This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erik May, 43, who is the president of Flags Unlimited, a business based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Business Insider has verified the sales figures. This piece has been edited for length and clarity. We're a small business in the Midwest . Getting asked for Algerian, Moroccan, and dozens of Iraqi flags is certainly uncommon here. Our flag sales are normally almost entirely US, state, and military flags. So when we started getting more and