Kerry McCoy and FlagandBanner.com Media Resources

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, FlagandBanner.com founder Kerry McCoy is available for interviews, media appearances and speaking engagements. All press materials, photos and downloadable assets are available below.

For more information, contact Dlorah deVore, FlagandBanner.com Brand Strategist
email: dlorah@flagandbanner.com
desk: 501.255.5648

Press Release

FROM $400 AND A YELLOW 1971 FASTBACK CAMARO TO AMERICA'S FLAG AUTHORITY

As America Celebrates Its 250th Birthday, FlagandBanner.com and the McCoy Family Mark Over 50 Years of Flying the American Dream

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 25, 2026 -- In December 1975, a 20-year-old Kerry McCoy walked door to door through the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas, with $400, a stack of business cards and a simple proposition: buy a flag and pay cash up front. She had no storefront, no investors and no road map. What she had was a gap in the market, an unshakeable work ethic and the kind of optimism that has always defined the American spirit.

More than five decades later, FlagandBanner.com is a $6 million national authority in flags, banners and custom display products, with 37 employees across offices in Little Rock and Miami. Its client roster reads like a who's who of American commerce, entertainment and public service, with names including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Disney, Netflix, Walmart, Chick-fil-A, FedEx, Chanel, the Seattle Seahawks and all branches of the United States military.

As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, Kerry McCoy's story stands as one of the most authentic entrepreneurial narratives in the country. She did not inherit a business. She did not have venture capital. She built it the old-fashioned American way, one flag at a time, and then she built a family around it.

"I always say a series of bad luck led me to the best luck of my life," said McCoy. "I could not get a job after school, so I started selling flags door to door. Over fifty years later I am still at it, and I love every single day of it."

A Business Born from Necessity, Built by Determination

McCoy's path to entrepreneurship was anything but direct. After graduating from a vocational school in Dallas with a focus on fashion merchandising, she found herself in the middle of the 1974 recession with no job prospects in her field. A placement agency connected her to a small flag retailer called Betsy Ross Flag Girls, where she spent six months learning the trade from the ground up.

Homesick and determined, she returned to Little Rock and made a discovery that would change her life. Nobody in the state of Arkansas was buying flags from an in-state supplier. Everything was ordered from out of state.

"My mother said, call the Secretary of State's office. Call the school districts. Find out where they are buying flags," McCoy recalled. "I did, and I found out nobody was buying locally. I thought, here is a niche market."

With a $50 city permit, a supplier willing to work with her limited capital and $400 to cover business cards and order pads, McCoy founded Arkansas Flag and Banner. For nine years she worked part-time jobs to keep the business afloat, including waitressing at a local restaurant where her future husband Grady worked as a busboy.

When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, patriotic fervor swept the nation and the flag business boomed overnight. McCoy seized the moment, launching a screen printing department and expanding her manufacturing capabilities to meet demand she had only dreamed of. The company never looked back.

Official Partner for America's 250th Anniversary Flag

In a tribute to both milestones, FlagandBanner.com has partnered with Annin Flagmakers, the oldest and most prestigious flag manufacturer in the United States, as an official retail partner for the America 250 Anniversary Flag. The officially licensed design commemorates two and a half centuries of American liberty, and FlagandBanner.com is among a select group of authorized retailers bringing it to families, businesses and government agencies nationwide.

"There is something deeply meaningful about selling the official flag of America's 250th birthday in the same year that we are celebrating over 50 years in this business," said McCoy. " If you think about it. We kind of grew up together. My 50 years in business is 20% of our country’s life. Now that is a weird thought.”

More Than a Flag Store: A Trusted Partner for America's Biggest Names

In an era dominated by faceless e-commerce platforms, FlagandBanner.com has built its reputation on something refreshingly rare: real people answering the phone. Every customer, whether a homeowner buying a home flag kit or a Fortune 500 company ordering custom flags and banners or big flagpoles, reaches a knowledgeable human being ready to help.

That commitment to personal service has attracted one of the most diverse and distinguished client rosters in the specialty retail industry. FlagandBanner.com has produced flags, banners and custom display products for:

Anheuser-Busch, AstraZeneca, Auburn University, the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, Caesar's Entertainment, Chanel, Chick-fil-A, Dillard's Inc., Disney, FedEx, Girl Scouts of America, Heifer International, Loyola University, McCormick Spices, McDonald's, Netflix, Pet Food Express, Skippy Peanut Butter, the Seattle Seahawks, the University of Arkansas, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Walmart, ATA Martial Arts, and the television productions of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Goldbergs and Impractical Jokers, among many others. All branches of the United States military are also longstanding clients.

"We are not just an American flag store," said McCoy. "We are flag and banner experts for anyone who has something worth flying. And in our experience, everyone does."

A Historic Home with a Story of Its Own

FlagandBanner.com operates from one of Little Rock's most storied landmarks: Taborian Hall, a three-story red brick building on West 9th Street built in 1916. McCoy purchased the then-deteriorating structure in the early 1990s for $20,000 when most advisors urged her to walk away.

Her instincts proved right on every count. Taborian Hall was once the heart of Little Rock's historic Black business district and home to the legendary Dreamland Ballroom, a premier performance venue on the famous Chitlin Circuit. Its stage once featured some of the greatest names in American music, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, BB King, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway.

"I often say this building picked me," McCoy said. "When I finally reached the third floor and looked across at the stage I had a chill. The roof was off, the sun was shining in, and birds were flying around. It was an ethereal experience meant for me. I will never forget it. I knew then I had to have this building."

For more than three decades under McCoy's stewardship, Taborian Hall has been lovingly and painstakingly restored. The Dreamland Ballroom now hosts community events, arts performances and fundraisers throughout the year. The ground floor is set to welcome the Dreamland Lounge, a new gathering space designed to honor the building's vibrant cultural heritage and continue its legacy as a community hub on West 9th Street.

A True Family Enterprise

What began as a one-woman operation has grown into a genuine family enterprise, with every member of the McCoy family playing a meaningful and distinct role.

Kerry's husband, Grady McCoy, oversees the sales and installation of large-scale commercial flagpoles and flags, managing client relationships that span government agencies, universities and major corporations across the country. He also serves as co-manager of the day-to-day building operations at Taborian Hall, keeping the century-old structure running while the business continues to grow around it.

Their sons Gray and Matthew McCoy both work in sales, carrying forward their mother's gift for building lasting customer relationships. Always genial, Grey and Matt star in FlagandBanner.com’s kitschy videos and television commercials as “The Flag Police.”

Son Gray is the host of the company’s popular video series, Flag Facts, that covers the history and development of every American state flag, as well as various international flags. Gray is also a flag (vexillology) expert on WikiHow, the most trusted how-to site on the Internet.

Son Matthew has taken on an additional role that speaks volumes about the family's commitment to community. He serves as Executive Director of Friends of Dreamland, the nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Dreamland Ballroom. Under his leadership the organization has secured significant grant funding, including a landmark $1,500,000 grant from the National Park Service that funded a full elevator installation making the historic ballroom ADA accessible and open to all.

Daughter Megan McCoy Pittman rounds out the family team, managing accounting, purchasing, payroll and contributing to the company's marketing and advertising initiatives, providing the financial and operational backbone that keeps the business running with precision.

"I have three of my four children working here and I still have hope for the last one," McCoy said with a laugh. "I am also training my grandchildren. Small businesses are the backbone of America, and having your family carry on your legacy is the greatest honor there is. I am just getting started."

About FlagandBanner.com

Founded in December 1975 by Kerry McCoy in Little Rock, Arkansas, FlagandBanner.com is a family-owned national authority on stock and custom flags, banners, and flagpoles. With over 50 years of expertise, the company serves consumers, businesses and government agencies from coast to coast, offering one of the broadest selections of American-made flags in the country along with fully custom design, printing, sewing and embroidery services. FlagandBanner.com operates from its historic Taborian Hall headquarters at 800 W. 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a satellite office in Miami, Florida.

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