JB,
My guess would be that they probably don't give prices or take orders on line anyway and that you'd probably have to call them up or go out to see them to find out more. It is certainly always nice to get out of town, but do you really want to kill one of your limited afternoons in CR hunting down a flag?
I'd be somewhat curious to know how much these flags cost. Are there big savings in buying "banderas" from a store in Costa Rica as opposed to simply ordering one back home by going on-line. For example,
www.flag-works.com sells a 3X5 CR flag for $42. All of their flags "are produced to international color and design standards" and their CR flag includes the CR national seal (which not all CR flags do). Incidentally, they also happen to be right up there in Nhhanks neck of the woods in Concord NH, in case he feels he absolutely has to go to a brick and mortar store.
I'd also be curious to know whether the flag that you personally purchased in CR and the ones sold by this BANDERAS company are actually the OFFICIAL national flags aka "Pabello'n Nacional" (ie with the national seal). Flag in Castilian Spanish has two meanings: "Bandera" and "Pabello'n Nacional." The first one refers to a national flag. The second one refers to a national flag with the national shield printed on the center of the red stripe. In CR, most schools, police stations and other official buildings must have the "Pabello'n Nacional." However, when it comes to private citizens, the laws are much more restrictive as to what they can display and when. For those parties, a slightly different flag or "bandera" is sold and used which has the stripes but not the national seal (technically this is the "civil ensign" rather than the official national flag).
More info on this can be found at this site
http://www.flagspot.net/flags/cr.html, but I'll give you some of the highlights that relate to this question:
Quote:
... The Costa Rica flag with arms is not only forbidden to be used by private citizens, even is the flag without Coat of Arms! A law prescribes that private citizens may only show that flag (without Coat of Arms) on national holidays. ... It should be noted that there is no civil flag of Costa Rica. There is indeed a civil ensign, that is unofficially used on land too, but that is, as far as I know illegal (or, at least, against the law). ... Such flags probably originate from (foreign?) flagmakers or they are home made (that should be fairly simple). ...
Bonus unrelated trivia question: Does anyone here know the significance of the blue stripes on the CR flag? (hint: it has this in common with the flags of other central american countries)