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Top US flag maker not to produce more Confederate flags

The state flag of Mississippi, which incorporates the Confederate flag in the top left corner, is displayed with the flags of the other 49 states and territories in the tunnel connecting the senate office building and the US Capitol June 23, 2015 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

A leading US flag maker says it will stop producing Confederate flags in the wake of a racially motivated mass shooting in a South Carolina black church.

Reggie VandenBosch, vice president of sales at the Valley Forge Flag, said in a Tuesday statement that the Pennsylvania-based company would not produce the Civil War-era flag anymore due to the racial controversy it has caused.

The Confederate flag is seen next to the monument of the victims of the Civil War in Columbia. (AFP)
 

"We hope that this decision will show our support for those affected by the recent events in Charleston and, in some small way, help to foster racial unity and tolerance in our country," read the statement.

Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Sears also announced an end to selling the flag or items featuring its image, considered by many as a symbol of ongoing racist sentiments in the American South.

Online auction site eBay Inc said the flag is a “contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism" in the United States.

The American forces supporting pro-slavery states carried the flag into battle in the 1861-65 American Civil War.

The Confederate flag was brought to spotlight after Dylann Roof (seen above holding the flag) opened fire at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, leaving nine African-American worshipers dead on Wednesday night.

On Monday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for removal of the flag from the grounds of the state Capitol.

NT/NT


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