INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- Anyone in Indianapolis who loves a good flag in either red, green, blue and, of course, checkered, then the business Flags For Good in the Fletcher Place neighborhood is a one-stop shop.
Michael Green is the owner and founder of Flags For Good. "I was always a flag nerd. I loved flags as a kid. I studied design, and I never thought it would be a job. I didn't know you could have a full-time job with flags."
His work is more than a job. It's a passion.
"I started Flags for Good with what I thought would be a two-week pandemic project, and here we are six years later, and I've got employees and a warehouse," Green said. "So, it's been a journey, and it's not something I've done because I knew how to do it. But, you kind of just build the airplane as you fly it, and it's definitely been an adventure."
His biggest client, by far, is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every flag you see at the track is a Flags for Good creation. The company this year became the official flag supplier at IMS.
"For the track itself, we did over a thousand (flags), and just for the public, it's probably 2,000, 3,000 more than that to get the checkered flags out that everybody's flying for their house," Green said.
Flags for Good is proud to say it's officially environmentally friendly. Every flag supplied to the Indianapolis 500 is made of a special sustainable polyester that's biodegradable, while still maintaining vibrant colors.
"All of the flags at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are made of that CiCLO biodegradable polyester. That's so that every flag that comes down off of the track and is done for the season is not going to be polluting the soil here in Indianapolis."
Each flag is made with a very specific design, right down to the placement of the checkers on a flag. "Yeah, and just the number of checkers is very complicated. IMS is very specific on how many checkers they want on their flags. So we've fallen in line with whatever IMS wants, and made all of our flags match the official flag check."
What's next for Flags for Good? Surprisingly, it's not about growing into some huge corporation.
A small, good, locally owned business is still the goal.
"Because we're not growing to make more. We have a great staff here that has a good quality of life, a four-day workweek. We're trying to make a great place to work here in Indianapolis, and so growth is something we measure against 'How much is that going to affect our quality of work and our quality of life?'"
Green added that the real success of his business is being recognized as a small business that's easy to work with and delivers.
"We're just trying to make the best flags possible, work with great people like the Indianapolis 500, of course, and to make Indianapolis more colorful."
