How to Make a Flag

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By Bryan Cass
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I made this flag for our scout troop.

You can of course buy custom flags online. But if you have a flag design in mind, or you just like craft projects, you can make your own flag. In this article I will show you how I made this flag, and the list of materials needed. With that, you should be able to make a flag yourself!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A flag design
A blank, nylon flag
Colored nylon material
Fabric iron-on transfer glue

Step 1

Make a flag from a colored blank

BUY FLAG BLANK -- It is much easier to buy a pre-made blank flag then apply your design to it, rather than trying to make the complete flag with the canvas header and brass grommets. The 3'x5' nylon blue flag I bought was about $20. I'll give you some links below.
Step 2

DESIGN -- Now you need a design. I designed my flag in Microsoft Publisher. You can use a computer program like I did, or just draw your design on paper. A standard outdoor flag size is 3'x5', so try to keep your drawing dimensions in that ratio.
Step 3

BUY MATERIALS -- Go to a local fabric store and buy a couple yards each of the colors you need for your design. For mine, the flag was nylon, so I bought nylon material -- ask for the kind you can make flags from. Buy the same type of material your blank flag is made of. Also buy some fabric iron-on transfer glue, which has glue on one side of a paper backing. The fabric store will know what this is.
Step 4

MAKE A PATTERN -- Most of my flag design involved letters, so I printed out letters from my computer in the font I wanted, in the actual size needed. Then I cut them out and used them as stencils, tracing around them onto the nylon material. Don't cut the material yet. The Vermont state emblem I cut from a small Vermont state flag I bought. The cross is just a smaller red cross ironed on to a larger yellow cross.
Step 5

IRON ON TRANSFER GLUE AND CUT -- Iron the fabric glue onto the back of the nylon material that the letters are drawn on, but don't take off the paper backing yet. Now cut the letters/design from the material along the lines you traced from the pattern. Then peel off the paper backing. Now you have something like iron-on patches of your design.
Step 6

ARRANGE DESIGN AND PIN -- Carefully place the letters onto the blank flag where you want them, using straight-pins to hold them in place.
Step 7

IRON ON THE DESIGN -- Once the design is arranged and pinned in place, iron on the letters/design, then remove the pins. I did this on both sides of the flag so you can see the design on either side.