Presenting the Colors and Rain

Your team is asked to present the colors at a game outside and there’s a chance of rain. What do you do?

Flag Material Types

• Nylon – a common and inexpensive material that most colors are made of. Weather resistant.
• Polyester – Similar to nylon, can look better. Weather resistant.
• Rayon – and any blend with Rayon, is expensive and looks the best. Do not expose this material to any inclement weather at all.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

There is no published guidance. It is up to you. As a suggestion to you, I offer the following:

1. There ceremony is about to begin, and the skies open up. Don’t present the colors.
2. The ceremony begins, the team is marching into place and the skies open up. On with the show and continue to present the colors.
3. Safety always. If there is lightning within 5 miles, it would probably be best not to present the colors or hold the game.

Recovery after Presenting in the Rain

If the ceremony starts, your team marches out and you and the flags get a little wet or soaked, as soon as you return to where you store your flags, unfurl and hang them up right away like in the image below:

Smooth the flags out and allow them to drip dry until completely dry. If the flag must be used before completely dry, try not to let the flag hang while the staff is vertical for very long and never allow a flag to dry while the staff is vertical, or it will dry out of shape and there’s not much that can be done for a flag in this condition.

The flag below is draped over a hanger. The header end, the end with the staff sleeve, is square, but the rest of the flag is completely out of shape because it was allowed to dry while the staff to which it was attached, was left vertical while the flag dried.