Flags that fly for any occasion

It’s only natural to wonder how a flag-making shop tucked away in an almost invisible location off Newport Boulevard could have survived for 45 years, through wars and recessions, but it’s no mystery to owner Gil Lukosky, who has run Nikki’s Flags for the past 15 years.

Lukosky attributes his success over the years to his custom flag designs, which draw him business from as far away as Australia and Italy, and clients as prestigious as former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. At the entrance to the shop are pictures from the funeral processions of both presidents, with flags designed and made by Nikki’s Flags adorning both men’s hearses. Lukosky said that Nikki’s has shipped flags to Washington, D.C., for the processions because no one on the East Coast could make flags that fit the specifications of the hearses.

“We have a reputation that flows out, and people remember us and pass the word on,” he said.

A common misconception that Lukosky says a lot of people have about his flag shop is that they make only American flags. Looking through a scrapbook of flags he has made in the past that range from goofy to risqué, the myth is instantly dispelled.

Among them is one bearing a picture of a chicken salad sandwich, a picture of an old, bearded, naked man sitting on the floor (he said it was popular in the ’70s) and one with the cartoon Underdog that former USC football player Paul Salata had him design in honor of Irrelevant Week, which honors the last player selected in the NFL draft.

“We have had six or seven flags go to the top of Everest, one that went to Kilimanjaro, one that went to the moon,” he said, nonchalantly.

On Friday afternoon, a steady stream of customers walked into his store. At the time, the shop was working on flags for UC Irvine’s commencement, Balboa Island and a private boat owner who is planning to sail around the world and needs “courtesy flags” from each of the countries whose harbors he plans on visiting.

“We’re not necessarily recession-proof. Our business has suffered a little bit. We’re a little immune to it, though, because of the custom work we do. We have a broader market than most shops,” Lukosky said.

One of the strangest, and most involved flags Nikki’s was commissioned to design was a 40-foot yellow flag sporting the Pokémon logo that served as the landing sight for a parachute drop.

“That was a chore. We had to go into a sail shop because they had the space and expertise to make a 40-foot diameter out of nylon,” Lukosky said.

He got into the flag business 15 years ago, with the help of his wife, who brought some sewing expertise from her former career making restaurant uniforms. For his part, Gil was a check maker.

NIKKI’S FLAGS

ADDRESS: 475 Old Newport Blvd., Newport Beach

PHONE: (949) 646-5166

E-MAIL: gil@nikkisflags.comWEBSITE: www.nikkisflags.com

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.