The US flag on the moon was made of nylon and was likely purchased from Anin & Co., which manufactured flags sold by Sears and in the government stock catalog. A special flagpole was designed for astronauts to install and lock into place.
While the U.S. flags placed on the moon by NASA astronauts weren’t specifically designed for space travel, sources differ on exactly where they came from. Some sources say the flag that went to the moon on the Apollo 11 mission was purchased at Sears by a secretary during her lunch break. While that story is likely apocryphal, it may have some truth to it. Dick Lattimer, author of All We Did Was Fly to the Moon, said the flag was made by Anin & Co., which manufactured the flags sold by Sears as well as those in the government stock catalog. Jack Kinzler, chief of the Technical Services Center at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, wrote in his 1969 notes that the 5-by-3-foot (1.5 meters by 1 meter) flag had been ordered from the government warehouse . Catalog for $5.50 (USD). Historians know for a fact that the Apollo 11 flag was made of nylon. NASA technicians sewed a hem to the top of the flag so it could be placed on the crossbar of a flagpole for planting on the Moon.
Placing a Flag on the Moon:
Weight was an issue with flags going to the moon, hence why small nylon flags were used.
A special flagpole was designed so that it could be installed and locked into place by astronauts wearing bulky spacesuits.
For easy access by astronauts, the flag was placed inside a heat resistant coating and was mounted on the left side of the ladder on the lunar module.
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