FORTISVEX Texas State Flag 8x12 Feet Polyester - Made in USA Lone Star Flag with Rope and Thimbles

Maintenance departments, not owners, are the typical buyer at this size: ninety six square feet on rope and thimbles, ordered after the previous flag failed inside a year and required a climb to replace.

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

Built to the Texas flag specification

The Texas flag is set out in Texas Government Code Chapter 3100, at a two to three proportion, with the statute giving precise star geometry. It is a blue vertical hoist stripe one third the length carrying a white five-pointed star, with white over red horizontal stripes.

This was the 1839 national flag of the Republic of Texas, drawn by Peter Krag and approved by President Lamar January 25, 1839; it became the state flag at annexation in 1845 and was re-adopted August 31, 1933 after a period with no active flag statute.

Texas is precise about proportion rather than size. Government Code Chapter 3100 requires a width to length ratio of two to three, which a 4x6 foot flag, an 8x12 foot flag and a 10x15 foot flag all match exactly. A 3x5 foot flag is a three to five ratio and is therefore slightly deeper than the statute describes.

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

Texas Government Code Section 3100.002, Description: In General reads:

(a) The state flag is a rectangle that: (1) has a width to length ratio of two to three; and (2) contains: (A) one blue vertical stripe that has a width equal to one-third the length of the flag; (B) two equal horizontal stripes, the upper stripe white, the lower stripe red, each having a length equal to two-thirds the length of the flag; and (C) one white, regular five-pointed star: (i) located in the center of the blue stripe; (ii) oriented so that one point faces upward; and (iii) sized so that the diameter of a circle passing through the five points of the star is equal to three-fourths the width of the blue stripe. (b) The red and blue of the state flag are: (1) the same colors used in the United States flag; and (2) defined as numbers 193 (red) and 281 (dark blue) of the Pantone Matching System. (c) The red, white, and blue of the state flag represent, respectively, bravery, purity, and loyalty.

Section 3100.001 separately states that the state flag is the 1839 national flag of the Republic of Texas.

You do not have to take our word for any of that. Read Texas Government Code Section 3100.002 in full at the Texas Legislature, and check what we sell against it.

This is the flag we make. Not an approximation of it.

What is on it and what it means

The lone star stands for Texas unity, one for God, State and Country. Chapter 3100 assigns the colors directly: blue is loyalty, white is purity, red is bravery.

Worth knowing about this flag

For most of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Texas had no flag statute in force. The 1933 act put the Lone Star Flag back into law.

With Hawaii, it is one of only two state flags that previously served as the flag of a sovereign nation.

Where the Texas flag flies

The original Battle Flag of San Jacinto has hung in the Texas House of Representatives at the State Capitol in Austin since 1933, with a reproduction displayed when the House is not in session to protect the fragile original. The World's Largest Texas Flag, one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, was made by Dixie Flag and Banner of San Antonio and is unfurled at Longhorns football games.

Fly it on Texas’s birthday

Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. 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 Texas 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 Texas

Polyester across the wind and ultraviolet Panhandle and West. Amarillo at 13.5 and Lubbock at 12.4 miles per hour are among the very windiest American stations, and El Paso for ultraviolet. Polyester also on the Gulf Coast at Houston and Corpus Christi. Nylon acceptable in the sheltered central metros at Austin, San Antonio and the Dallas interior.

At ninety six square feet the flagpole feels the load in earnest, and on an exposed site above, polyester is the only sensible material, with the flagpole and truck rated accordingly.

This is the two-ply polyester listing, suited to the exposed, windy, coastal and high sun sites named above, and to a flagpole flown around the clock. The reason is in the fiber itself: polyester’s ester bonds resist ultraviolet, unlike nylon’s amide bonds, so color and strength hold longer under sun. Water is barely absorbed, so it is as strong wet as dry, salt sheds off rather than soaking in, and there is less to freeze. Its open weave passes fast wind through the fabric, which is why it beats nylon on exposed poles. It costs you calm-day movement — heavier, it hangs still on quiet afternoons where nylon would keep moving. A sheltered site is where the nylon version flies more often.

The detail people usually discover only the second time: twice-a-year flag replacement on a tall flagpole costs a lot more than the flag alone — the ladder, the halyard, the time, and on a commercial site, someone’s paid hour. The heavier material trades a higher price now for avoiding all of that later. On an exposed flagpole, it is the cheaper choice over three years despite the higher sticker price today.

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 8x12 Feet is built

Six rows at the fly end, with zig zag stitched corners rather than straight seams — a straight seam at a corner opens up under sustained wind within a season.

The math comes to 96 square feet of two-ply spun polyester at roughly four 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.

Two people on the ground, two people at the flagpole: this size demands it. Ninety six square feet can knock you off balance in a gust while clipping it on alone.

Lock stitching means each stitch is knotted into the next, so a broken thread stops where it broke rather than unzipping the seam. 6 rows does not mean 6 times the strength; it means 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.

Two-ply spun polyester is the heavy material used here. Its open weave passes wind through the fabric instead of catching it, it retains full strength when wet, and it holds color under hard sun better than the alternative. The cost of that durability is real: more weight, more wind needed, and a higher price.

A design that reproduces cleanly

Three colors and one star. It is among the cheapest state flags to build properly and among the longest lived, because there is no fine detail to fail.

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 Texas flag placed 2, at 8.13 out of 10.

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.

The maintenance arithmetic

A flag replaced twice a year on a forty five foot flagpole is two ladder trips, two halyard handlings and two hours of somebody’s time, on top of two flags. The heavier material is dearer once and cheaper across three years, which is the calculation a facilities budget actually runs.

Specifications

• Size: 8x12 Feet
• Area: 96 square feet
• Material: 100 percent two-ply spun polyester
• 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

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 reverse of a printed flag mirrors the front, which is ordinary and true of nearly every flag in the country. To have both faces read correctly requires a double sided construction: two flags joined with a liner in between, at about twice the material and twice the price. Single sided is the industry standard, and the sensible pick unless a state’s statute says otherwise.

Flying it with the United States flag

The rule comes from Title 4, Section 7 of the United States Flag Code: no flag is displayed above the United States flag, and none is placed to its right at the same level, which from the viewer’s position means the left. Equal-height flagpoles carry the United States flag on the viewer’s left with matching flag sizes; unequal flagpoles put it on the taller one; a single flagpole with two flags carries it at the top. Civilians face no penalty for departing from the Flag Code, but it is the standard institutions hold to.

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

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.