Flags at Competition
 

As our team is growing in numbers, finances, and success, we have started looking into some more "professional" and "cooler" things to do at competitions, such as pit displays, mascots, etc.

One thing I am having trouble with is the flags that the emcees wave when announcing teams. In the past, we just had our t-shirt screen printer print our logo on a piece of cloth and tied it to a pole. But I always see very nice flags at every competition, and I'm just wondering where people get these made and how much they normally cost. We are in north-central West Virginia, so we don't have a lot of big-city amenities unless we travel all the way up to Pittsburgh, so we were hoping to find a place online or nearby that would make a nice, professional-quality, and exciting flag.

Thanks!

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Most of the flags I've seen are team made.
I remember at the end of 2011 I must have seen 200+ flags left behind by teams. I seriously gave thought to taking them with me but had to save space in my truck for rounding up tubes for the Rah Cha Cha Ruckus instead. And after lugging around several flags from the 2010 championship I decided against it anyways. It's a shame all the hard work and effort those teams put into the ir flags for them to be so carelessly left behind like that only to end up tossed in a dumpster.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

At Cmp 12, they lost ours, which is another reason we were looking around.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Ours has our logo and number sewed into one side. Not necessarily the most professional, but it works great for us.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Which brings up a relevant thing after guarding the bin at IRI: put your team number on the pole, both down low and at the top.

Makes it a lot easier to figure out without unrolling the entire thing. :)

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Have you contacted FIRST about it? I ask because I was walking across the dome floor later that night after everything was over most everything was packed up and there was a gray trash barrel with a LOT (dozens) of flags in it. I thought about what to do about it but decided they would get loaded on a truck and sent back to FIRST HQ as with all the other lost and found stuff.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Iron-on transfers work great. I think we just used a piece of trimmed fabric from the fabric supply store and affixed it to a pole.

You might be able to find a parent or mentor who is willing to sew your logo and team name (assuming it's simple enough to be cut) to a flag-sized piece.

I believe JCPenny has given teams [generic] flags in the past as part of their sponsorship.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Our team originally had a flag which was hand sewn by a team parent. It was great, but took alot of work to make. When our logo changed rather than making another one we bought it, giving that full professional look you were asking about.

You can order them online at a place like this: X or X (~$135) or X (~$100)

Note that this process is not cheap, and will run you around $100-$250. (though a well made hand made flag can cost as much as $100 and over 40 hours of work, so they are actually pretty comparable)

The final product does look great though. Our new flag has lasted 4 years now, and is very safely guarded at competitions.

But just a hint, if you are going to order them like this, do the full color digital print and make sure your design is vibrant and colorful. It seems sort of like a waste to just put your logo on a white background, if you are paying for full color. (I recommend the digital print, rather than screen print, because it lasts longer and waves nicer)

Hope that helps.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

If your high school has a sewing class, maybe there's a mutually beneficial project in store?

A team parent hand made ours, and it is awesome.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

For finding a local establishment for making a flag or any other type of team apparel I would suggest asking your local high school's activities departments who they use for Jerseys and such items, chances are if there is a local shop they know about and can steer you towards who to talk to at those shops.

The embroidery shop down the street from our school has done our flag, polo shirts, hats, and does heat fused vinyl numbers onto bumper fabric (its the same thing they use for athletic jerseys).

Good Luck

Re: Flags at Competition
 

Our team flag was made by the Flag Goddess of one of our schools Marching Bands. (her son was on Bacon)

If you have a color guard at your school, they may be able to make your flag or tell you where you can get one made.

Re: Flags at Competition
 

We made ours by projecting our logo onto the wall and tracing it, then cutting it out of a piece of fabric. A fellow teacher at my school is a very skilled quilter (look around...you'll have one too), so she sewed it onto the background piece.

Whole process took less than a week and cost us about $30 in materials. I used a push-broom handle from Lowe's as the pole.