AMERICANMADE
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This weekend, millions of American flags flew across the country. On porches, in parades, at cookouts, over courthouses. Most of those flags were made in China. The ones that weren’t — the ones stitched from domestically woven nylon by American workers — come from one company more than any other.
Annin Flagmakers. Founded in 1847 by the Annin brothers in New York City. Now in its sixth generation of family ownership. Over 500 employees. Three factories — Verona, New Jersey; South Boston, Virginia; and Coshocton, Ohio. Thirty million flags a year. The oldest and largest flag manufacturer in the United States.
A standard Annin Nyl-Glo 3×5 American flag costs about $50. The imported version costs $12. That $38 difference is the cost of making the American flag in America. I traced where it goes.
The biggest line is labor — 30% of the price. That’s the workers in Virginia, Ohio, and New Jersey who cut nylon, sew stripes, embroider or apply stars, and hand-finish every flag. Annin pioneered stand-up sewing cells, where workers stand rather than sit. It’s better for posture and reduces repetitive strain injuries. Training an embroiderer takes up to four years.
The nylon itself takes 24%. Annin dyes its own fabric at the South Boston, Virginia plant. The raw nylon is domestically woven. That single decision — domestic fabric, domestic dye — is what separates Annin from the imports. It’s also what makes the flag three to four times more expensive.
Here’s what most people don’t know. There is no federal law requiring American flags to be made in America. The only requirement is for government purchases — flags bought with taxpayer dollars must be 100% domestic. For consumers, the flag on your porch could be from anywhere. Most are from China. The Flag Manufacturers Association of America has pushed for legislation to close this gap, but nothing has passed.
Annin produces over 4.5 million U.S. flags a year from its Virginia and Ohio plants alone. The Verona, New Jersey factory — built in 1918 during World War I — still handles custom and hand-sewn work. A 30-by-60-foot custom flag takes four workers ten days to complete.
Annin made the flag that flew at Iwo Jima. The flag that Neil Armstrong planted on the moon. The flag that firefighters raised over the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The flags that have draped the caskets of every president since Zachary Taylor. The flags that fly at the White House and in front of the United Nations.
Carter Beard, sixth-generation owner, put it simply: “Patriotism demands that an American flag has to be made in America.”
Annin is private, so you can’t buy shares. But the economics tell the whole story of this newsletter. An American-made flag costs $50. An imported one costs $12. The $38 difference pays for American workers, American nylon, American factories, and an American family that has been doing this since before the Civil War.
That same gap exists in every product we’ve traced. The $50 premium on Red Wing boots over imports. The $50 premium on New Balance sneakers over Nike. The extra dollar per Leatherman tool. Every issue of this newsletter has been about that gap. The companies, the workers, and the families who choose to keep manufacturing on this side of it.
There is no more American product than the American flag. And there is no better question for the Monday after the Fourth of July than this: was yours made here?