Hemptex® · CiCLO®
Every Better Flags flag is made of one of two materials. Hemptex® is a cloth of 55% hemp and 45% cotton, with no polyester. CiCLO® is polyester with an additive built into the fibre; in independent lab tests its fibres biodegraded 90 to 94%. Most flags are made of standard polyester, which sheds plastic fibres while it flies. This page compares the materials and shows where to read more: the material pages, our articles, what the press wrote and what Niek shares on LinkedIn.
Updated · Niek van der Kuijl
Hemptex®: 55% hemp, 45% cotton, no polyester. 150 g/m² as a finished flag, printed on both sides with water-based pigment inks in the Netherlands.
CiCLO®: new or recycled polyester with the CiCLO® additive in the fibre. 110 g/m², printed on one side with up to 98% show-through.
CiCLO® in ASTM lab tests: 94.2% biodegraded in seawater after 1,362 days and 91.1% in soil after 1,170 days. Untreated polyester: 3.8% and 0%.
Hemptex® made the world's first hemp flag, in 2019.
All twelve ready-to-buy designs and every custom flag type come in both materials, from €12.04 including VAT.
Hemptex® is woven from hemp and cotton, so the fibres a Hemptex® flag loses in the wind are plant fibres, not microplastics. The pigment print gives it a matte, deep colour, and each side can carry its own design. It is heavier than polyester, so it needs a little more wind to unfurl.
Everything about hemp flags →
On the pole, a CiCLO® flag looks and flies like any polyester flag: bright colours, light cloth, fast production. The difference starts where a loose fibre ends up. In seawater, soil, landfill and sewage sludge, microbes broke CiCLO® fibres down in independent ASTM tests. It is still polyester, and it still sheds fibres while it flies.
Everything about biodegradable flags →| Hemptex® | CiCLO® | Standard polyester | Recycled polyester (PET flag) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre | 55% hemp, 45% cotton | New or recycled polyester with the CiCLO® additive | Polyester | Polyester from recycled PET |
| Plastic fibres | None | Yes, biodegradable in lab tests | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | 150 g/m² | 110 g/m² | Varies | Varies |
| Pigment, both sides | Sublimation, one side, up to 98% show-through | Sublimation | Sublimation | |
| Fibres that come loose | Plant fibres | Polyester that biodegraded 90–94% in ASTM lab tests | Polyester that stays: 0–6.2% in the same tests | Polyester that stays: recycling doesn't change the fibre |
| Where it's made | Printed in the Netherlands | Belgium, the Netherlands or China, shown per route in the configurator | Varies | Varies |
Choose Hemptex® if you want no plastic fibres at all, a natural matte look, or a flag that fits a story about plastic, nature or climate.
Choose CiCLO® if you want bright colours, a light flag that flies in little wind, a lower price or a fast delivery.
Lead times depend on the production route you choose; the configurator shows the time per route.
A polyester flag frays at the flying end. Wind, sun and rubbing pull fibres loose, and they blow away into ditches, rivers and the sea. Niek calls it environmental confetti: the pieces you see, and the fibres you don't. Almost every flag on every business park, festival and building site does this, year after year.
Do flags shed microplastics? →
Meet the founder
Niek van der Kuijl founded Better Flags in January 2026 and leads Hemptex®, which he joined in 2022. Hemptex® made the world's first hemp flag in 2019. Niek set out to change what flags are made of, because every polyester flag sheds plastic fibres while it flies.
All articles are in Dutch.
Trouw
Duurzaam Ondernemen
Binnenvaartkrant
VARnwsCustom flags
Every custom flag type comes in both materials. Tell us what you need and we'll send a quote.
Most flags are made of polyester, knitted or spun. It is cheap, light and bright, but it is plastic, and it sheds fibres as it frays.
Hemptex®: 55% hemp and 45% cotton, with no polyester or other plastic fibres.
It can be made of new or of recycled polyester, depending on the cloth. What makes it different is the CiCLO® additive in the fibre, which let the fibres biodegrade in independent lab tests.
Hemptex® has no plastic fibres and a matte, natural look. CiCLO® is polyester: lighter, brighter and faster to make, with fibres that biodegraded 90–94% in lab tests.
Hemptex® flags are printed in the Netherlands. CiCLO® flags are made in Belgium, the Netherlands or China, depending on the production route; the configurator shows where for each route.
Send your old flag to Better Flags, Ronde Tocht 11, 1507 CC Zaandam. We collect returned flags and will share here how we process them.
Sources: CiCLO® test results
