It isn’t just Confederate battle flag merchandise that’s being pulled from shelves by retailers like Walmart, Amazon, eBay and others, but now, actual flags manufactured by the country’s largest and oldest flag maker.

New Jersey-based company Annin Flagmakers announced Tuesday that it will stop making and selling the Confederate battle flag.

“I just sent out the email to our factories saying, ‘Cease and desist. Let’s not sell this stuff,'” Carter Beard, the company’s president, told NJ.com.

The move comes amid increasing controversy over the rebel banner, which was featured in photos posted online by the 21-year-old accused of killing nine members of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston last week.

“Flags are very powerful symbols, and clearly this flag has become a symbol of a negative aspect of our past.” said Beard, who is the sixth generation to lead the flag company. “For some people, it represents something very negative.”

Those who still want to buy the Confederate battle flag — which, again, was not the official flag of the Confederacy but was used by General Robert E. Lee in battle — can just go elsewhere, Beard adds. Any orders for flags that were received before Tuesday were completed but all sales, manufacturing and shipping has stopped as of yesterday.

“They’ll be able to find this product through other sellers,” Beard says. “I’m sure someone will jump into that market.”

N.J. flagmaker halts production of the Confederate flag [NJ.com]

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