120 years of service to the flag

AB Flaggfabriken National 1905-2020

The start

Flaggfabriken National was founded in 1905 by Georg W Dahlström. It was at the time of the dissolution of the union with Norway, and the start was so favorable that all the union flags that had previously flown in the Swedish countryside, in a stroke of magic became unusable, and new flags without the union mark were the only real ones.
The factory had its first premises at Kungsgatan 10 in central Gothenburg, where the area was a mixture of leafy villa gardens, a garrison hospital and an artillery regiment. The main production consisted of Swedish flags, national flags, pennants in various designs and signal stands.

Move to Grönskatorget

Sometime in the 1920s, the business moved to Grönsakstorget 2. The city had grown and industrialization had gained momentum, so production also began to focus on company flags and flags for shipping.
The oldest customers from this time include Hasselblad, GP, Volvo and Broströms, who are still customers today.
At the 300th anniversary of the City of Gothenburg in 1923, giant flags were made for the poles on Gustav Adolfs Torg. These were only hoisted on this occasion when they bent the flagpoles.

Half the life of the flag factory

The company moved to Rosenlundsplatsen 2 in the early 1940s, where the fishing industry was lively at the time and many small industries were located in the area, including Albrechtson-Hasse, which was a major customer.
During the war, the factory was stationed there and produced, among other things, stretchers and Red Cross flags.
After the end of the war, our shipbuilding industry was intact and there were many new constructions, all new ships were equipped with a complete set of national flags and a couple of signal stands in the larger size. Götaverken, Eriksberg and Lindholmen launched a couple of ships a month, which meant that the sewing machines ran hot and the company flourished. When Georg W. Dahlström passed away in 1952, the company was taken over by Sten L. Dahlström, who transformed it into a limited company in 1957.

Sten Dahlström in 1955

When tax became more important than entrepreneurship

After almost 50 years at Rosenlund, everything had to be demolished to make way for the Swedish Tax Agency's new premises. The flag factory now moved in 1969 to Haga, Husargatan 30-32, where large premises of over 1000 sqm were taken into use. At the end of the 70s, the premises in Haga became too large when the shipyards were closed down, so the premises were then shared with the sailmaker Gransegel.

Root deductions made us rootless

Then the demolition hysteria began in Haga and in 1981 the company moved to Första Långgatan 8. The company stayed here until 1987 when the premises were to be renovated, after which the move went a stone's throw across Järntorget to Norra Allé gatan 5. In 1994, Sten Dahlström handed over the company to his sons Ingvald and Per, who still run it today. Here the company also received one of the single largest orders, for the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in 1995.

Back to the start (almost)

The company once again needed larger premises with an adjacent store, so the move went in the worst snowstorm of 1995 to today's premises at Stora Badhusgatan 18-20, where we are only a stone's throw from where it once started.

Today we provide everything related to flagging, both to companies and individuals, in our store we sell flag-related products as well as a wide range of nautical decor, gifts and accessories.

Now we are taking the next step in our development and opening the next store, the one online, so that we can also provide our products and our knowledge to those who do not have the opportunity to visit us in Gothenburg.

We thank you for the past 120 years and look forward.