We The People: Sewn in America

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - A Huntsville company has been making American flags entirely from U.S. materials for nearly four decades.

Alabama Flag and Banner started in 1985 and manufactures, installs, and sells flags and flagpoles.

“Every component that goes into our flags. Everything from the material to the thread. The box that it’s packaged in is made in America. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Belinda Kennedy, President of Alabama Flag and Banner said.

The first step is creating the blue field. The material comes 60 inches wide and is cut into fields for flags of various sizes, including 30-foot by 60-foot flags.

A slitter cuts the stripes. Machines then join one red stripe to a white stripe.

Workers cut stars by placing an actual star on a table, laying blue fabric over it and placing another star on top. The pieces are then squared up and hemmed.

The final step joins the bottom stripes to complete the flag.

The company saw significant demand following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“We were watching the news and we saw the second plane hit and I said ‘I gotta get to work,’” Kennedy said. “We just could not keep up with the demand and honestly no one in America could. The flag seemed to be the symbol that united us all.”

This year, the company is seeing increased emphasis on the 250th anniversary of American independence. The business is making a 13-stripe Betsy Ross-style flag with 13 stars in a circular pattern and “250” on it.

“More than anything it’s just a surge in patriotism with the 50 star, 13-stripe flag,” Kennedy said. “There are a lot of things going on in the world and I think there’s a lot of pride in America.”

If you see a big flag in Huntsville, chances are it was made here at home.

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