We Like It Here?

It's not everyday that you read a Wall Street Journal editorial about your state. Then again, it's not every state that bans non-American made flags:

t's the week to wave the flag, as millions did on the Fourth. However, in the case of Minnesota, perhaps we should say "waive" the flag -- at least if it happens to have been made overseas.

In St. Paul this week, the legislature passed a law making it a misdemeanor to sell a non-made-in-the-USA flag anywhere in the state. "Nothing is more embarrassing to me than a plastic flag made in China," declared Tom Rukavina, who sponsored the bill.

Actually, we can think of several things more embarrassing, starting with Mr. Rukavina. Under the Minnesota flag law, violators could be subject to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail. So under Mr. Rukavina's patriot gaming and thanks to the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson, Minnesotans will be able to legally burn an American flag made in America, but could go to jail for selling one made in Shanghai. Splendid.

Proponents say this protectionism is about national symbolism, so let's not tell them that Major League baseballs have been made in Costa Rica for years. We also won't tell Mr. Rukavina where his favorite hot dogs are made, much less what they're made of. The Commerce Department says about $5.3 million worth of flags were imported last year, so the ban will not make much of a dent in our trade deficit. According to the Associated Press, the biggest recent surge in flag imports came after September 11. Luckily for Minnesotans, Mr. Rukavina wasn't around to criminalize that patriotic sentiment.

Old Glory stands for freedom, including the right to trade with people of other nationalities. We suspect that when most Americans wave the flag, they care more about the ideas it represents than where it was made.

Feel the pride?