I saw in the news a couple months ago that a woman had to take down her flag. It was flying outside the Democratic headquarters in Lake County. The flag in question had horizontal red and white stripes, 13 of them to be exact. But instead of the stars there was a rendering of President Obama.
Now, I know that this indeed can be interpreted as a breach of flag etiquette. But it certainly can be argued that it falls under freedom of speech as well. And quite frankly, I think we have a lot more to worry about in this country than an Obama flag in Lake County.
As I write this, I am looking at two flags that are flying below me in my neighbor’s yards. They are breaking the “flag law” too. The one, while flying properly from a pole, flies day and night without illumination. The U.S. flag code specifically states it must be lit at night.
The other gentleman has his on a pretty cool swinging pole that shifts with the wind. He lets it fly in the rain. Another breach of flag code. Perhaps I should go down there and bitch slap him for it.
I’m probably one of the few people who actually knows the entire flag code. I had to learn it in 6th Grade. I was on flag detail at McKnight Middle School. The three of us were charged each morning with briskly raising the flag up the pole, followed by the Washington State flag. At the end of the day, we lowered it slowly and ceremoniously down the pole, just as the flag code requires. When it rained, we dashed from class to rescue the flag from the elements, taking care to fold it regulation style in a triangle. And we never ever let it touch the ground, knowing that it would then need to be burned.
So, let’s go back to the Lake County lady for a moment. It’s a breach of the flag rules. I get it. You’re not allowed to put “any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature” on the flag. But would the outrage been as bad or even there at all if Jack Kennedy’s photo was there instead of that black man in the White House?
But we bend and break the flag rules all the time. Do you always stand at attention, with your right hand over your heart and face the flag during the National Anthem? Do you remove your hat at baseball games? If you don’t you’re as big of a law breaker as this lady.
We’re also, by the way, not allowed to ever use the flag for advertising purposes. But look around you. It’s used all the time by businesses and organizations. We put the flag on everything in our patriotic fervor, largely borne by the events of 9/11. Really, aren’t politicians advertising when they run their ads with the U.S. flag plastered all over them?
Did the woman do anything worse than the NFL does every Sunday? I know they added the flag to honor troops in the Gulf War way back in 1990. But section 176, article J of the U.S. flag code specifically states that “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.”
I know I’m being a bit petty here. But aren’t these folks too? If it’s such an abomination to put the President’s face on the flag, why aren’t these Patriotic Pollyannas knocking on my neighbor’s doors? If we’re going to be sticklers for following the rules, let’s follow all the rules. Don’t just bitch about one you don’t happen to like and ignore all the other infractions that are all around us.
The flag thing doesn’t bother me, anymore than when the protesters substituted a peace sign for the 50 stars in the 1960s. Once you take the stars away, our own flag looks a lot like Liberia’s, in case you haven’t noticed. We don’t have the corner on the stars and stripes market by the way. Perhaps we should bitch slap Liberia while we’re on the bandwagon of indignation.
I think we have it all wrong here. We shouldn’t be worshiping the flag folks. We treat it almost like it’s a living and breathing thing, which of course, the U.S. flag code says we should: “The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.” Yeah, right! And corporations are people, too.
The flag is not a living thing. It is a symbol. A damned good one yes, but still just a symbol. I still can’t believe that in our day and age, we have a rule in the code that doesn’t allow us to dip our flag to honor a hosting nation of the Olympics or that it must be flown on a pole that is higher than all the other flags around it. No wonder other countries hate us – we have a superiority complex.
Did you know that local governments violate the flag code all the time? Only the President or a Governor can order flags to be flown at half staff. Why aren’t we bitch slapping local firefighters for lowering the flag of their own volition when a comrade dies and not going through proper channels?
As you can see, we have all sorts of exceptions to our little flag rules and we bend them in the wind all the time.
I know a few veterans thought it an affront to their service to have an Obama flag flying. I support our veterans. I supported them long before it was fashionable to do so. So don’t bother questioning my patriotism, which has been rock solid since I was a child. My oldest brother volunteered to go to Vietnam even though he didn’t have to, because as he said, his country needed him. My father landed on the beaches of the South Pacific in conditions where half the men were dead before the doors of the landing craft even opened. We have a 200+ year family history of service to our country and for supporting it right or wrong.
And here’s what my father and brothers taught me. Service to our country isn’t about a bunch of colorful fabric sewn together waving in a stiff breeze. They didn’t fight for a flag. They fought for what it represents. It is the ideals of freedom that they fought for, the same freedoms that our forefathers were willing to die for when they founded this country.
If a lady wants to fly her flag, fine. It’s freedom of speech. Ill advised in my own opinion and a bit tasteless, but free speech nonetheless. It is one of our most fundamental rights and it is one of the most cherished freedoms we have.
If you don’t like her statement, fine, go hoist the stars and stripes elsewhere in defiance. I am good with that, in fact, I would be damned proud to salute it as I pass by because I love what it represents. But don’t infringe on anyone’s right to speak their mind peaceably. It’s fine to disagree. Just don’t put your own self-ascribed rights above those of any other citizen. That’s not what we have been fighting for all these years.
In the Emerald City, wondering if all the American flags made in China are really that American,
– Robb