The Flag Manufacturers Association of America (FMAA) certainly understands the importance of Made in America as it relates to the Red, White and Blue. The group sponsors the “Certified Made in the USA” program to ensure American flags you purchase are “homegrown with pride.” The program verifies that your flag has been made in the U.S. of materials that are domestic in origin and that all processes in every step of its manufacture were completed in U.S. facilities with U.S. labor.
With the re-shoring movement taking off and retailers rethinking their sourcing strategies as labor costs in places such as China rising, it’s a good time to reassess the importance of American pride as it relates to manufacturing – particularly on this issue, but others, as well. It’s not just about creating American jobs. It’s also about helping ensure that consumers can afford to buy the products sold here. Plus, it’s about supporting an economy that sure does seem to need a boost at the moment.
So as you fly your American flag this week, we hope you take a moment to recognize how blessed we are to be American and take stock in how we are spending our money. "Buy American" advocate Roger Simmermaker summed it up nicely in a USA Today article this week: "Buying American is about more than just American-made products and U.S. jobs," he said. "We're less of an independent country to the extent that we rely on other nations to supply our wants and needs."
Posted July 1, 2014
With Independence Day being celebrated this week, signs of patriotism are abounding. I’ve seen U.S. flags popping up everywhere – on porches, cars, bathing suits, bandanas … you name it, Old Glory seems to be there. Before you display your flag, please take a moment to check the label. Was it made in the U.S.? One can only hope.
The majority of U.S. flags are made here, though statistics are difficult to ascertain as private companies are under no obligation to reveal their numbers. But in 2013, the last year data was released, $4 million in U.S. flags were imported here from other countries, with China manufacturing more than 90 percent of those, according to the Census Bureau.
And that’s a real shame.
The fact that U.S. flags aren’t required to be made in America has galled me for years, globalization notwithstanding. If nothing else, the Stars and Stripes is the one thing our government should prohibit from being made anywhere but the USA. Its symbolism is profound to many of us and should be treated with the dignity and pride it deserves. It embodies all the freedoms we have – the freedom to speak out and to worship as we see fit; the freedom to defend liberty over tyranny; the freedom to protect one’s life and property; the freedom to limit the power of our government. And at the very least, this symbol should be crafted in the U.S. with American-made materials.
In February, Congress finally wised up and passed a law regulating that all U.S. military flags purchased by the Department of Defense be made in America. A separate measure that would have mandated that all flags bought by the government, not just the DoD, come from domestic manufacturers failed. But at least the law passed was a step in the right direction.
For many importers and retailers, it’s a matter of price over patriotism. But at what price, really? We, as consumers, are just as guilty. For years, we have demanded the lowest price at any cost. But, can’t we, in this instance, refuse to buy a U.S. flag made anywhere but here?
Fly your (American-made) flag with pride
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Old Glory flies from a sailboat this week at North Myrtle Beach, S.C.