Foreign-made American flags could be a thing of the past in North Dakota if a bill successfully makes its way through the Legislature this winter.

"We think it's really important that the symbol of the United States be made in the United States," said Sen. Tim Flakoll, R-Fargo, who introduced a bill this week that would require all American flags sold in North Dakota be made in the United States.

Flakoll said lawmakers are likely to debate whether the bill should apply to flags that meet a particular size.

"It's important that veterans, when they go to their final resting place, they're draped with a flag that was made in the United States and not in another country," Flakoll said, adding Minnesota lawmakers passed a similar bill in 2007.

The Tribune quickly checked some stores in Bismarck. The Wal-Marts and Kmart in Bismarck sell the same brand of American flag. Place of origin: New Jersey.

In 2006, $5.3 million worth of American flags were imported into the United States, with $5 million of that coming from China, according to the Flag Manufacturers Association of America.

The law would take effect on July 4, 2010, if passed, and is co-sponsored by Reps. Donald Clark, R-Fargo, Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, and Bill Amerman, D-Forman and Sens. Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, and Dick Dever, R-Bismarck.

The bill is HB1162.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarcktribune