Justin Strevig’s business card lists his title as “The Flagman.” He likes to show off his blazer in American-flag print. He casually drops flag lingo into conversation: the canton, the fly-end, the hoist, the halyard.
In Strevig’s Concord store, Flag-Works Over America, there are product samples everywhere: hanging from the ceiling, from sturdy poles, and from tiny sticks tucked into pen cups.
“We try to be New Hampshire's one stop shop for anything flags,” he said.
But the star-spangled banner is Strevig’s best-seller by far. As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches, he’s been hustling to keep up with demand from homeowners, businesses, towns, and government agencies.
“It's like almost every week we're like, ‘Oh, no, we just sold out of this flag,’ ” he said. “Peak flag season is right now. People, I think, prepare for Memorial Day with new flags and then those new flags take them through the 4th of July.”
The semiquincentennial seems to have prompted more customers to think about bigger flag-related investments. Since the ground thawed, Strevig has been installing about four flag poles every week. Those jobs involve digging into the soil, pouring concrete, and hauling massive pieces of white fiberglass.
His map of New Hampshire, where he sticks a flag-shaped pin into every town he’s installed a pole, is filling up fast.
“Flags are a slight increase over previous years, but flagpoles are flying off the shelf,” he said. “I think right now we’re getting people who are preparing for the anniversary and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve always wanted a flagpole, let’s see about getting that.’ ”
The other best-sellers ahead of America’s 250th are some of the lesser-known historical flags. There’s a green and blue flag that was flown in Vermont during the American Revolution. There’s the Bennington flag, with a half-moon of stars and the number 76. There’s the Gadsden flag – a snake with its tongue out with the words, “Don’t tread on me.”
But Strevig also carries state flags, international flags, political flags, military flags, and a wide range of garden flags. Walking around in Flag-Works Over America is like being in a library of American opinions. There are flags representing all kinds of groups and shared identities.
Strevig says he tries to sell what he calls “official flags,” in an attempt to stay away from controversy. But he does sell flags you’d probably never see flying on the same pole.
On his website, he advertises a donkey flag and an elephant flag. In 2024, Flag-Works carried flags for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, but no “Let’s go Brandon” flags disparaging Joe Biden.
Strevig doesn’t carry the confederate battle flag, a decision made by his predecessor, a racquetball buddy who ran Flag Works for more than two decades before passing it down.
But he does sell flags that were used by the Confederacy. And there are historical flags on display that have become part of right-wing movements, like a white flag displaying a pine tree with the words “An appeal to heaven.”
Strevig also carries rainbow flags, and pride progress flags. Some customers have said he shouldn’t stock them. But as a flag seller, he spends his days trying to help people display the symbols that resonate with them. And every symbol, he says, has the ability to both unify and divide.
“The U.S. flag offends some people. The pride flag offends some other people. I'm selling them. They're all real flags. They're real messages. We try to honor that,” he said.
In his store, Strevig says he sees the way flags come to mean something to people – and how that meaning can change depending on the person and the news of the day. His best-selling flag isn’t an exception.
“I've heard from a couple of different people that the political right now owns the U.S. flag and the left side feels like they can no longer fly the U.S. flag,” he said. “I think that’s very unfortunate, that anyone would think that. The U.S. flag is about us. It’s not about us-versus-them.”
For Strevig, the U.S. flag is a symbol of unity. In the lead up to the semiquincentennial, he’s hoping the stars and stripes prompt people to look more closely at the country they live in.
“I think that the flag is our best and most enduring symbol of our history, of the fact that our founding fathers made this unique nation, and that it has lasted this long,” he said.
Strevig is hoping people celebrate the 250th, in part by flying the flag he feels proud of. But for those who would prefer a different symbol, Flag-Works probably has a colorful nylon rectangle that fits the bill.
