OAK CREEK, WI – October 03, 2026 – With municipalities, schools and veterans organizations placing flag orders ahead of Veterans Day, Eder Flag is asking institutional buyers to stop treating made in America as a claim to be believed and start treating it as one to be checked. The company, which has manufactured flags in Oak Creek, Wisconsin since the flag-making side of the business began in 1903, argues that four things visible on the flag itself will tell a purchasing officer more than any statement on a supplier’s website.
The distinction is not semantic. The Federal Trade Commission holds unqualified made in USA claims to an all or virtually all standard, meaning final assembly, all significant processing and all or virtually all components must be domestic, with no or negligible foreign content. For textiles the FTC’s guidance turns on whether the final product is manufactured in the United States from fabric manufactured in the United States. A finished flag imported and relabeled does not meet that test, and a buyer looking only at a website cannot tell the difference.
“Our employees own this company, so when a flag leaves Oak Creek with our name on the header, the people who made it have a stake in whether it holds up,” said Craig Zetley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eder Flag. “That is the accountability a buyer can ask any supplier to show.”
The Four Checks
Eder Flag’s position is that an institutional buyer can verify origin and quality without specialist knowledge. The first check is the stitching at the fly end, the free edge farthest from the pole, where a flag built for service carries four or more rows of lockstitching and a flag built to a price carries two. The second is whether the stars are embroidered and the stripes are separate sewn panels, as against a single printed layer, which is a different product with a different service life and should not carry the same price.
The third is the canvas header along the pole edge, which on a domestically manufactured flag is generally marked with the maker’s name and the size. The fourth is whether the supplier will name the plant and allow it to be visited. A manufacturer names a town. A reseller names a country, or declines to be specific.
The company notes that flags procured by the federal government are required to be entirely American made, which is why federal practice is a poor guide to what is available on the open commercial market, where domestic and imported flags sit side by side at comparable prices.
Why the Company Is Making the Point
Eder Flag manufactures in Oak Creek and says the checks apply to its own products as readily as to anyone else’s. Its About page records that the company sells over twenty thousand different products and produces more than five million US flags per year, and that buyers can feel secure knowing both flag and pole were expertly crafted in the USA from American materials. Its homepage describes Eder Flag as America’s largest manufacturer of both flags and flagpoles.
The company declines to rank competitors and says several genuinely domestic manufacturers remain in operation. Its argument is about disclosure rather than comparison. A supplier that publishes its plant location, states fiber and weave, says plainly whether a flag is printed or sewn, and puts its name on the header is making a claim that can be tested. One that answers in adjectives is not.
Eder Manufacturing Co. was launched in 1887 by seven brothers from the Eder family, making pillows, felt pennants, rag dolls and hunting jackets, and the flag-making business was born in 1903. During the Great Depression a small staff of highly skilled sewers began to handcraft US flags. In 2016, company leadership finalized steps to make Eder Flag an employee-owned company.
What It Means for a Purchase Order
For a purchasing officer the practical consequence is a short list of questions to put in writing before an order closes. Where is the flag cut and sewn. Where is the fabric woven. Is the flag printed or sewn. How many rows of stitching are at the fly end. What is the maker’s name on the header.
Eder Flag’s position is that any manufacturer able to answer those five questions in writing is a supplier worth considering, and that a supplier unwilling to answer them has given the buyer the answer anyway.
About Eder Flag
Eder Flag Manufacturing Company, Inc. is an employee-owned manufacturer of flags and flagpoles based in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Founded in 1887 and making flags since 1903, Eder Flag has grown to become America’s largest manufacturer of both flags and flagpoles, supplying American flags, state, military, historical and specialty flags, and residential and commercial flagpoles through a national dealer network and direct sales. More information is available at ederflag.com.
Media Contact
Eder Flag Manufacturing Company, Inc. 1000 W. Rawson Avenue Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154 [email protected] Phone (414) 764-3522 Toll free (800) 558-6044 ederflag.com
Media ContactCompany Name: Eder Flag Manufacturing Company, IncContact Person: Eder FlagEmail: Send EmailPhone: 414 764-3522City: Oak CreekCountry: United StatesWebsite: https://ederflag.com/
