Wyoming 8x12 Feet Nylon State Flag Made in USA

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 Wyoming 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 Wyoming flag specification

The Wyoming flag is set out in Wyoming Statutes Section 8-3-102, with the seal at Section 8-3-101, at a seven to ten proportion. It is a blue field bordered in white then red, with a white bison silhouette carrying the state seal in blue on its flank.

Designed by Verna Keays for a Wyoming Daughters of the American Revolution contest in 1916 and adopted January 31, 1917.

Wyoming specifies proportions rather than a size. Section 8-3-102 sets the width at seven tenths of the length and defines the border, the stripe, the bison and the seal as fractions of the whole. Seven to ten is not a standard commercial size, and vexillologists have noted for years that manufacturers do not build to it.

We build a faithful reproduction of that design at the standard outdoor sizes the industry uses, the same sizes states order for themselves. Correct colors, seal and emblems are what an outdoor flag has to get right, and that is what this one gets right.

The law that defines it, in its own words

Wyoming Statutes Section 8-3-102, subsection (a) reads:

A state flag is adopted to be used on all occasions when the state is officially and publicly represented. All citizens have the privilege of use of the flag upon any occasion they deem appropriate. The width of the flag shall be seven-tenths (7/10) of its length; the outside border shall be in red, the width of which shall be one-twentieth (1/20) of the length of the flag; next to the border shall be a stripe of white on the four (4) sides of the field, which shall be in width one-fortieth (1/40) of the length of the flag. The remainder of the flag shall be a blue field, in the center of which shall be a white silhouetted buffalo, the length of which shall be one-half (1/2) of the length of the blue field; the other measurements of the buffalo shall be in proportion to its length. On the ribs of the buffalo shall be the great seal of the state of Wyoming in blue. The seal shall be in diameter one-fifth (1/5) the length of the flag. Attached to the flag shall be a cord of gold with gold tassels. The same colors shall be used in the flag, red, white and blue, as are used in the flag of the United States of America.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Wyoming Statutes Section 8-3-102 in full at Justia, 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 bison is the plains and the state’s wildlife. The seal branded on its flank represents livestock and the branding heritage. The seal figures carry Equal Rights, for Wyoming as the first territory to grant women the vote, alongside livestock, mining and grain.

Worth knowing about this flag

Keays drew the bison facing the fly. The version adopted reversed it to face the hoist, which is the one you fly today.

Where the Wyoming flag flies

Wyomingites obtain United States Capitol flags through the congressional delegation, residents only, with a flying and certificate fee plus shipping. the Governor routinely orders the Wyoming State flag specifically flown at half staff at the Capitol, sunrise to sunset, to honor individuals. The Capitol's gold leaf gilded copper dome, one of only about ten gold domed American capitols, was re-gilded five times, most recently during the 2016 to 2019 Capitol Square restoration, when a new copper dome and gilded finial were installed and the Capitol reopened on July 10, 2019.

Fly it on Wyoming’s birthday

Wyoming became the 44th state on July 10, 1890. 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 Wyoming 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 Wyoming

Polyester statewide. Cheyenne at roughly 12.9 to 14.6 miles per hour is among the windiest American stations, and the state is known for relentless wind and high altitude ultraviolet.

Even polyester needs regular replacement here.

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.

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 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 8x12 Feet is built

The fly end carries six rows of lock stitching, and the corners use zig zag stitching rather than a straight seam, because a straight corner seam works loose under wind over a season.

The math comes to 96 square feet of nylon at roughly two ounces a square yard. In a thirty mile an hour wind, the fly end moves faster than the wind that is driving it, since the wave headed for the tip speeds up as it travels — which explains why the tip wears out first and why fly-end stitching count is worth checking on any listing.

Handling this size, on the ground or at the flagpole, is a two person job. A gust can take one person off balance while clipping ninety six square feet onto the halyard.

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. The grommets are gone at this size. A nylon rope is sewn the full length of the heading with two plated steel thimbles, so the load runs through the rope rather than tearing at two fixed points.

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.

Why this flag is harder to make than most

A large bison silhouette is straightforward, but the seal branded on its flank is fine detail inside a shape, which is harder than a seal on an open field.

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 Wyoming flag placed 23, at 6.28 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

It suits an in-ground flagpole of forty to fifty feet, on a truck and halyard rather than a 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?

One rule sits under both tables: the flag should run about a quarter to a third the height of the flagpole. On the border between two rows, the smaller flag flies more and lasts longer; the larger one is the one you can see from the road.

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

That same ratio keeps working past a hundred feet, but at that point the flag and the flagpole are no longer separate purchases — the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load all have to be sized together, and a flag chosen without checking the flagpole first damages the pole rather than itself. A handful of well known installations deliberately run past the rule of thumb, and every one of them did it with an engineer, not 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

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

The United States Flag Code, at Title 4, Section 7, sets this out: the United States flag holds the position of honor, never below another flag and never displaced from the viewer’s left when flags fly level. With two flagpoles of matching height, the United States flag takes the viewer’s left and the flags match in size; with unequal heights, it goes on the taller pole; on a single pole carrying two flags, it is at the top. The Code has no penalty attached for civilians, but it remains the standard every institution follows.

Buy two and they both last longer

The simplest way to make a flag last is to own two and rotate them monthly — that alone outlasts three flags flown to failure, because rest lets the fabric recover and the fly end is not hammered day after day. Take it down ahead of real storms, since one bad night of wind can undo six good months. Watch the fly end, where fraying starts, and a quick repair there is worth a whole extra season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

Our state flags go to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies regularly. Tax exempt purchasing is handled on the tax exempt page. For quantity, a replacement schedule, or a size outside this listing, use the contact page.

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.