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US flag maker says Ukraine flag sales like nothing he's ever seen for another country

The owner of National Flag Company said orders for Ukrainian flags have skyrocketed -- the first time he's seen such support for another nation's flag.

One flag factory in southwest Ohio has seen a major increase in orders for Ukrainian flags since Russia's invasion of its neighbor just over a week ago.

"Came in on Monday and had just emails from different retailers across the country. Totaled up to a little over 100," said Artie Schaller, president of National Flag Company. "By Tuesday-Wednesday up to today, we're totaling over 500."

Schaller said the company fulfilled seven orders for Ukrainian flags in 2021. That means in the past week, orders at his company alone have gone up more than 7,100% compared to all of last year.

Schaller said it's the first time he's seen such support for another nation's flag.

"Being able to, to be that support system, so whether people here in the U.S. want to, hey, we want to show our support, we're going to fly the Ukrainian flag and just coming to The National Flag to do it, is you know, is sort of an honor," Schaller said.

Credit: AP
A worker at National Flag Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, sews a Ukrainian flag, March 4, 2022.

The company had plenty of the yellow material for the flag in stock because it's more popular, but Schaller said he had to order more of the azure blue on Monday. It arrived Thursday afternoon.

"The logistics in the trucking industry, with that sort of things, things are taking, taking longer to get here. So sometimes we may have a shipment from our supplier, it gets here in two days. Sometimes it, it does take longer, so we really didn't know like when it was going to show up. But yeah, it arrived just, just two days later," Schaller said.

The same thing is happening across the country. In Connecticut, a company called Flagman is putting top priority on making Ukrainian flags. They’ve stocked up on all the blue and yellow fabric and are able to make about 100 a day.

The Dixie Flag and Banner Company in San Antonio, Texas, seamstresses have been putting together Ukrainian flags after their inventory from other suppliers sold out over the weekend. 

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