Annin Flag
Annin & Company was founded in New York in 1847 and has been making United States flags continually since then. One of their main production plants is located just a few blocks from our house. It was our first trip there but it won't be the last. We were very impressed with the company, its people, and its product. Manufacturing a flag is quite the process.
Annin is the largest producer of American flags in the nation, its flags have played parts in major historical events (an Annin flag is on the moon), and they are a major supplier for the US military. It's nice to know that if it's Annin, your American flag is made in the US, by US workers, using American manufactured raw materials which is no longer the case for many American flags. The next time you shop for an American flag, check the label, and look for "Annin".
The first step in flag production is cutting the large rolls of flag material into "stripes". They use a large, computerized machine to slice the material into the appropriate size stripes for the customer order. After cutting on the machine the stripes need to be separated and sorted.
Separating newly sliced "stripes" 
Our tour guide explains how the stripes are individually sown together to build "sixes" and "sevens" (groups of six and seven stripes). 
The blue fields are then sewn to the sevens. 
Then the sixes are attached. After that, the reinforced edge strip is attached and, as these flags were being produced for the military, they were placed in individual boxes and packaged in larger cardboard crates for shipment.
Annin also produces "whole cloth" flags of all sizes from 3" x 5" to 3 feet x 5 feet.
It's amazing to see millions of American Flags waiting for shipment in the Annin warehouse!
It was a great tour. Maybe someday you can join us on one!Pearl Valley Cheese & Dinner with the Yoders
Stay tuned...this post is a three parter!
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