FORTISVEX South Dakota State Flag 6x10 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

Residential ends here. A 6x10 foot flag is sixty square feet of commercial flag for a commercial flagpole — and the last size still finished with grommets rather than a sewn rope.

This is the South Dakota state flag at 6x10 Feet (60 square feet) in nylon, made in the United States and finished with brass grommets.

Built to the South Dakota flag specification

The South Dakota flag is set out in South Dakota Codified Laws Section 1-6-4, at a ratio of about three to five. It is a sky blue field with the state seal on a serrated gold sun, and the words South Dakota and The Mount Rushmore State.

Originally adopted in 1909 as The Sunshine State, redesigned in 1963, with the current nickname version adopted in 1992.

South Dakota specifies a ratio. Section 1-6-4 gives a field one and two thirds as long as it is wide, which is three to five, and defines the seal, the sun and the lettering as fractions of the width. A 3x5 foot flag matches the ratio.

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

South Dakota Codified Laws Section 1-6-4 reads:

The state flag or banner shall consist of a field of sky-blue one and two-thirds as long as it is wide. Centered on such field shall be the great seal of South Dakota made in conformity with the terms of the Constitution, which shall be four-ninths the width of the flag in diameter. The seal shall be on a white background with the seal outlined in dark blue or, in the alternative, shall be on a sky-blue background with the seal outlined in dark blue thereon. Surrounding the seal in gold shall be a serrated sun whose extreme width shall be five-ninths the width of the flag. The words "South Dakota" symmetrically arranged to conform to the circle of the sun and seal shall appear in gold letters one-eighteenth the width of the field above the sun and seal and the words "The Mount Rushmore State" in like-sized gold letters and in like arrangement shall appear below the sun and seal. Flags designed of such material as may be provident for outdoor use need have no fringe but flags for indoor and display usage shall have a golden fringe one-eighteenth the width of the flag on the three sides other than the hoist.

The emblem itself is defined by reference to the great seal, so these words are the frame and not the whole picture.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read South Dakota Codified Laws Section 1-6-4 in full at the South Dakota 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 seal sits on a serrated gold sun, which carries over from the original 1909 design when the flag was called the Sunshine State flag.

What most listings get wrong

The nickname on the flag changed. Before 1992 it read The Sunshine State. Flags reading Sunshine State are pre-1992 and are no longer current.

Where the South Dakota flag flies

A genuine state capitol program. Requests to have a flag flown over the State Capitol are handled by the Bureau of Administration's Property Management division in Pierre, with about three weeks' notice requested and the requester covering the cost of the flag plus mailing. Exact price, sizes, materials and any residency limit were not published in the sources found. The Bureau's Central Supply separately sells United States, South Dakota and prisoner of war flags. A distinctive history: one of the two original 1909 handmade state flags, linked to the Old West lawman Seth Bullock and designed by Ida Anding, was displayed for decades in the Secretary of State's office at the Capitol, went missing in January 2015, and was recovered in Washington later that year. A separate Memorial Flag Program running since 1987 flies flags for deceased veterans in Hilgers Gulch Park.

Fly it on South Dakota’s birthday

South Dakota became the 40th state on November 2, 1889. 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota

Polyester statewide at Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

This is a commercial flag at sixty square feet, and on the exposed sites named above, material choice separates a one-season flag from a three-season one.

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.

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 figure most institutions use is from the American Legion, citing the United States government's expectation of about ninety days for a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset, and roughly a quarter of that around the clock. Retailers see three to six months in practice for nylon flown daily, four to eight for polyester, and one to three years when flown occasionally. These are practical figures, not a guarantee, and real-world exposure shifts them considerably.

How the 6x10 Feet is built

Four rows of stitching is enough for a house flag; sixty square feet is not a house flag, and the fly end needs six rows to handle the force it actually generates.

The arithmetic behind that: 60 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.

Proper folding at this size needs two people and clear ground. Sixty square feet is too much fabric for a tailgate fold.

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 inches of reinforced heavy duty white heading carries brass grommets and tooth washers here — the part of the flag under the most sustained strain at this size.

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 busy seal, a serrated sun and two lines of lettering, one of them long. Among the most crowded designs in the country.

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 South Dakota flag placed 68, at 3.12 out of 10.

Will it fit my flagpole?

Thirty to forty feet of in-ground flagpole is the right pairing for this size.

Questions about the 6x10 Feet

What size flagpole for a 6x10 foot flag? Thirty to forty feet. At this size the flag is commercial and the flagpole has to be an in-ground pole with a truck and halyard.

Why does the 6x10 foot flag have grommets when the 8x12 foot flag has a rope? Sixty square feet is the most two brass grommets can be asked to carry. Above this the load is spread along a rope sewn the length of the heading.

Does a 6x10 foot flag need a heavier flagpole? A sixty square foot flag in a gust loads a flagpole hard. If the pole was sold for a 4x6 foot or 5x8 foot flag, check its rating before stepping up.

The last size on grommets

Everything above this is finished with a rope sewn the full length of the heading rather than two grommets, because two points can no longer carry the load. The 6x10 foot flag sits right at that boundary, which is why it runs six rows of stitching and a two inch heading while still using grommets.

Specifications

• Size: 6x10 Feet
• Area: 60 square feet
• Material: 100 percent nylon
• Fly end: 6 rows of lock stitching
• Heading: heavy duty white, reinforced, 2 inch
• Finish: Brass Grommets
• 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

Push the flagpole past a hundred feet and the same ratio still applies, but it stops being a simple lookup: the flag, the truck, the halyard, the foundation and the wind load need to be engineered as a unit, and skipping that step damages the flagpole before it damages the flag. A number of famous large flags deliberately break the rule of thumb, on an engineer’s word rather than a table’s.

We carry the full range whether or not every size appears on this website. If the size you need is not listed, we can still supply it.

About the back of the flag

A printed flag reads correctly from the front and reversed from the back. That is normal and it is true of almost every flag flown in the country. A flag that reads correctly from both sides is a double sided flag, built as two flags sewn together with a liner between them, and it costs roughly twice as much and weighs roughly twice as much. Unless the statute for a particular state requires it, single sided is the standard and the right choice.

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

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 regularly supply state flags to cities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies. Tax exempt accounts run through the tax exempt page. Quantity pricing, replacement schedules, or a size that is not listed all go through the contact page.

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.