Want to make a big day bigger -- a real flag-flier? Nothing says important like the snap of a flag that once flew over the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The architect of the Capitol fills about 100,000 requests a year for just such flags to decorate homes and offices. Flags cost from $10 to $23.
"There are special flagpoles where all flags are flown," the federal agency reports. "After it is flown over the U.S. Capitol, each flag is issued a certificate of authenticity." To acquire a flag, "contact your representative or senator."
Arkansas' U.S. lawmakers -- Reps. Tom Cotton, Steve Womack, Tim Griffin and Rick Crawford; and Sens. John Boozman and Mark Pryor -- make it easy. Each legislator has a flag request form on his website.
Pryor's site, for example -- pryor.senate.gov -- recommends a flag flown over the Capitol as a "great gift for honoring special occasions and anniversaries."
The government has been flying flags at lawmakers' request since 1937. Today's program allows the customer to say what date the flag is to be flown.
Flags come in nylon for outdoor use, cotton for indoors, in sizes 3 feet by 5 feet and 5 feet by 8 feet. Prices range from $10 for a small nylon flag to $23 for a large cotton.
The instructions call for ordering "four to seven weeks in advance of the date you wish the flag to be flown."
It's a grand old flag, it's a high-flying flag, but processing and delivery take another four to six weeks.
HomeStyle on 05/24/2014