Cheer Flags a.k.a…

So, what is a Cheer Flag?

What do you call the flag on the long pole that leads the team out onto the field?  

What do you call those large flags that have individual letters on them that the cheer leaders run down the sideline after the team scores a touchdown?  

What do you call those flags that competitive cheer teams use during their competitions?

 I call them Field Runners I am not emotionally attached to the name so if you prefer Cheer Flag or Team Flag or Battle Flag or Mascot Flag or Spirit Flag, that is fine with me, I just want to make sure that we are all on the same page when you are in the market for that type of flag.   For the purpose of this article, I am going to use the more accepted name… Cheer Flag.

A little history on the Cheer Flag.  Long ago, Cheer Flags were mostly made with simple designs and that design was cut out of fabric and appliqued onto the square or rectangle fabric that was being used for the background.  These were great for their day but they were heavy, costly and frankly the designs were pretty basic. With the advent of modern printing methods, we can now produce Cheer Flags with high quality, crisp and vibrant images with unlimited colors.

So, let’s talk about double sided flags.  Often, I get a quote request that has the phrase, “and I want them double sided”.  The problem with the phrase “double sided” is, it can mean different things to different people.  Almost every flag flying in the world today is “double sided” much like an American Flag is “double sided”, but, the most flags are a single ply of material so, obviously, the back side is a reverse image, just like it is on the American Flag.  This can present some problems when you are using letters or words.  

So, why don’t we just use 2 plies of material and print them correctly on both sides?  The first answer is, we do, we don’t like to for reasons to follow, but if you want them printed two sides correct, we will certainly do it. 

Why don’t we like to? 

They are heavy:  To make it work without the two images conflicting with each other, we either have to use an opaque material (very heavy) for the 2 plies or we need to use a third layer in the middle that is called a blockout ply and prevents the light from causing the two images to conflict.  So, you either have 2 very heavy plies or 3 moderately heavy plies, neither is a good option.  You might think you can just get a larger, stronger person to run the flag and that would be a good option except the problem with the weight is that is requires much more air passing by to make it fly properly so what you need is a bigger, stronger person that is also a track star…hard to find.

They look goofy.  Believe me, when I began this business back in 2009, I was so sure that I knew best, that I went against all recommendations and printed 500 flags for our booster club, backwards.  My idea what that we would alternate the flags so, no matter which way the wind was blowing, half of the flags would be read correctly.  Boy was I wrong.  Putting the end that should be trailing in the wind, up against the pole is the same as the back side of a two-side-correct flag.  Imagine an American Flag with the stripes against the pole and the blue field with the white stars whipping in the wind…it just looks terrible.

They are expensive.  The cost to print doubles, the cost of the fabric triples, the cost to sew them together doubles.

So, how do we tackle flags with wording or letters on them?  We do them like every other flag and our amazing brains just fix it for us.  This has never been more evident to me than the day I went to see Texas Tech play Baylor in the Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium.  The cheer team for Baylor had 5 Cheer Flags that spelled B E A R S.  The cheer team for Texas Tech had 7 cheer flags that spelled R A I D E R S.  The teams ran onto the field from different corners and no matter what direct they were running, there was no doubt in my mind that the flags spelled out BEARS and RAIDERS.  You probably have not noticed this in the past but, next time you drive by a Subway sandwich shop, take a look at the feather flags that say SUBWAY on them, they are backwards on the back side and yet, you still know it is Subway.

Now that we have beaten the double-sided issue to death.  Let’s talk about fabric.  When I get a specific request about types of fabric is it always Nylon that is requested.  Nylon is a requested fabric because it is light weight and is associated with strength because it is used for sails on boats.  The problem with Nylon is that it is made of slick plastic strands and because of that, it does not soak up ink well.  This means that, if you want to put a detailed image on it, you must use paint which is expensive and not at all durable.  

We use polyester for our flags.  Polyester is lightweight, extremely durable and strong.  It also takes ink very well so we can print vibrant images to help you support your program.  We use different types of polyester for different types of flags.  For our Cheer Flags, we use 140gsm knitted polyester which has a high sheen and gives us the best durability that still allows a good bleed through of the image to the back side.

We make our Cheer Flags with 6cm pole sleeves that are closed on top and we put a tether strap on the bottom to secure it to the pole.  The 6cm pole sleeve is able to accept up to a 1-inch diameter pole, if you want to use a larger pole, we can adjust the size of the sleeve.

Size does matter.  For our college and pro teams, we recommend our 8’x12’ Cheer Flag.  Our most popular Cheer Flag for high schools is our 5’x7’.  Most middle schools use our 4’x6’ Cheer Flags.  Having said all of that, we can make them any size or shape you need so just let us know and we will work up a quote for you.

Last but not least, we are proud of our products and proud of our prices so we put all of them on our website for everyone to see.  Check them out at https://boosterbannerstore.com/product/field-runners/ or www.bbsflags.com