In the Boston Celtics’ storied history, one company has made all 17 championship banners that hang in the rafters at their home, TD Garden. And after NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games, New England Flag & Banner will gather the string plus white and Irish Green nylon fabric and begin working on No. 18.
New England Flag & Banner, the largest maker of appliqué championship and jersey retirement banners in the country among professional and college teams, had some skin in the game for this year’s NBA Finals: The company has not worked with the Mavs.
And even as the Celtics took a 3-0 lead in the series, New England Flag & Banner owner and president Ned Flynn was cautious not to jump the gun.
“They know I won’t make a banner until they win. I’m not a T-shirt and hat company,” Flynn, a lifelong Boston native and diehard Boston Bruins and Celtics fan, said in a phone interview. “I think it’s a jinx to make a banner before you won a championship.”
Despite the geographic name, New England Flag & Banner does not only service colleges and professional teams in the New England region. Flynn said the company has about 90% of the market for appliqué making, which features hand-sewn fabric-on-fabric banners and flags. The sports programs it works with include over 1,900 colleges and universities and a slim majority of the teams in the NBA and NHL. The company doesn’t work much with MLB teams, as most don’t use traditional appliqué banners, however, it does occasionally work with a few NFL clubs, like the Los Angeles Rams.
He would like to work with every pro sports team and school someday. When asked about the NHL, he said they haven’t worked with the Edmonton Oilers or Florida Panthers, who are competing in this year’s Stanley Cup Final.
Making a banner is a much different process than an NBA championship ring, but both require a meticulous approach. New England Flag and Banner purchases 125 yards of nylon fabric at a time, which costs around $800. However, Flynn said material goods are the least of the company’s expenses. The other cost it incurs is labor, which he says makes up 66% of its costs to goods sold.
The Celtics’ banners are 10-by-15 feet, which is a standard size for most large colleges and pro teams. For context, 15 feet is how far the NBA free throw line is from the backboard. Flynn didn’t share a specific dollar amount for what he charges the Celtics, however, he said “some of the larger, double-sided banners can be maybe $3,000.”
The Celtics’ title banner is constructed from two pieces of nylon fabric that are laid out and sewn together with a white-opaque interlinear. This is so the letters don’t show through on either side when they are sewn on and cut out. Flynn said this can be done in 24 hours if all the materials are present. The company featured a behind-the-scenes look at how it made the Celtics’ 2008 championship banner on its website.
The Celtics didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When New England Flag & Banner started in 1892, it made flags and banners out of cotton. Essex Country Club in Manchester, Mass., was its first customers. One of the first pro league flags it made was for the inaugural World Series in 1903, when the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
While materials have changed, the appliqué, hand-sewing process has remained the same. Flynn said he doesn’t know any other company like his still making appliqué banners. He estimated they make around 10,000 banners and flags per year, but it can vary.
“We’re really the only one left in the United States,” Flynn said. “There’s not a company out there specializing in championship banners the way we do … most people equate championship banners to a hand-sewn, appliqué method. It’s the most traditional way of making [them].”
Flynn bought the business in 2006, and a lot has changed since then. He cited his expanding network of teams and schools as one of the biggest shifts he’s seen. The company is now being viewed as a national one rather than regional.
“I started to make an effort to do some marketing toward all the colleges and pro teams in the rest of the county,” Flynn said. “[I] did direct mail, email, showing pictures of the [banners and flags] we made.”
While teams have called him to buy a banner, his goal remains to get every team and school possible.
“I just view the teams we don’t have as the teams we’re going to have,” Flynn said.
