I spotted a Trump 2024 flag the other day, flying from a boat in the Annapolis Harbor. Supporters of the former president assure me there are more along the Chesapeake Bay waterfront, but this was the first one I’ve seen this campaign season.

An absence of flags supporting the former president’s third presidential campaign in a blue town like Annapolis in a blue state like Maryland shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Maybe this should: As I’ve rambled this summer, through Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I’ve looked for Donald Trump banners fluttering on political winds and seen almost none.

So, I have to ask, is everything OK over there in the Trump political multiverse?

Any decline in the number of Trump flags has little to do with supply.

You can go to Trumpstore.com and spend $36 for a 16-by-34-inch, blue and white “Trump 2024″ flag. You could go bigger and drop $88 for a 3-by-5-foot boat flag, featuring a white “45″ encircled on a field of red. Very classy.

There are cheaper alternatives.

At Magastore.com, the savvy Trump shopper can find “The Great Maga King” flag on sale right now. It’s only $7.99, down from $29.99. There’s no description of the size or the material, or whether it’s suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

The sale doesn’t mean there are political doubts about that U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says presidents are above some criminal prosecution, or the way some Christian believers describe him as God’s anointed.

It’s just an ugly flag.

The biggest selection of Trump flags, however, is at Amazon. Well, it has the biggest selection of travel cups, too, so bear that in mind.

Go there for the bargain 3-by-5-foot “God, Guns & Trump” flag. It comes complete with a red, white and blue rampant bald eagle flanked by silhouettes of AK-47 assault-style rifles. It’s just $9.99, available for delivery tomorrow.

Oh, and it’s suitable for “anniversaries” if you’ve got big plans for early January in Washington.

Whatever flag you buy, consider that there are rules for flying them aboard boats on the Chesapeake Bay. The Maryland flag, that familiar rectangle of red, yellow, white and black, flies at the starboard spreader of most small sailboats.

And flags send specific messages when you’re underway. Flying a flag with a particular species of fish upside down means catch and release. The Eastport Yacht Club burgee features a stylized drawbridge in the up position. A distress flag is orange with a black square and ball on it.

The message from the flags flying in the “Trumptillas” around the country four years ago was clear, too. We were just past COVID lockdowns, and boats had been a popular exception to the rules while they lasted. Boat sales and time spent on boats were both up that summer.

Anne Arundel County Republicans organized one with a few dozen boats parading into Annapolis that summer and more than 100 took part in one staged in Crisfield. Organizers there hope to repeat their success at the “2024 Trump Take America Back” boat parade in September.

Trump lost Anne Arundel County by roughly 55% to 41% but won Somerset County by almost exactly the opposite margin. There were just 300,000 more voters in Anne Arundel.

Maybe the prospect of buying a third iteration of a Trump flag is what’s making them less visible this year.

If you bought a “Trump, Make America Great Again 2016″ flag and then pulled out your wallet again for “Trump 2020″ four years later, it might give you pause about “Trump, Vance 2024: Make America Great Again.”

I mean, win, lose or coup d’etat, this is the last go-round for the old guy, right? He told Christian voters they wouldn’t have to vote again. Ever.

Or maybe sales are down because there are fewer opportunities to fly those flags.

The number of boat parades for the former president seems diminished this year. Those that are taking place are smaller.

More than 1,000 boats gathered four years ago in Newport Beach, California. There were only about 100 at the second run in June. Only 13 showed up for the June boat parade near Solomons Island in Southern Maryland, although, to be fair, there was a small craft advisory that morning.

Certainly, you could view your flag purchases as an investment. If you have a matched set, you’ll have to take a buy-and-hold approach.

If you bought a 2016 3-by-5 polyester Trump flag from 2016, it’s selling for as much as $25 on eBay — maybe a small profit, but not enough to retire.

Not every flag will hold its value. When was the last time anyone raised a “Let’s Go Brandon” flag? You can blame Dark Brandon for that.

Political memorabilia most often grows in value as it becomes rarer. So, maybe the relative disappearance of Trump flags this summer is a good sign for his supporters.

Trump often compares himself to the 16th president, and “Lincoln Hamlin” campaign flags from 1860 can bring as much as $45,000 at auction.

Lincoln loved a good off-color joke, and was known to curse when he got mad. Maybe he would have been OK with his supporters carrying “No More Bullshit” flags like the ones bearing Trump’s name at the Trumptillas. Maybe not.

I know there were flags for President Joe Biden, and there are new ones for Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Democratic candidate. There are flags that are as disrespectful toward Trump as the ones that back him. I’ve just never seen one in person.

No matter. The message has to stay fresh if a flag is going to fly with those who wave them.

So, new this month at Amazon, a Trump flag features a dog doing his business on Harris’ name.

I’m sure Lincoln would have been happy to know it’s made with “environmental-friendly ink” and “digitally printing” technology.