Bear Flag 3' X 5' Polyester

The bear flag is the banner of the bear community, the corner of gay and queer culture that celebrates big, hairy, bearded, broad-built men and the people who love them. This Flags Importer Bear Flag is the full 3' x 5' polyester version, large enough to fly from a porch bracket, cover a bar wall or lead a group at a march, with the paw print in the top corner where it reads from across a room.

What the bear flag's stripes stand for

Seven equal horizontal bands run from dark brown at the top through rust orange, golden yellow, tan, white and grey to black at the bottom. The colours echo the fur of bear species around the world, a way of saying the community is open to everyone. They refer to animals, not to anybody's skin or hair. The black paw in the upper-left corner is the emblem people recognize instantly at Pride and at bear runs.

The version most people know came out of Washington, D.C. in the mid-nineties. Craig Byrnes came up with the design, Paul Witzkoske turned it into finished artwork and Bob Nicholson sewed the first prototypes. A Denver bear club flew its own banner a few years earlier, and an Australian variant borrows a different paw, but this seven-stripe layout is the one you'll see at most events.

Putting it up

A strip of heavier fabric called header tape runs down the hoist side, with two metal grommets set into it, one near each end. Clip those to a halyard, hook them over cup hooks on a wall, or tie them to a pole bracket with cord. Indoors, a curtain rod threaded through two shower-curtain rings works neatly over a bed or behind a bar. For a club night or fundraiser, cable ties through the grommets will hold it to a fence or railing; leave a little slack so the cloth isn't stretched tight against the wind.

How it's made

The design is dye-sublimated: heat drives the dye into the polyester rather than laying ink on top, so the colour lives inside the fibres instead of sitting on the surface where it could crack. It's printed on one face only, and the dye travels through the cloth, so the back shows the same stripes with the paw reversed. Every edge is double-stitched, and the fly end, the free edge that whips around most in a breeze, carries four rows of stitching to slow fraying.

Care and storage

Wash it by hand or on a gentle cycle in cool water with a mild detergent, then hang it to dry. Skip the bleach. Outdoors, every flag wears faster in strong wind and constant sun, so bring it in during storms and rotate it with a spare if you fly it all season. Fold it loosely along the stripes for storage so the paw isn't creased through the middle.

Specifications

• Brand: Flags Importer
• Design: bear pride flag, seven horizontal stripes with a paw print in the upper hoist corner
• Size: 3 ft × 5 ft
• Material: polyester
• Printing: dye-sublimated, single-sided print that shows through to the back
• Mounting: header tape with 2 metal grommets
• Finish: double-stitched edges, 4 rows of stitching on the fly edge

Flying more than one? The leather pride flag often shares a pole with this one at bear events, and our LGBTQ+ Pride collection has the rest of the range.