Many versions of Old Glory are manufactured outside the United States -- but does it matter?

By Damon Lawrence

A proposed amendment banning desecration of the American flag failed by one vote in the U.S. Senate last week. It might have passed had David Krieger Sr. been able to vote.

"I don't believe in desecration of the flag," he said.

Krieger, a national sales manager for C.F. Flag, a Huntsville, Ala., a company that manufactures American flags, has other opinions about the Stars and Stripes.

"I don't think they should make it in China, either," he said.

As Americans celebrate Independence Day, chances are many will show their patriotism with an import of the country's greatest symbol. According to the U.S. Census, $5.5 million worth of American flags were imported last year -- and of those, $5 million worth were made in China.

Some U.S. flag companies are counting on American pride to help them fight the problem.

"We know we can't stop them from coming in from China, but most people still have pride and they want to keep an American-made flag," Krieger said.

The American Legion backs buying American. Michael Buss, the staff member at the group's national headquarters responsible for flag education and etiquette, sent the following message by e-mail:

"The American Legion encourages its membership, the general public and all local, state and federal government agencies to purchase and display only American manufactured flags of the United States."

Supply and demand

Business was off the charts for a lot of U.S. flag companies in the weeks following Sept. 11, 2001.

"We did in a month what we normally do in a year," Krieger said.

Demand was so high that workers in the United States had a hard time keeping up.

Foreign workers were able to pick up the slack, though.

Census figures showed $747,800 worth of U.S. flags were imported in 2000. That number had shot up to $51.7 million by the end of 2001.

It's about the ideal

The standard American flag sold in stores is the 3-by-5-foot version. Both American- and foreign-made flags can be found locally.

The big retailers like Wal-Mart, Kmart and Home Depot carry flags whose packaging touts it being made in the USA. That doesn't matter to customers like A.V. Warren, a shopper at the Wal-Mart on Airport Thruway in Columbus.

Warren said he considers himself patriotic, but wouldn't have a problem purchasing a U.S. flag made in China or another country.

"It doesn't represent China, it represents the United States, so it doesn't matter where it's made," Warren said.

Ranger Joe's and Commando Military Supply, stores with a huge military clientele, both sell U.S. flags made in Taiwan.

"I don't have a problem dealing with Taiwan," Ranger Joe's CEO Paul Voorhees said. "That's an ally of the United States."

Abdul Kamara, a soldier with the 3rd Infantry Division and a Ranger Joe's customer, said the flag's country of origin doesn't matter.

"It doesn't bother me, because it's not really about the flag, it's about the ideal, about the ideology behind what America is supposed to stand for," Kamara said.

The bottom line

Barry Levine, a sales executive for Gama Flag Inc., a company in New York City, said there's a simple reason companies sell U.S. flags made in China.

"Some customers want to pay less and it costs less to bring them in from China," he said.

Gama Flag manufacturers U.S. flags in America and China.

"We try to promote all made in America, but there are some customers out there that don't care," Levine said. "They just want the lowest price possible."

Voorhees said Ranger Joe's used to carry U.S. flags made in America that retailed for about $50. The U.S. flag made in Taiwan is a much cheaper buy at $11.

"We try to carry something that people want that's affordable," Voorhees said. "When we would put them side by side, people chose the cheaper one."

Some American companies boast that their flags are made in America -- but they find China useful for other things.

Home Depot sells an Olympus Flag & Banner kit, which includes a 3-by-5 flag, a pole, eagle ornament and other assembly parts. The flag is made in America, but all the other components in the kit are made in China. A similar kit by Gama Flag is sold at Kmart.

Strictly U.S.-made

Though most American flags are still made in America, some people want to insure that every one sold in stores is made here. Three years ago, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, introduced the Genuine American Flag Act. The bill would have prohibited the importation of U.S. flags for sale.

"The congressman believes the symbol of America should be manufactured in America," said Lisa Duvall, Strickland's press secretary.

Strickland's bill, introduced less than three months after the start of the Iraq War, never made it past the Subcommittee on Trade.

The Flag Manufacturers Association of America was formed in 2003, in part because of the large number of imported flags after 9/11, according to communications director Amy Chezem. They would like Strickland's bill, or some version of it, to one day become national law.

"That's the goal, so that every U.S. flag made -- no matter where you buy it, whether it's Home Depot or a craft store -- is made in the USA by Americans," Chezem said.