Philadelphia, June 24 (RHC)-- A leading U.S. flag maker says it will stop producing Confederate flags in the wake of a racially motivated mass shooting in a South Carolina Black church.

Reggie VandenBosch, vice president of sales at the Valley Forge Flag, said in a Tuesday statement that the Pennsylvania-based company would not produce the Civil War-era flag anymore due to the racial controversy it has caused. "We hope that this decision will show our support for those affected by the recent events in Charleston and, in some small way, help to foster racial unity and tolerance in our country," read the statement.

Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Sears have also announced an end to selling the flag or items featuring its image, considered by many as a symbol of ongoing racist sentiments in the American South. Online auction site eBay Inc said the flag is a "contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism" in the United States.

The American forces supporting pro-slavery states carried the flag into battle in the 1861-65 American Civil War.