evidence: Into this disputed territory, foreign-made flags have staked their own claim: They, too, are signs of contradiction, yet they are authentic nevertheless. Since the image of the American flag is in the public domain, anyone can use it. But for those who see the American flag as semisacred, importing flags is tantamount to sacrilege. Resolutions from Congress and the American Legion denounce it. How could a symbol that so personally embodies "America" be born in another country? And yet, as a representation of a country of immigrants, how could it not? [...] In response to these foreign-made flags, politicians chose ire over irony. In 2001, Congress’s first Genuine American Flag Act intended to ban all American-flag imports to the United States. It came in direct response to two foreign threats: the sudden spike in flag imports after 9/11, and China’s recent ascension to the World Trade Organization. [...] Outlawing the sale of imported American flags, according to the Chinese manufacturers I interviewed, was understandable but mistaken. Such a ban, Zhang told me, "is senseless and not necessary because in your country, you cannot produce everything just by America itself. You must import." For Maggie Zou, a manager at Shanghai Sinohigher Economics and Trade, such legislation is evidence that the "Americans’ love [for] their country is too much."