Squadron Flags

[GoofyOne]

Has anyone had a Squadron Flag made, other than Vanguard?  Their price is through the roof.

[Eclipse]

Where else would you have it made?

Its a pretty specific style, etc.  Unfortunately that's one of the things they have a lock on.

[lordmonar]

Try to get a flag like made anywhere else...and you will find that they all cost that much.

[ctrossen]

Try to get a flag like made anywhere else...and you will find that they all cost that much.

Or more. I priced out flags and guidonsa couple of years ago, and the Vanguard price was still the best for everything.

Unfortunately, it took Vanguard three tries to get the flag correct, and they never produced an acceptable guidon.

(Do a little searching and you'll find a thread covering my unit's dealings with Vanguard on the matter.)

That said, one of the suggestions someone posited ended up the best - find a local "sewing circle". I've got a mother (who joined as a Cadet Sponsor Member) that whipped up a guidon for us in about two weeks - for a grand total of about $20 in materials.

[lordmonar]

I sewed up a guide 20+ years ago in a few hours.

[RiverAux]

As it came up in another thread...

Cost of a Squadron flag from the CAP Bookstore from the 2000 catalog: $74.50, not counting $2/letter for the unit name.  By 2002 it had gone up to $84 +$2.75/letter.

Current Vanguard squadron flag price: $368.50.

Sounds like we need to figure out who used to make our flags and go back to them. 

[Major Carrales]

As it came up in another thread...

Cost of a Squadron flag from the CAP Bookstore from the 2000 catalog: $74.50, not counting $2/letter for the unit name.  By 2002 it had gone up to $84 +$2.75/letter.

Current Vanguard squadron flag price: $368.50.

Sounds like we need to figure out who used to make our flags and go back to them. 

I wonder how hard it would be for me to "BETSY ROSS" a squadron flag?

[RiverAux]

A guidon would be pretty easy, but I don't think you could do a full-on squadron flag.

However, I'm not entirely sure there is anything in our regs stating exactly what a squadron flag should look like, is there?  If there isn't any guidance, then you might be able to do what you want...

[Eclipse]

However, I'm not entirely sure there is anything in our regs stating exactly what a squadron flag should look like, is there? 

See 900-2, Page 7-8.

http://level2.cap.gov/documents/u_082503081227.pdf

4) Group and Squadron Flags. Made of ultramarine blue rayon banner cloth or heavyweight nylon measuring 3
feet hoist by 4 feet fly or 3 feet hoist by 5feet, 8 3/8 inches fly and is trimmed on three sides with a 2 1/2 inch wide blue silk
fringe. Cord and tassels of any color will not be used. In the center is the basic CAP insignia; above the insignia is a white
scroll with the group or squadron designation in red letters, and below it are the words "Civil Air Patrol" in red letters on a
white scroll (see Figure 11). All lettering will read from left to right. These flags will be displayed and carried with the US flag of equal or larger size. Units will use these flags on all ceremonial occasions. NOTE: Group or squadron designation should include full name and type of unit, i.e., "Maxwell Air Force Base Composite Squadron." However, unit names too long for the space allotted maybe shortened, i.e., "Maxwell AFB Comp Sq." Additionally, if abbreviations are required to shorten the name, only the following standard abbreviations for type of unit will be used: Comp Sq, Cdt Sq, Sr Sq, Gp.

5) Guidons. Made of ultramarine blue wool bunting or a substitute synthetic material, swallow-tailed, and 1 foot,
8 inches hoist by 2 feet, 3 3/4 inches fly to end of swallowtail. Basic CAP insignia will be centered 8 7/8 inches from fork of
swallowtail (see Figure 12). The unit charter number will be placed at the bottom, centered below the triangle. Encampments or special activities may prescribe their own wordage/numbering scheme for the top and bottom of the guidon using the basic CAP emblem as above. Cord and tassels of any color will not be used. Guidons with five digit charter numbers may be used until replacement is required.

[ol'fido]

I haven't priced a full flag with him, but we have a Korean family in town that runs a shoe repair and sewing shop. They can whip just about anything up if you show them an example of what you want. I had three plain guidon pennants made up for $5 each. The lettering would not cost much more. Look in your local yellow pages.

[RickFranz]

Several years ago my wife made our Squadron flag.  I went to Wal-Mart and got them to donate the fabric and she had it done in a few days.  She even had it where you could read it from both sides.  The ones I've seen from CAPMart could only be read from one side (the other side was backwards).  The only real cost was the pole and they are available from different sources.

[JAFO78]

I would say do it your self, or find someone to do it.  In this day and age, plus cost of everything this is best option.

[Major Carrales]

However, I'm not entirely sure there is anything in our regs stating exactly what a squadron flag should look like, is there? 

See 900-2, Page 7-8.

http://level2.cap.gov/documents/u_082503081227.pdf

4) Group and Squadron Flags. Made of ultramarine blue rayon banner cloth or heavyweight nylon measuring 3
feet hoist by 4 feet fly or 3 feet hoist by 5feet, 8 3/8 inches fly and is trimmed on three sides with a 2 1/2 inch wide blue silk
fringe. Cord and tassels of any color will not be used. In the center is the basic CAP insignia; above the insignia is a white
scroll with the group or squadron designation in red letters, and below it are the words "Civil Air Patrol" in red letters on a
white scroll (see Figure 11). All lettering will read from left to right. These flags will be displayed and carried with the US flag of equal or larger size. Units will use these flags on all ceremonial occasions. NOTE: Group or squadron designation should include full name and type of unit, i.e., "Maxwell Air Force Base Composite Squadron." However, unit names too long for the space allotted maybe shortened, i.e., "Maxwell AFB Comp Sq." Additionally, if abbreviations are required to shorten the name, only the following standard abbreviations for type of unit will be used: Comp Sq, Cdt Sq, Sr Sq, Gp.

5) Guidons. Made of ultramarine blue wool bunting or a substitute synthetic material, swallow-tailed, and 1 foot,
8 inches hoist by 2 feet, 3 3/4 inches fly to end of swallowtail. Basic CAP insignia will be centered 8 7/8 inches from fork of
swallowtail (see Figure 12). The unit charter number will be placed at the bottom, centered below the triangle. Encampments or special activities may prescribe their own wordage/numbering scheme for the top and bottom of the guidon using the basic CAP emblem as above. Cord and tassels of any color will not be used. Guidons with five digit charter numbers may be used until replacement is required.

I think I may suggest this to a local "quilting bee" Group or other some such.  I think it could be done.

[RiverAux]

Eclipse, thanks for the reference...

After being reminded what a squadron flag looks like, I'll take back my statement about it being too difficult to do locally.  I was thinking of the Wing flag design, which is fairly complex.