Laws Require Flags be Made in the USA

Several states are acting to ensure that the flags they fly are made in the USA. Minnesota has passed the strictest measure, requiring all US Flags sold in states stores be made American by year's end.

Arizona's public colleges and schools require US made Old Glory's be outfitted to every classroom from Junior High on up. Tennessee must buy all state contracted flags from the United States. There are similar bills progressing in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

$5.3 million worth of U.S. flags were imported in 2006 from other countries, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That figure has held steady the past few years except for 2001 when $51.7 million worth of flags were imported mostly after the terrorist attacks of that year.

Douglas N. Jacobson of International Trade Law News blogs about how a consumer will know if a flag qualifies for the "Certified Made in the USA" label and the fact that US exports don't need to disclose the country of origin:

The article also mentions the Flag Manufacturers Association of America's (FMAA) “Certified Made in the USA” certification program. Under the FMAA's program, American flags carrying the FMAA-approved certification "have been made in the USA of materials that are domestic in origin and that all processes in every step of its manufacture were completed in USA facilities with USA labor." To date, FMAA has certified the following five flag manufacturers as “Certified Made in the U.S.A.”: Annin & Co., C.F. Flag, J.C. Schultz Enterprises, Inc., The Flag Source and Valley Forge Flag.

While all goods imported into the U.S. must be marked with the country of origin, there is no affirmative requirement for American made products to be labeled with the country of origin. However, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that any product advertised or labeled as "Made in USA" must be "all or virtually all" produced in the U.S. The FTC has stated that the "all or virtually all" standard means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin and the product should contain no or negligible amounts of foreign content.

Andrew Davis of the LP Blog doesn't believe the laws are as patriotic as they are intended:

Evidently your American flag only represents freedom if it has the "Made in the USA" logo proudly stamped on it. So, be sure to hide all your foreign-made American flags, lest you have the Minnesota Flag Police storming into your yard with torches blazing.

I just wonder how Mr. Rukavina is going to feel about his victory once he realizes his 1,000 little flags were probably made by Mexican immigrants working in the manufacturing plants.

Oops.

And Kvatch at Blognonymous doesn't like it either:

Where I live, there aren't many people who fly the flag on Independence Day, or any other day for that matter. In fact, I suspect that displaying Old Glory is getting more rare by the year. So doesn't a law designed to punish merchants for selling flags made overseas seem just a little bit cuckoo? We're trying to encourage flag sales, right?

In Minnesota, violators of the law will be charged by default with a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

-Dippold

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