I'm Joe. I did twenty years in the Navy, most of it on ships, and I retired in 1990 and opened this store because I was tired of seeing good people fly bad flags. A faded, frayed flag on a crooked pole with a burned-out light is not a sign of patriotism. It is a sign that nobody told you better. So this is me telling you better, and selling you a good one if you want it.

We sell American flags made in America, state and military flags, flagpoles from a six-foot house set to a forty-foot commercial pole, and we install and repair them. I also sew. Most of the flag repair in this county comes across my table, and if your flag can be saved, I'll save it. If it can't, I'll tell you, and I'll see it retired properly. Read the etiquette section below; it's the part of this page I care most about.

My daughter set up this page over the summer so I would "stop answering the same questions on the phone forty times a day." We'll see.

Every U.S. flag we sell is sewn (stripes sewn together, stars embroidered, not printed), made in the U.S.A., with a heavy canvas heading and solid brass grommets. Two materials:

• Nylon is what most people want. It's light, it flies in the least breeze, it dries fast, and the colors stay bright. Best all-around outdoor flag.
• Cotton is the traditional flag: heavier, richer color, hangs beautifully and looks right on a porch or a casket. It holds water and takes longer to dry, so it isn't the flag for a pole you fly every day in the rain.

The rule of thumb for size: the length of the flag should be about one quarter the height of the pole. A 20-foot pole flies a 3x5 or a 4x6; a 3x5 on a 40-foot pole looks like a handkerchief.

Also in stock: house-mount flag kits (6-foot white pole, bracket, 3x5 nylon flag) for $34.95; indoor presentation sets with an oak pole, gold eagle and base; stick flags for parades, 12 for $6; and casket flags (5x9½ cotton) for funerals, though a veteran's family should know that one is provided at no cost by the Veterans Administration. Ask the funeral director, or ask me.

• State flags, all fifty, 3x5 nylon, $34.95. I keep ours and the neighboring states in stock; the rest take about a week.
• Military flags: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, 3x5 nylon, $34.95. Fly them below the U.S. flag, in that order of precedence, if you fly more than one.
• POW/MIA flag, 3x5 nylon, $29.95. Under a federal law passed a couple of years ago, it flies at federal buildings on several days of the year, and a lot of folks fly it every day. It goes under the U.S. flag on the same pole.
• Flags of other nations, 3x5, most by special order in a week or so. Popular ones (Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Greece, of course) I keep on hand.
• Historical flags: Betsy Ross, Bennington, Gadsden, the Confederate battle flag, Bonnie Blue, the 48-star flag. Ask.
• Message banners and pennants: Open, Sale, Welcome, Grand Opening, and I'll have custom banners made up for a business or a reunion. Give me two weeks.
• Decorative: seasonal garden flags, bunting and fans for the Fourth and for parades, and the pleated red-white-and-blue fans for the reviewing stand.

A good flagpole is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase, and a bad one is a once-every-three-years purchase. We sell one-piece and sectional aluminum poles, in satin or white finish, with a gold ball ornament, halyard, cleat and snaps. Sizes from 15 to 40 feet for homes, schools and businesses, and taller by order.

Installed, from $350 for a 20-foot residential pole. That price includes the pole and hardware, digging and pouring the concrete footing with a ground sleeve, setting the pole plumb, and coming back after the concrete cures to raise your first flag. A 25-foot pole installed starts at $475; taller poles and commercial jobs are quoted after I look at the site. If you'd like to do the concrete yourself, I'll sell you the pole and sleeve and give you the instructions, and you'll save about a hundred dollars and gain a sore back.

Lighting: if you plan to fly the flag at night (see etiquette), you need a light on it. We sell a ground-mount flood for $29.95 and the solar-cell light that mounts under the ball, which has gotten much better in the last couple of years, for $69.95. We'll wire the flood on an installation for $45.

Parts: halyard rope, snaps, cleats, trucks, ball ornaments, eagles, brackets, and the rotating "no-wrap" rings that keep the flag from tangling around the pole. If your pole was sold by us we have the parts; if it wasn't, bring the old one in and we'll usually match it.

A flag flown every day wears out at the fly end first, the end away from the pole, where it snaps in the wind. When the end starts to fray, bring it in then, not three months later when the stripes have split. I'll trim the frayed end square and re-hem it. You lose an inch or two of length and get another season or two out of a good flag. $8 for flags up to 4x6, $12 for 5x8 and up. Torn seams, loose grommets and a new heading run $5 to $15. I usually have it back to you in a week.

What I won't do is repair a flag that's faded, thin, or has been trimmed twice already. A flag that is no longer a fitting emblem should be retired, and that's the next section. If yours is at that point, I'll say so and we'll talk about a new one, and I'll take the old one for the retirement ceremony at no charge.

Most of this comes straight from the United States Flag Code, which is federal law (Title 4 of the U.S. Code), though there's no penalty for a private citizen breaking it; it's a set of customs, and good ones. I've put it in plain English. If you want the whole thing, the American Legion post has copies and so do I.

When do I fly it? The custom is sunrise to sunset. You may fly it 24 hours a day if it is properly lit at night. If you don't have a light, take it down at dark. That's the whole reason we sell the lights.

In the rain? Not unless it's an all-weather flag, which any nylon flag is. Cotton should come in.

Raising and lowering: raise it briskly, lower it slowly and ceremoniously. Don't let it touch the ground, and if it does, it doesn't have to be destroyed, as people think; just make sure it's clean and dry before you fly it again.

Half-staff: first hoist the flag briskly all the way to the top for an instant, then lower it slowly to half-staff. When you take it down for the day, raise it to the top again first, then lower it all the way. The flag is flown at half-staff by order of the President or your governor on the death of principal officials, and on these days every year:

• Memorial Day, the last Monday in May: half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top for the rest of the day. This is the one everybody gets wrong.
• Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15, all day.
• Days the President proclaims, which in recent years have included December 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Listen for it on the news; I'll also put a sign in the window.

On a house-mount pole that doesn't have room for half-staff, the custom is to attach a black ribbon or streamer to the top of the staff, the same width as a stripe and the length of the flag.

Which side does it go on? The U.S. flag takes the position of honor, which is its own right, meaning the viewer's left. On a wall or a stage, it goes to the speaker's right and the audience's left. Hung flat on a wall, either horizontally or vertically, the union (the blue field) goes at the top and to the flag's own right, which is the observer's upper left.

With other flags: no other flag flies above the U.S. flag, or to its right, on American soil. On the same pole, the U.S. flag is on top and the state, military or other flag hangs below it. On separate poles of the same height, the U.S. flag goes to the far left as you face them, and it is raised first and lowered last. Flags of other nations are flown on separate poles of equal height, at the same level, never one nation above another in peacetime.

Things not to do: don't let it touch the ground, the floor, or water. Don't carry it flat or horizontal; carry it aloft and free. Don't use it as clothing, bedding or drapery, or as a tablecloth, or to cover a ceiling. Don't draw on it, print on it, or sew anything to it. Don't use it to carry or hold anything. Don't fly it upside down except as a signal of dire distress. Don't fly one that is torn, faded or dirty. And don't put it on a paper plate, a napkin or a box that gets thrown away; the Flag Code is specific about that one, and I agree with it.

The Pledge and the anthem: stand, face the flag, right hand over the heart. Men remove their hats. Those in uniform salute. That's it; it isn't complicated.

Retiring a worn flag: the Flag Code says that when a flag is "in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display," it should be "destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." That doesn't mean your barbecue. The American Legion, the VFW and the Boy Scouts hold retirement ceremonies, most of them on or around Flag Day, June 14, and they'll take your old flag any time of year. So will I. There's a box by the register. Bring in your old flag, no questions, no charge, and I deliver the box to the Legion post for their ceremony. We sent over 140 flags in June this year.

Folding: fold it lengthwise in half, then in half again with the union outside, then in triangles from the striped end until only the blue field shows, and tuck the end in. It takes two people and about a minute. Come in and I'll show you; I've done it a few thousand times.

We're on Depot Street across from the old freight house, the storefront with the 30-foot pole out front. If the flag on it isn't flying right, I'm not open.

Phone: (555) 555-0119
E-mail: [email protected]

We ship flags anywhere in the country; e-mail me what you want and I'll write back with the total including postage. Installations within about 40 miles.

Coming up: Veterans Day is Thursday, November 11. Flags fly at full staff that day; it's a day of honor, not mourning. If you're a veteran, come in that week and say so, and take 10% off anything in the store.