Patriotism doesn’t have an offseason. Flags fly, and bunting hangs on Memorial Day and the 4th of July, but there’s no reason why such an outpouring of love for your country can only coincide with summer cookouts. For much of this country, however, winters are hard. Bracing cold winds and inches of ice and snow don’t just take a lot out of people in the midwest and northeast; they’re brutal on flags and their poles, too. There’s no reason to retire your flag for the season. If you take a moment to study how to get the most out of your flagpole in the winter, you can keep your flag worthy of flying year-round.
Polyester—the word conjures up visions of 1970s leisure suits, gaudy baseball uniforms, and an overall sense of fakeness. But polyester makes up a wide class of products that we use every day without a second thought, and flying an American flag made from polyester is no less patriotic than flying a natural-fiber counterpart. In fact, in the winter, when the elements conspire against fabrics, a polyester flag will stand up to wind, cold, and precipitation better than cotton or nylon, which are prone to shrinking or fading when exposed to winter elements.
Scheduling routine maintenance? That’s something you do for your car. It’s also something you should do for your flagpole. If you intend to keep your flagpole in service year-round, take time just before the onset of winter to audit your flagpole’s parts and make sure that your snaps, halyard, and collar are all in good condition and that your pole remains well-anchored. If anything could use a replacement, now’s the time to do it before the high winds of winter come.
Though it’s an admirable goal to fly the flag 365 days a year, discretion is the better part of valor when brutal blizzards are coming your way. If there’s such severe weather in the forecast that you can reasonably expect your flagpole to take or even do real damage during the storm, your country will understand if you take down a telescoping flagpole until the storm passes.
If your small business has been flying a flag on a residential flagpole, you may be able to take things up a step, which is great for winter weather. Our commercial flagpoles feature internal halyards that protect this important part of the pole from wind and precipitation, extending its lifespan. This could be the real trick to how to get the most out of your flagpole in the winter—don’t hide the whole flag when all you need to do is hide the halyard.
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