AUGUST 16, 2026 — In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, a major public installation organized by Vogue magazine and the Council of Fashion Designers of America is set to replace the traditional flag display at Rockefeller Center in New York City, according to the magazine.
Operating in collaboration with the non-partisan semi-governmental organization America250 and real estate firm Tishman Speyer, the United Flags of Fashion initiative commissioned dozens of prominent American fashion brands and designers to create original visual reinterpretations of the municipal, state, and territorial flags of the United States.
A total of more than 120 custom-designed banners representing the 50 US states, five inhabited territories, Washington, D.C., and select organizing institutions will fly around the iconic lower plaza rink in Midtown Manhattan from July 27 through September 4, 2026, following their initial publication in Vogue‘s Summer Issue.
The project encouraged participating creators to use vexillology as a canvas for exploring regional history, material culture, and abstract symbolism.
Following the conclusion of the public exhibition in Manhattan, all original physical flags will be transferred to the permanent collection of the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, for preservation and future public display.
Image: Vogue
