It’s flag season -- Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. The American Flag business is a multimillion-dollar industry. Tens of millions of flags of all sizes are sold annually, according to an industry spokesperson.

But often times, meeting the demands of consumers requires manufacturers to look beyond our borders for materials. 

After 9/11, flag sales soared. And in many cases, manufactures couldn’t keep up with the demand, so some retailers imported flags.

Turns out, consumers didn’t like that and there was a backlash. Reginald Vanden Bosch is the president of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America. He said you would be hard pressed to find a flag made in China or anywhere else for that matter.

While the flag itself is almost always made in America, what it’s attached to often isn’t.

"The costs of producing the staffs to the quality levels that they need to be is really difficult for a lot of American companies, or American companies or can’t produce for those prices," said Vanden Bosch.

Which means some manufacturers are turning to foreign suppliers. Vanden Bosch said others are producing American-made plastic staffs and sticks for parade flags, though consumers seem to prefer the wooden ones.