It Started With a Flagpole: The Gameday Flags Story

More than three years ago, Gameday Flags began with a vehicle-mounted flagpole accessory. Building the pole was only the beginning.

We wanted a flagpole that felt as good as it looked: thoughtfully made, satisfying to use, and worthy of the flag it carried. What started as one accessory has grown into two distinct pole families—MVP and EXT—and a product line shaped by testing, sewing, repair, and a determination to make the whole experience better.

First, the pole learned to spin.

MVP began as our minimum viable product: an extending pole. Then it learned to spin through our patented spinning cable bearing. Each refinement brought the pole closer to the experience we wanted.

The flag was another story. In our development tests, every licensed flag we tried failed within 100 miles of driving at highway speeds. We also felt that their appearance did not match the quality of the poles we were building. Those experiences changed the scope of the project.

The USA flag showed us what was possible.

One stock flag stood apart: the USA flag. Its substantial base fabric, sewn construction, and reinforcement stitching made it the only stock flag we found that withstood continuous highway speeds in our testing. The embroidered stars and sewn stripes gave it the depth and craftsmanship we wanted to see on our poles.

We wanted that same durability in our own printed flags. Reproducing it was not straightforward. Our desired GFDS-SILK printed flag blank material was not nearly as robust a base fabric as the USA flag. Copying the reinforcement approach did not produce the same result.

No matter how much time we put into the reinforcement, the printed fabric kept failing at the hardware and the tails. Those two weak points kept sending us back to the sewing table.

The USA flag showed us what was possible. Our printed fabric challenged us to find another way to get there.

Follow the failure back to the sewing table.

We began by reinforcing existing licensed flags and offering flag mending: take a flag someone already cared about, understand where it was failing, and improve its construction.

That work brought an exceptional craftsperson into the development process. Our seamstress also sews for the University of Oregon athletic department. Her sewing and pattern-development experience helped us turn observations from testing into practical construction improvements.

We invested in a Sailrite sewing machine to support reinforcement services and industrial sewing for bags and other products. Sewing became part of product development itself, connecting the hardware to the fabric, seams, attachments, and accessories around it.

A webbing header opened up new possibilities.

With printed webbing available locally from Strapworks, we began experimenting with webbing in place of the traditional canvas header. Then we went further: sewing multiple flags onto a shared webbing header band to create custom arrangements.

That shared header let us remove connecting hardware from those arrangements, simplify the setup, and eliminate the noise of that hardware banging against the pole. Both approaches were meaningful improvements. Neither was quite the construction we were searching for.

Reinforcement could only take us so far. We decided to remove the two features that kept causing trouble: the flag hardware and the tails.

Authentic construction brings it all together.

Our patented Authentic Gameday Flag Construction combines looped end terminations with double-sided, reversible color construction. The flag connects without flag hardware to our carabiner-less, patented spinning flagpole mount. The construction and the mount work together as one system.

The result is the combination we had been working toward: the way the flag is shaped, sewn, attached, displayed, and changed all belongs to the same design. The reversible colors are part of that experience, giving both sides a considered presentation.

What makes it special is how everything works together.

Today, MVP carries the original compact, extending-pole idea forward. EXT brings a larger presence to bigger flags and display environments. Flags, mounts, bags, and accessories complete the setup.

Rethink the whole experience.

The development did not stop at the physical product. Learning how the pole works, choosing a flag, seeing both sides, understanding the attachments, flying it, changing it, and caring for it all deserve the same attention.

Our live configurators let customers explore products, colors, and complete setups before purchasing. Field Notes explain the equipment and its use. The same care that went into the bearing and the stitching now shapes the way people discover, configure, buy, and maintain the product.

That is what Gameday Flags has become: a complete rethink of the flag-and-pole experience, developed detail by detail.

The next chapter is built with partners.

We have partnered with Strapworks and are exploring additional licensed distribution and manufacturing partnerships to bring Authentic Gameday Flag Construction to more teams. The work connects product design, sewing, manufacturing, licensed artwork, and the way each product is presented and sold.

For prospective partners, the opportunity is to help build a coordinated product family: quality physical products, a clear brand experience, and configurable tools that make the available choices easy to understand.

Explore Gameday licensing and partnership opportunities ↗

BUILD WITH EXO

What is your next dream build?

EXO specializes in custom-tailored configurable product systems and brands across industries. We bring product development, manufacturing partnerships, interactive commerce, and EXO OS together around the way your business needs to work.

Bring us your idea, your existing product line, or the build you have been imagining. Let’s talk about what it can become.

Discuss your dream build ↗

Explore more Gameday Field Notes →