The flags that were used for the inauguration ceremony of president Barack Obama were produced at a location you may not have expected: Oostrozebeke, Belgium. The Waelkens flag company employs 40 people.  Small orders are embroided, sometimes by hand, at the production facility in Belgium, while large orders are produced on silkscreen machines in Romania.  Waelkens ships about 2,000 flags a year to the U.S.

De Post-La Poste, Belgium’s national postal operator, acquired a majority stake in MSI Worldwide Mail, a U.S.-based mail and parcel delivery company. The company will continue to operate as MSI Worldwide Mail and will be managed by its founding partners Richard Gerhardt and Christopher Taylor for at least the next five years.
De Post-La Poste said its business unit Belgian Post International will use the new partnership with MSI to further expand its retail operations in the United States and worldwide.
Peter Somers, member of the Executive Board of De Post-La Poste …