FORTISVEX Virginia State Flag 3x5 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

This is the default: the size that fits the bracket already on the house, and the size Americans replace more than any other. When someone says flag without qualifying it, this is what they mean.

This is the Virginia state flag at 3x5 Feet (15 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.

The design, the colors and the seal or emblem are set by statute; the size of a modern outdoor flag is not. That is the case in most of the country, and it is why manufacturers across the industry all build to the same standard sizes.

The design here is reproduced faithfully, at the standard outdoor sizes the whole industry works in and that states buy for themselves. What actually matters on a flag flown outdoors is that the colors, the seal and the emblems are correct, and they are.

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.

This is the flag we make. Not an approximation 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.

Order it ahead of the date and it is ready to fly that day. Every state’s birthday is listed 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.

At fifteen square feet, a house flag, the flag material decides whether it flies on a light day and how fast it dries after rain.

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.

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 working benchmark most institutions use comes from the American Legion, which reports that the United States government expects a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset to last about ninety days, and one flown around the clock about a quarter of that. Retailer experience runs three to six months for nylon and four to eight for polyester flown daily, and one to three years for a flag flown only on occasions. Those are working figures, not a warranty, and exposure moves them a long way in either direction.

How the 3x5 Feet is built

This size fails at the fly end first, and sooner than it should on most 3x5 foot flags, because this size gets bought on price more than any other. Four rows of lock stitching at the fly end is what separates one season from three.

The arithmetic behind that: 15 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 is a one person job to raise or lower, folding down to drawer size. Rotating two flags monthly costs you a minute at this size, nothing more.

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 is an inch and a half of reinforced heavy duty white material, holding two solid brass grommets. Fifteen square feet of sail area works those grommets hard on a windy site.

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 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 is the size for a five or six foot house bracket or a fifteen to twenty foot flagpole, the most common residential setup nationwide.

Questions about the 3x5 Feet

What size flagpole does a 3x5 foot flag need? A six foot house bracket, or an in-ground flagpole of fifteen to twenty feet. It is the most common residential pairing in the country.

How long does a 3x5 foot nylon flag last outside? The federal working figure is about ninety days for a flag flown daily from sunrise to sunset, and about a quarter of that flown around the clock. Retailers commonly see three to six months in daily use and one to three years flown on occasions only.

Is this flag printed or sewn? The design is printed in UV resistant ink on one side and reads through in reverse on the back, which is how nearly every state flag sold in the country is made. The construction, the heading, the stitching and the grommets are sewn.

Why this size gets replaced most

The 3x5 foot flag is not weaker by design — it is simply the size most often sold on price, which means most of them are built down to a price. A cheap one, with just one or two rows of fly-end stitching, frays within a season and is six inches shorter by the next one. Construction is the whole story here.

Specifications

• Size: 3x5 Feet
• Area: 15 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?

The proportion that makes both tables work is simple: length equal to roughly a quarter to a third of the flagpole’s height. Sitting between two sizes is common, and the choice there is really a trade between a flag that flies often and one that is 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

The ratio does not fail at a hundred feet, but the transaction does change: past that height the flag, the flagpole, the truck, the halyard and the foundation have to be engineered together, and a flag ordered without checking the flagpole rating tends to cost the flagpole first. A few of the country’s best known flags deliberately exceed the rule, on the strength of an engineer’s calculation rather than a chart.

Every size in both tables can be ordered, listed here or not. If the size you want does not appear on the website, contact us and we can still supply it.

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

Governing this is Title 4, Section 7 of the United States Flag Code, which keeps the United States flag in the position of honor: never below another flag, never to the right of one at the same level, meaning never right of the viewer’s left. Two flagpoles at equal height put the United States flag at the viewer’s left with equal-sized flags; unequal heights put it on the taller pole; a single flagpole with two flags carries it at the top. No penalty attaches for private citizens under the Code, but it is what institutions follow as standard practice.

Buy two and they both last longer

Buy two flags and swap them every month. That habit alone outlasts three flags flown into the ground, since the material recovers while resting and the fly end is not repeatedly stressed in the same place. Take the flag down for real storms; overnight wind damage can exceed six months of ordinary wear. Inspect the fly end rather than the middle, and a few minutes of repair stitching when fraying starts buys another season.

For cities, counties, schools and agencies

This is a flag we sell to municipalities, school districts, fire and police departments, courthouses and state agencies as standard business. Use the tax exempt page for a tax exempt account, and the contact page for quantity orders, a replacement schedule, or a size not shown on this listing.

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.