"Baby on Board" Flag: Gettysburg Flag Works (and a giveaway!)

Many months ago I was contacted by Gettysburg Flag Works offering us a boat flag. Flags and boats kind of go hand in hand (they are still used to communicate messages from vessel to vessel) and this fine company was offering us one of our choice. Unfortunately, we're already equipped with an American flag and all the signal and courtesy flags we'll ever need, so we weren't looking to add to our collection.  I was just about to send a gracious "Thanks, but no thanks" email when an idea struck me.  What about a custom flag?

I poked around on the website and sure enough, they do make custom boat flags so I asked if they'd be willing to give us a 'one of a kind' in lieu of a pre-existing flag and they agreed.  Super! Awesome! But what, exactly, would our flag be? Hmm.... We don't really have a logo, and I wasn't interested in flag that boasted a phrase or a giant margarita glass when it hit me: "What about a 'baby on board' flag?"  I mean, people hang 'baby on board' signs in their cars, why not have one for a boat? I got to work designing something in my head.  I had the vision of a baby face in a porthole and I bought the vectors to do it - but I quickly realized I lacked the design skills to create something of quality. So I resorted to my trusty Facebook fan base to see if we had any graphic designers in our midst who were willing to do pro-bono work and, sure enough, we did.  Really, really talented ones too!  We had so many wonderful entrants offer up designs but unfortunately, I could only choose one.  Enter:  the incredibly talented Jamie Pullar (seriously, if you have design needs, contact her: www.jamiepullar.com) she. is. awesome.

One of the earlier designs which we tweaked.

After emailing back and forth about what I was looking for and tweaking some of her early samples, we came up with what I think is the perfect "baby on board" flag.  Jamie is the real deal and I feel so lucky to have found her as I am definitely going to be utilizing her talents for future projects.  She works fast, understands a vision, and delivers professional results. Once we decided on the design, she sent the artwork over to the folks at Gettysburg Flagworks as per their requirements, and a couple of weeks later our (awesome) flag arrived.

It turned out better than I could have ever imagined.  This flag is a high-quality item and not your run of the mill, flimsy mail-order burgee. It's double-sided, measures 12 x 18 and made of heavy-duty nylon. The material is thick and strong, definitely meant to withstand the marine environment, and stand up to the wind.  The stitching is super tough and durable.  The print is crisp, sharp and clear.  It looks fan-freaking-tastic. We love it.  Whats even better?  It's a great company.  They were friendly, responsive and professional. I worked directly with Mike, the owner and CEO, and he was great. Thank you, Mike!

If you are looking for a cool and unique gift to give that special sailor you know, a custom boat flag that sports a logo, mantra, boat name or - heck - even a margarita glass, might just fit the bill.

The coolest part?  They want to give a flag away to one of you!  Gettysburg Flag Works will giveaway an existing flag OR a credit for $50 towards a custom flag to one lucky winner (sorry, only US addresses please).

All you need to do is:

1. Post a comment on this blog post or on our Facebook Page explaining why you are deserving of a new boat flag, and what type of flag you would love to have (if it's custom, tell us your vision!). 
2. Make sure to leave your email address in the comment (in the abc(at)whatever.com format) so I can contact you if you win.

I will chose a winner in the next week or so.

Disclosure: I was given a flag at no cost.  All opinions are my own.