Flags and Banners For Outdoor Use - Polyester Or Nylon?

Flags for flagpoles (and such) in or our day are mainly produced from two different materials, nylon and polyester. Every so often questions are asked by customers as to what material they should choose for their new banner. The purpose of this article is to provide a little more information on the above mentioned materials and their application.

Banners have been flown for centuries, if not thousands of years. Fascinatingly, the somewhat obvious purpose of flags has hardly changed over this period of time. For example, battle flags were and are flown as a means to identify and sometimes signal during times of war. The same applies to other types of flags. Interestingly, history takes us across the Pacific Ocean, into the south-eastern area of Asia, where flags were first used many, many years ago.

As mentioned above, flags are commonly produced from nylon and polyester. Based on the material alone, a distinction can be made between in- and outdoor flags. Outdoor flags are often times produced from nylon where indoor flags are commonly made from polyester. However, this rule does not necessarily apply to banners of a bigger size.

There are a few advantages to polyester that are known to those that work with this particular material. Polyester seems to be resilient, meaning that its capacity to deal with deformation / wrinkles as a result of applied energy, is substantial in comparison to other such materials. Another (practical) advantage is its ability to dry quickly. A significant disadvantage to polyester is its flammability however.

Polyester is used for the manufacturing of many other items such as: insulation, plastics, car parts, tapes, etc.

Historic flags (for flagpoles) are produced from both nylon and polyester. The same applies to U.S.-, state, international and military flags. Custom banners can be produced from both materials. Light weight polyester banners are (for the most part) more cost-effective than banners made from outdoor nylon.