For Berks flag maker, ban a 'moral decision'

WYOMISSING, Pa. - The doors are locked at Valley Forge Flag Co. Employees must ring a newly installed doorbell and wait outside the dark tinted windows for someone to let them in.

Inside, phones are ringing. The Berks County flag manufacturer, one of the nation's largest, has been fielding angry calls since making headlines Tuesday when it announced it would no longer make the Confederate battle flag.

The decision came in the wake of the June 17 killing of nine black church members in Charleston, S.C., and growing public opposition to a flag seemingly embraced by alleged shooter Dylann Roof and others as a symbol of white supremacy and slavery.

As details began to emerge about Roof's reportedly racially driven motives - including a photo of him holding the flag - Valley Forge Flag leaders called a meeting to discuss the blue-and-red Confederate banners they stitch and sell.

"It wasn't even a business decision, it's a moral decision," said Christopher Binner, vice president of marketing and sales. "It was an easy decision in light of the tragedy that happened."

On Monday night, Valley Forge Flag employees pulled Confederate flags from orders that were about to ship. (Customers received a store credit.) The next day, the company became one of the first manufacturers to publicly declare it would no longer make them.

"The flag offends people. That's a fact," Binner said. "I wish we would've deleted that flag 10 years ago."

The family-run company was founded in 1882 and started making flags during the Depression, when it opened a sewing factory in Spring City. Now, it has four plants in South Carolina and 300 employees, including 35 at the Berks County office park.

Its American flags have been with soldiers at war, on the caskets of U.S. presidents, and on space shuttles. Its clients include retailers such as Home Depot, Costco, and the U.S. government.

Binner said his company makes millions of flags a year, and the Confederate banner represented a minuscule portion of sales. But it remained in stock because some customers buy it for historical reasons, he said.

Other flag makers said that their Confederate flags were most often bought for Civil War reenactments or museums.

After the decision, the calls poured in to Valley Forge Flag from all over the country, Binner said.

Some people thanked the company for nixing the product. But many others said they were unhappy. Some said they would never buy a Valley Forge flag again.

The company has not received any threats, but Binner said he was worried about the safety of employees. "When you make a decision like that, sadly, you choose sides," he said.

Among five of the largest flag-makers in the country, all but one have announced their intent to cease production of the Confederate banner.

At FlagSource - the holdout - a spokeswoman said late Wednesday that the company had no comment and could not say whether it even sells Confederate flags.

FlagZone, a manufacturer in Gilbertsville, Montgomery County, was another company that stopped production Tuesday.

"I would love for every person who has a Confederate flag to replace it with the American flag, because we are the United States of America and we should be proud of that," said president Dan Ziegler.

At Annin Flagmakers in Roseland, N.J., senior vice president of sales and marketing Mary Repke said she received a few "hate e-mails" after her company joined the ban, but the company had not increased security.

Despite the backlash, Binner remained confident he made the right decision. Still, he said he wasn't sure how much impact the decision would have on changing people's views.

"I think it's going to take a lot more than eliminating a flag, unfortunately," he said.

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