The defining failure of hand flags, and it is decided before anything is printed.

What staples do

A stapled flag is held at two points. Every wave puts the entire load through those two holes, and fabric tears from a hole far more easily than it tears across itself.

Once one staple lets go the flag rotates freely on the dowel, which is the spinning-flag complaint everybody recognises. Then the second goes.

What a sleeve does

The fabric is folded around the dowel and heat-sealed into a closed tube, so the dowel cannot come out sideways and the load spreads along the whole length of the sleeve.

There is no single point of failure to work loose. It costs very little more per flag and it is the difference between a flag that lasts a parade and one that lasts a lap.

Paper flags need the same thinking

On an economy paper flag, glue and wrap the paper around the dowel rather than putting one staple through it. Same principle, much cheaper material.

It will still only be a one-day flag — paper tears at the stick eventually and it does not survive rain at all — but it will survive the day.

The safety detail worth insisting on

A blunt, sanded dowel end. These are handed to children in crowds at roughly eye height for a small child.

It costs nothing and it should be standard rather than an option. Ask; if the answer is vague, it is not standard.