It’s an Old Glorious sight outside Farmers & Merchants State Bank of Austin.

There atop a 50-foot tall pole flies the American flag. It’s a 12-by-18-foot flag; the second-largest in the city next to the flag that flies above the Perkins Family Restaurant.

“It looks great, doesn’t it,” said Gordon Bau, bank president. “We’re all proud to see it flying over the bank.”

According to Bau, flying an American flag — the first since the branch bank opened there —was important to Steve Habberstad, owner and chairman of the board.

“He has one of these flags flying over the bank at Blooming Prairie,” Bau said. “He wanted one down here and gave me the go-ahead last summer.”

The project cost near $16,000. The flag will, of course, be illuminated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Color Guard from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1216 held an official flag-raising Friday morning at 607 North Main Street.