Valley Forge Flag, a 133-year-old manufacturer, will no longer produce the Confederate flag.
Reggie Vanden Bosch, vice president of sales for Valley Forge Flag in Wayne, Penn., said his company will no longer manufacture the Rebel flag in light of the controversy in South Carolina.
This follows similar movies by major retailers WalMart, Sears, eBay and Amazon, which all said they’re going to stop selling the Confederate flag.
Vanden Bosch told CNNMoney earlier this week that the flag making industry doesn’t like to get involved in the politics of various flags.
“Generally speaking, as an industry, the stance has been we are not making patriotic statements or unpatriotic statements,” said Vanden Bosch, who is also president of Flag Manufacturers Association of America.
But added, “We don’t want to cause someone continued pain because what it represents.”
The controversy rekindled after June 17, when Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, killed nine African-Americans, including a state senator, in a historic black church in Charleston. Roof posted social media images of himself brandishing the Confederate flag. On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the Confederate flag should be removed from the grounds of the state Capitol, which requires approval of the state legislature.
Valley Forge isn’t the only U.S. flag manufacturer, and there are plenty of Chinese manufacturers that make the Confederate flags. On its web site, the Chinese manufacturer Totem Flags displays pictures of the Rebel flag at its Shanghai factory.
Ron Hammon, owner of the online retailer Proud Rebel in northern Alabama and who sells flags bearing the slogan “Heritage not hate,” said demand has soared and he will continue to sell them.
