How to fold a Canadian flag

The Vancouver Sun interviewed Susan for Canada Day about the Canadian flag turning 50. The article also includes a video of our store manager, Deanna, giving a brief history of the red ensign as well as describing how most Canadian flags are folded since there is no standardized way.

Deanna

Photograph by: Nick Procaylo, PNG

http://www.vancouversun.com/Canada+time+display+your+colours/11163362/story.html

Victoria’s last minute Pride Flag for the legislature

All across Canada, pride flags have been flying in support of LGBT rights as Canada participates in the Sochi Winter Olympics. The cities of Vancouver and Victoria raised their flags on the opening day of the Olympics. The BC Legislature took a little extra time to get theirs up, and The Flag Shop Victoria was integral to that process.

NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert wrote to Speaker Linda Reid requesting that the flag be flown at the legislature, and the approval came through on Wednesday. Paul Servos, the owner of The Flag Shop Victoria, got a rush order for a 45″ x 90″ pride flag at 9 a.m. on Thursday. He managed to sew it all together from 200D nylon in the shop in time to deliver it by noon to the Office of Protocol, and the flag was raised around 1 pm. That’s quick service!

“In Victoria we enjoy these challenging projects as our smaller sewing room allows us to do customization creatively with excellent value for the customer” – Paul.

Here’s a video of the flag raising (bonus: you can also see how to rig a halyard with a flag that has a rope and toggle):

In addition, tomorrow is The Flag Shop Victoria’s 1 year anniversary of rejoining us! They have done some great projects over the past year.

Throwback Friday – Battlestar Galactica edition

Battlestar Galactica

We’ve had this photo in our gallery for a long time, sitting there without much context. It’s from a job we did almost a decade ago for the Battlestar Galactica miniseries/pilot.

You can watch the scene it was in here. And here‘s an old industry article written about us and our involvement with it.

You can see more flags and banners we made for film and television in our gallery.

Video of the new Naval Ensign

Our Nova Scotia Flag Shop applique sewed the large naval ensign that appears in this video. The 6′ x 12′ flag was used at the ceremony commemorating the new naval ensign which replaces the Canadian maple leaf flag as the previous ensign.

The Big Decision episode online

In case you missed it, you can watch our episode of The Big Decision online now.

Click here to see it!

Watch the sneak peek for our episode of The Big Decision next week

The Flag Shop Vancouver shows off popular flags for Global BC

Mike McCardell from Global BC stopped by our store to find out which flags are best sellers and which are… not. In addition to a star-making turn by Susan, you can also see staff members Saya, Breanna, and Ali.

Canada flags are, of course, our best seller, but the new Diamond Jubilee flags are doing brisk business. I suppose we’ll be holding onto that “No Bozos” flag until people decide that bozos aren’t welcome once again. These things are cyclical.

Common Thread on Co-op TV

Co-op TV recently put together this Common Thread Co-operative video which does a beautiful job explaining what they do and the difference they make in the lives of the women with whom they work.

Susan has a cameo, and you can see some footage of our production area.

Speaking of Common Thread! Spread the word – we are looking for banner donations on their behalf since they have been so wildly successful that they are beginning to deplete their stash of banners that they recycle into tote bags.

We have already begun reaching out to our customers, but if you or someone you know is in a position to donate, please get in touch with Susan at The Flag Shop at (604) 736 8161 or (800) 663 8681. We will be happy to arrange picking them up.

You can read more about their Banners to Bags program here.

 

IYC banner installation – with video!

IYC 2012 continues apace. Thanks to it being wholeheartedly embraced by co-ops across Canada, not only do we get to see all sorts of cool photos, but now we have this time-lapse video of a vinyl10′ x 40′ banner we made being installed at The Co-operators head office in Guelph. Bucking tradition, they did not use “Yakety Sax” as the soundtrack, but “Ride of the Valkyries” totally works here.

Providing IYC 2012 products has been our big project this year, and we’re quite proud of all products we’ve made to help co-ops and credit unions get the word out. I’m not sure if we’ll have the same success with 2013’s International Year of Quinoa, but we can hope.

If your co-op wants its own building banner, see our IYC website for details.

Making of a Canadian flag

Have you ever wondered how we make our beautiful applique Canadian flags? No? Well, too bad, you’re going to find out anyway.

This is a little late for Canada Day, but it’s still cool. This video from The Express features some of our long-time seamstresses as they measure, cut, and sew a Canadian flag as well as Susan talking about the care and quality control that goes into making the flags. The video starts right at our segment, but definitely watch the entire thing to find out about other Canadian souvenirs.