How to Make Sure Your Custom Flags Match Your Brand Colour

When you invest in custom flags, you want them to look exactly like your brand guide. The right colour can make your business stand out at events, trade shows, and in front of your store. But many customers are surprised when the colours on their screen don’t look exactly the same once printed. In this guide, we’ll explain how to get the most accurate colour match possible for your printed flags, and share a real customer story that shows how important the right process can be.

Understanding Screen Colours vs. Printed Colours

Most customers first see their logo or design on a computer screen, which uses RGB colour (red, green, blue). However, printing uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). This difference means colours can shift. That perfect blue on your laptop may print slightly duller on fabric. The type of fabric also affects how colours look because dyes absorb differently on polyester, satin, or mesh.

That’s why we always recommend confirming colours properly before sending your custom flag printing order to production.

Three Ways to Match Colours for Custom Flags

1. Pantone Colour Codes

Pantone colours are a global standard for printing and branding. If your business has a brand manual with Pantone codes, that’s a good starting point. But there’s an important detail many people miss: Pantone has several series (Coated, Uncoated, etc.). For fabric printing, we must use Pantone Coated (C) colours, this is the standard used by printers and signwriters worldwide.

2. Digital Proofs

A digital mockup is quick and convenient but can look different on every monitor. It’s useful for layout and design approval, but it’s not reliable for colour accuracy.

3. Fabric Colour Swatch Sheet – The Best Option

The most reliable way to match colours is to see them in real life. Our Fabric Colour Swatch Sheet for Colour Matching contains dozens of real printed fabric samples, so you can choose the colour that matches your brand under natural light.

• Resellers: we strongly recommend purchasing a swatch sheet and keeping it for future orders.
• General customers: you can borrow a swatch sheet from us if needed. 

This step helps prevent disappointment and ensures your printed banner flags look exactly as intended.

How to Use the Fabric Colour Swatch Sheet

1. Choose the colour that matches your logo or design best.
2. Check the swatch in natural daylight (not just under indoor lights).
3. Send us the colour number or swatch name, and we’ll use it for your printed fabric flags.

Case Study: Think Water NZ

Client: Think Water NZ
Order: 4 × 2.5 m small feather flag kitsets, double-sided, premium satin fabric (recommended by us), with spike base

Challenge

Think Water’s branding team first sent us a Pantone colour code together with CMYK values, but the two clearly didn’t match. The printed result would have been visibly different from their brand colour. After reviewing, we found that the Pantone number they selected was from the wrong series, which caused the mismatch.

We explained that for fabric printing, we always use Pantone Coated (C) colours as the industry standard and recommended that they reselect the correct Pantone colour from the coated series. To help them make the right choice confidently, we couriered our Fabric Colour Swatch Sheet for Colour Matching so they could confirm the correct shade in person, under natural light, rather than relying on a screen preview.

Solution

The customer reviewed the swatch sheet, confirmed the correct coated Pantone colour, and sent the sheet back to us. For end customers like Think Water, we offer this swatch sheet as a loan service. For resellers, we strongly recommend purchasing and keeping a swatch sheet in-house to speed up approvals for future custom flags projects.

Result & Feedback

The flags were produced on schedule and delivered before the event. The final colour matched their brand perfectly, and the client was delighted:

“We have just received the flags in store. We are very happy with them.”

They also shared photos of the flags proudly displayed outside their store, proof that careful colour matching pays off.

Tips to Avoid Colour Surprises

• Don’t rely on your computer monitor, every screen is different.
• Always use Pantone Coated (C) colours or a real fabric swatch.
• Approve colours early to give time for production before your event.
• For resellers: keep a swatch sheet in your office. It saves time and gives clients confidence.