Monday, February 25, 2013

Out of the bag, a new flag looks great. The colors are vibrant, the red, white, and blue really shine. But on the flagpole, it is another story, the stitching and the way it is made matters. That's why we are FlagRunners, to share and investigate the whole story with you. We see this effect when we are running all the time, flags prematurely destroyed by weather conditions. See here on this video that the way a flag is made matters. Lowest cost may be cheapest but in weather it is not always the best value.



We talk about flagpole parts. We talk about breakdowns that eat up your flags and make flag management difficult. But today, we are talking about chain-stitch flags. Chain-stitch flags are faster and easier to make. Almost twice as easy. That is why they are cheaper than other American flags. But not twice as cheap.

The flag display in this video has a few more issues. Flagpoles have halyard for a reason. The halyard provides some tension release on the flags some flexibility. When the flags are chained to the pole, torque on the flags is often times very hard on the flag. All the pressure goes to the header of the flag. For normal winds, this is fine, but when the winds are 40 mph, the stress is great. When a flag is chained or bolted to the pole, it is more difficult to take the flags up or down. Adding a truck, halyard and cleat, gives you a more versatile system (safer) that is also easier on your flags. Even when you fly more than one. 

Why are chain-stitch flags easier to make?
Chain-stitch is a process where the sewing is continuous. The alternative is lock-stitched where each thread is doubled back and lock stitched. On a chain-stitch flag, if one stitch breaks, the entire stripe will unravel (as in the video). When a stitch on a lock-stitch flag breaks, it does not effect the other stitches.

For more information click here.