Graphcom Flags Travel to International Space Station

I guess you could say our flags are ‘out of this world’…

Graphcom is producing two flags for George Washington University that will travel to the International Space Station late next year with a George Washington University alumna.

The flags’ launch is set for November 2018, and the flags have already been designed, created, and sent to NASA.

According to McIlhenny Banners, a division of Graphcom, Project Manager Beverly Parsons, each person who travels to the International Space Station is allowed to take a small box of items with them. The George Washington University alumna asked for her alma mater’s flag to take with her on her journey, and the university contacted Graphcom to make the flags after the University designed them.

Measuring 24’’ by 48’’ and 9’’ by 12’’, the flags are deep blue with the logo of the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the middle (pictured below). Parsons says both flags were created using the lightest material Graphcom offers, China silk, so they can be rolled into a tiny tube to save space while traveling.

Parsons says the University plans to display the small flag once it comes back to Earth. Robert McIlhenny, founder of McIlhenny Banners, a division of Graphcom, says the entire process took Graphcom three business days. A digital dye sublimation process was used, and finishing simply required hemming the edges of the flags.

“It’s a testament to the power of flags,” he says. “Once assembled, these pieces of ordinary cloth suddenly become symbols that focus on feelings of pride and allegiance to the institutions they represent. It’s part of what makes our business so rewarding.”

Graphcom CEO Greg Allen expressed his excitement about this unique opportunity.

“George Washington University has been a wonderful client of ours, and I’m honored that they trusted Graphcom with this project,” he says. “It will be exciting to know that our talented team has made something that will travel to the International Space Station.”