Re: Flag Backwards??
JAMES SHECKELS (sheckej@EARTHLINK.NET)
Sat, 30 Mar 1996 19:15:42 -0800
Utah Cox wrote in part:
> ...flag patches pictured on uniforms and coats are
> always shown as worn on BSA uniforms with one exception: a picture of a
> "green beret" on a book cover shows the flag shoulder patch reversed. Of
> course, we all know that everything is backwards in the military, which is
> the prime reason the BSA does not emulate the military.
>
Who says BSA doesn't emulate the military? Or is the word imitate? Seems to me
EVERYTIME the Army made a major uniform change (at least in my 20 years of servi
ce) BSA
wasn't too far behind with a similiar change. Webster says to emulate is to try
to equal
or to surpass; to imitate or copy with a view to equaling or surpassing. Should
not
organizations such as these then emulate one another?
The American flags I have worn, and seen worn on Army uniforms, is displayed in
the
exact manner as on the BSA uniform. I suspect the picture Utah refers to had th
e
negative reversed. The only time Army wears a US flag patch is when operating i
n a
foreign country among foreign troops, so as to distinguish which country the tro
oper
belongs to.
As to display on the uniform, all of the codes a references in all of the posts
are very
interesting. As there is no specific law to break on this question, I'll say it
does
not appear to be "an exact science", so I guess that as long as nothing disrespe
ctful is
done to the flag, either method of display is acceptable. For me, when in a Boy
Scout
uniform, I'll use the Boy Scout handbook (or any BSA publication) as my guide.
My BSA
handbook (and all I have previous to the current) says the flag is displayed on
a flat
surface (the uniform sleeve?!?!), horizontally or vertically, the blue union sho
uld be
at the top, at the flag's own right, or to the left as you view it. Works for m
e.
--
YIS Jim Sheckels I used to be a Bobwhite....SE-308-7('82)
Commissioner, COR, Trainer; OA Brotherhood ('72); sheckej@earthlink.net
/The nice thing about TEAMWORK is that you have someone on your side/
Scouting is NOT an exact science, so use your brain..no one else is!
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
