What is the largest American flag in the world?
It’s called the Superflag. The Guiness Book of World Records lists it as 505 feet by 225 feet. It weighs 3000 lbs. The flag is too heavy to hang on a flagpole.
It has flown exactly once. It hung for an hour from the Hoover Dam on May 1, 1996. It only hung for an hour because it’s really hard to hang a large flag.
But, what about free flying American flags? What the largest free flying American flag?
For once, Google is not your friend. Google “Largest free flying
American flag” and you get a reference to a flag in Wisconsin. It was recently damaged in a thunderstorm and ripped in half. The flag is 70′ by 140′ and weighs 340 lbs.
But, it’s not the world’s largest free flying American flag.
There’s a flag in Gastonia, North Carolina that is 65 feet by 114 and weighs 180 lbs. It hangs on a 65 foot flag pole.
You can see it from 30 miles away. North Carolina is not known for tall mountains.
New Yorkers will tell you that the largest free flying American flag flies over the George Washington Bridge. But, that one is only 60 feet by 90 feet, although it weighs an impressive 465 lbs.
But, none of these are the largest free flying American flag in the world.
That honor belongs to a flag that is 75 feet wide by 155 feet long. It weighs 400 lbs and it is hanging not on a flag pole, not in front of a dam, or on a bridge. It’s hanging from a cable suspended across a canyon in the small town of Pleasant Grove, Utah.
The flag is named Lady Liberty. It was flown for the first time on July 4, 2020.
The flag is one of three identical flags. The first, Big Betsy was damaged last year in a microburst. Interesting, it was also damaged the previous year when a cable designed to deploy it, caused damage. Last years, damage was too much to repair and Big Betsy no longer flies. She does make appearances at parades and rodeos and even gets hung from a building occasionally.
The third flag is called The Major. It’s named for Major Brent Taylor, who was mayor of North Ogden Utah. In addition he was in the National Guard. He was killed in Afghanistan. The Major flew for the first time July 4, 2019. It replaced Big Betsy after she was damaged.
The Major flies in a canyon in Northern Utah. Ogden canyon.
The three flags are the result of an organization called Follow The Flag. The organization not only maintains the flags, but they put on events in and around Utah. This is a big week for them, although many events had to be cut back due to the virus.
I’m not sure why Lady Liberty doesn’t get the designation she deserves. The Guiness Book of World Records doesn’t have a designation for largest free flying American flag.
So, New Yorkers will look at a version of flag when they drive across the George Washington bridge. And the folks within 30 miles around that flag pole in North Carolina will get to watch the flag wave. And we can only hope that the group in Wisconsin gets their flag repaired.
But, if you want to see the largest free flying American flag in the world, you can find it hanging for the next week proudly across Grove Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
She, or one of her cousins is there every 4th of July week.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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