Dispose of old flags or upcycle them? Which products are made from flag fabric

Flags are mostly made of light polyester fabric without a coating. They are soft, they drape well and they can be sewn like ordinary fabric. Banners and tarpaulins, by contrast, are coated and stiff.

For processing that means: flag fabric becomes products that can be drawn together, folded or wrapped around something. For heavy rucksacks the material is not strong enough – that calls for the more stable tarpaulins and roll-ups.

What can be made from flags

Drawstring bags work best, because the fabric is light and does not crease permanently. Belt bags, Moonbags and chest pouches are similarly good, as they are worn on the body and should not weigh much themselves. Seat cushions with filling are in demand at clubs and event venues.

With smaller products the yield is higher. The complete product list with yield per square metre is set out in the overview with twenty product ideas from old advertising banners.

Why the printed image matters especially with flags

Flags are almost always printed over the full surface, often with a large crest or lettering. The cut determines which part of it ends up on the product.

You can control that. Anyone who wants the complete logo on every bag needs more material and gets fewer pieces. Anyone who allows differing sections gets more products and nothing but one-off pieces. Both are possible; it just needs to be agreed beforehand.

When there are only a few flags

A single flag yields two to four square metres of material, depending on its size. For small products that is enough for several hundred units, for bags considerably fewer.

Because our minimum run is 250 units per product, keyrings, Cardholders or cases are worth a look when stocks are small. Alternatively, flag fabric can be combined with banners from the same campaign – the calculation for 100 square metres of banner fabric shows how much that adds up to.