--- title: Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American description: American military flags in the past have sourced materials like ink or fabric from overseas canonical: https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-22T20:45:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:28:28.088Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American og:description: American military flags in the past have sourced materials like ink or fabric from overseas og:url: https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c4a6f0ff698f213/6986830955a8593849a7f722/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1400 og:image:height: 788 og:image:alt: american-flag.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American twitter:description: American military flags in the past have sourced materials like ink or fabric from overseas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c4a6f0ff698f213/6986830955a8593849a7f722/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Feb 22, 2014 8:45 PM UTC  SCOTTSDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 03: U.S. Air Force Major McGarry holds the American Flag 18th hole pin during the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the Cochise Course at The Desert Mountain Club on November 3, 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona. On Saturday the Charles Schwab Cup Championship held a Military Appreciation Day for the Armed Forces. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) SCOTTSDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 03: U.S. Air Force Major McGarry holds the American Flag 18th hole pin during the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the Cochise Course at The Desert Mountain Club on November 3, 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona. On Saturday the Charles Schwab Cup Championship held a Military Appreciation Day for the Armed Forces. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) Christian Petersen—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Feb 22, 2014 8:45 PM UTC American flags purchased by the Department of Defense must now be 100% produced and sourced in the United States, according to [rules](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/22/american-made-flags-military/5725165/) that went into effect Friday. Before the rule amendment, American flags purchased by the military weren’t necessarily American-made, and while the major vendors for the Department of Defense are American companies, flag material such as ink or fabric could have been sourced abroad, reports USA Today. “Our men (and) women in uniform should serve under American-made flags,” Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said on his Facebook page last week. The Defense Department purchases around 1,000 to 2,000 Stars and Stripes flags annually for purposes such as flying them over the Pentagon, military bases and ships, and burial flags for military personnel killed in action. Under the new rules, all will be entirely made in America. \[[USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/22/american-made-flags-military/5725165/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/"},"headline":"Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American","datePublished":"2014-02-22T20:45:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:28:28.088Z","description":"American military flags in the past have sourced materials like ink or fabric from overseas","url":"https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/","keywords":["Military","Department of Defense"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c4a6f0ff698f213/6986830955a8593849a7f722/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c4a6f0ff698f213/6986830955a8593849a7f722/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"american-flag.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Christian Petersen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/9395/pentagon-american-flags-must-be-100-american/","name":"Pentagon: American Flags Must Be 100% American"}}]}] ```