 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.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

Two human figures, a quartered shield, a badger crest and two lines of added lettering. The lettering is what makes it identifiable and it is also more to print.

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 Wisconsin flag placed 65, at 3.16 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

Put this size on a maintenance schedule rather than forgetting about it. It needs a rotation plan, regular hardware checks, and removal ahead of severe weather. Handled properly it lasts; handled carelessly it will not survive 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?

Both tables come down to one ratio: the flag’s length wants to be a quarter to a third of the flagpole’s height. When a size sits on the border between two rows, the smaller flag will fly on more days and outlast the bigger one, while the bigger flag is the one people notice from further off.

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

Nothing about the ratio breaks above a hundred feet, but the purchase does: the flag, the flagpole, the truck, the halyard and the foundation become one system that has to be specified together, and skipping that check risks the flagpole before it risks the flag. Some of the largest flags flown in the country are deliberately oversized for their rule-of-thumb flagpole, always on an engineer’s sign-off.

We supply the whole range shown above, whether or not a given size currently has its own listing on the site. Ask if you do not see it.

About the back of the flag

The back of a printed flag shows the design reversed, not missing. That is true of almost every flag in the country, and it is normal rather than a flaw. Getting both sides to read correctly means sewing two flags together with a liner between them, which roughly doubles the cost and the weight. Single sided is standard practice, and the right choice unless a particular state’s law 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

Two flags, alternated month to month, beat three flags flown until they fall apart, because the material recovers on its days off and the fly end is not worked in the same place every day. Severe weather is the one time to take it down; a real windstorm can cost more in one night than six ordinary months of flying. Fraying starts at the fly end, not the middle, and a few minutes with a needle there adds a season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

We supply state flags to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies. Tax exempt accounts are handled through the tax exempt page. For quantities, replacement schedules or sizes not listed, use the contact page.

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.