Photo: USS Carney returns to its homeport of Mayport, Florida flying the 280-foot-long Homeward Bound pennant made by C. Anderson & Company.
Featured article in the business section of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 2008:
It's the tail end of a long journey
280-foot naval flag signals home
By DAN RICHMAN
P-I REPORTER
It is the biggest flag Carol Anderson has ever sewn. It's the biggest she has ever seen, in fact.
The artisan, who works out of rented quarters in Fremont, has created a 280-foot-long, 17-inch wide, swallow-tailed pennant at the request of the USS Carney.
That guided missile destroyer, itself 505 feet long and displacing 8,300 tons, has been serving in the Middle East and is about to return to its home port of Mayport, Fla.
Anderson, who works under the name C. Anderson & Co. Custom Flagmakers, said personnel aboard the Carney recently contacted her by e-mail after locating the Web site of her one-person business.
She said her site was designed to come up quickly in a search for "homeward-bound pennant," because those flags are a favorite of hers.
"I just love the way they look, though I never thought I'd make one this big," she said.
Read the full article: Seattle PI: It's the tail end of a long journey - 280 foot naval flag signals home
Letting Your Flag Fly
The boats at Shilshole Bay Marina provide a clear view of the water through their unadorned masts. So clear in fact, that a passerby can't tell anything about the travels those boats make. In ports in other areas of the country, a marina like that would be an explosion of colorful flags, documenting the journeys of the vessels. Carol Anderson had a bustling flag making business for boaters back in Newport, Rhode Island. But, since starting Seattle Flag Makers last year, most of Carol's business has come from out of state including one very tall order from the US military. Carol tells Megan Sukys what she loves about the art of flags.
Listen to the full interview on: KUOW's Sound Focus
Photo: Shilshole Marina, Seattle
