KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — What started as flag flying for Bill Wight turned into more when he realized he was missing half-staff times.

Wight, managing partner of Flag Worx LLC, said when he would be away and couldn't move his flag, he would ask someone to do it for him until he decided to find ideas on how to do it.

Wight said his first patent in 2016 was made from a garage door opener, and from there began working with the Inventor Center to create the SmartFlag, which automatically moves a flag between full and half-staff.

"I did the garage door opener, which was difficult and unwieldy," Wight said. "But then we actually made it a little more compact and we found a way to put it on the pole. Then we started thinking, well, maybe other people would be interested in the same thing."

T

See Full Page