MTFCA Forum

This past weekend, I put a few flags on the car and drove around a bit. I went to work and a few other places, and my flags are already frayed. I've tried flags from the stores, and ones from vendors, and they all seem to shred the ends within the first 20 or so miles of driving! (30 to 35mph) Is there any brand of small, QUALITY American flags that are worth a hoot to buy?
I'd like to have a few small ones on the windshield for more than just a few days worth of driving, and I know I'm not the only one who flies flags.

Depending of the year of your car, flags can be hard to find. Post 1912 flags with 48 stars are easier to find than 47 star flags....

KWTownsend wrote: ↑

Mon May 26, 2025 9:25 pm

Depending of the year of your car, flags can be hard to find. Post 1912 flags with 48 stars are easier to find than 47 star flags....

I'm just looking for modern Flags with 50 stars, something small like what the vendors sell and what you find on gravestones and cemeteries.

I do a lot of parades but don't put my flags on until I get in line - they don't travel well at anything over 5 mph !

There are lots of mini 50 star and 48 star flags available on Amazon.

: ^ )

I have bought new mini flags from different sources for my radiator neck flag holder. The quality was similar, fine for indoor display, but not up to the wind forces driving 30 mph. Some flags were on plastic staffs that bent in the wind, all were poorly fastened to their staffs and needed to be reinforced. I have tried old flags from original radiator neck holders found on ebay and found the old material just fell apart in the wind.

My solution was to buy new mini flags where I could find them and re-mount them on old wooden staffs with thread and glue. I only put them on for special occasions and keep my speed down to around 25mph or slower.

Has anyone tried FABRIC glue or LEATHER glue. Applying something like Aileens fabric glue to the flag edges, BEFORE the fraying starts, might add enough strength to, at least slow or prevent the fraying for some time. Super glue might work as well. Gorilla Glue even makes a fabric glue. DISCLAIMER: I do NOT have any idea as to what will work the best. I just searched "Best Fabric Glue" on line.

Good Luck

Google Carrol and Richardson flags in Australia. They make printed flags on woven polyester which have no stitched hem to fray and no weave to unravel. I have run a South Australian state flag on my chocolate van for for 20 years, and apart from breaking the wooden stick, it flies proudly on the radiator cap of the car.

Allan from down under.

I just took the advice I gave in a previous post. Look up Flagworld, Carrol and Richardson. Go to international and you will find USA and all states flags. Scroll right to the end and you will find American [USA] handwaver flags, 300mm x 150mm {12" x 6" in the old money} These are the knitted polyester like the ones I have. Complete with wooden stick, AU$ 7.59, that's about US 5.00 Who knows what you might get 20 of them for.

Hope this helps,
Allan from down under.

Many years ago now, and for the same reason, I purchased a small flag from a local boat supply. At the time, it was a more robust flag than what was available, and I was pleased with it.
Fast forward to now, there is no telling how durable that same flag is today.

Steve

Valley Forge brand small 4x6 inch US stick flags are made of a polyester cotton blend.

I would try running the edges over a candle flame to melt and seal them to keep them from fraying. (Years ago my sister, an avid sewer, made her own down vest. I watched her pass the nylon edges of all the various pieces of nylon fabric over a candle to prevent them from fraying before she sewed it all together).

IMO there are no quality small flags out there....none found yet anyway.
My wife has a sewing machine and runs a wide stitch around the borders, and, as Terry suggested, we tried fabric glue.
First tried wiping the edges down on both sides of the stitch about an inch width with fabric glue, but the stiff edges just seemed to rip right at the edges of the glued & unglued fabric. We then tried wiping down the entire flag in glue, which makes for a very stiff flag, but seems to work better than the initial method.
While this does not offer any long term solution, it does help them last a while in our case.. We live less than a mile to our city's parade route, so we only have short distances of 20/30mph, but this method has enabled our set of flags to last several seasons.

Flags always fray at the windy edge. If you look at any flag used in an outdoor setting you will see that they have 3-4 seams on the edge.

Get out your sewing machine, or ask mom, grandma, or big sister to sew a couple of seams on the end of your flags. They will last a lot longer. Use nylon thread, not cotton if you can.

Some people are hard to please.
This is the Carrol and Richardson knitted polyester flag waver flag from my chocolate van. Not too shabby after 20 years. The blue is a little purplish and there is some slight fraying at the back edge, otherwise it is fine.

There's another one somewhere out on the Nullarbor plain, off my old roadster backboard. We'd driven from Swan Hill in Victoria all the way to the west coast, done a tour of the south West, and driven half way home again when the stick broke and I lost it! Allan from down under.

If you want a flag that can survive regular exposure to higher speeds you should go with a marine flag....unfortunately, they are seldom available in the size you want. The suggestions you got of reinforcing the edges will help. Getting nylon rather than cotton also helps. I have flags on magnetic bases and just put them on when I'm running at lower speeds.

I bought a set of 48-star flags years ago and they are still fine. The problem is I can't for the life of me remember where I got them.

John

You got those flags in the 50's. Dealer probably is now 6 feet under.

I seem to recall mortuary's always has a metric buttload of magnetic based flags to put on cars in a funeral procession, I'd ask where they get theirs...

The last ones I got were from the Dollar Store. They lasted a long time. I'm going back to check on them again and see if they will still hold up as well. I'll report back.

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the ideas and help!

I just bought the Dollar Store ones again. They are now on a plastic stick instead of wood. I will be participating in the Santa Clara Speedster endurance run this weekend. Lets see if they make it all the way thru the 200 miles.....

Another U.S. based supplier to try is Dixie Flag and Banner in San Antonio, Texas. I have no connection with them, nor have I ever knowingly used any of their products. They make all of their flags, in house, except for the small ones you are wanting. Their biggest U.S. flags will cover a football field from sideline to sideline. The small flags are Verona brand, mounted on a 3/16"x 10" staff with a gold spear tip on the staff. The flags are 4"x6" in size.