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Proper respect for the flag


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I really wouldnt mind convenience stores and dealerships flying these huge American Flags if they would take them down at sunset and in bad weather. And they should replace them when they become ripped or worn. Passing a convenience store today that was flying one, the lower red stripe had been ripped and it made feel as though theyre being disrespectful. It also makes me wonder if they are really only flying it as an advertising symbol.

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Almost as bad when scouters teach myth and lore about flag etiquette as fact.

 

An adult scouter telling a den of cubs that if the flag touches the ground it must be burnt......

 

or

 

That to properly retire a flag all of the colors must be separated and burned alone.

 

or

 

That the United State Flag is required to be folded in the triangle.

 

 

Ya, he was pretty clueless.

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Be glad it is flown over the store. That's where it belongs. Over the gas station. The Post Office. The School. The Hardware Store. Because that's the America I want it to represent. Not necessarily ONLY the battle ship or charging Marine.

If you feel moved to speak to the owner (Apu?) or mangager about it, approach them courteously and remind them what it is they have out there on that pole.

I often stop and speak to the folks/stores/restaurants with US flags atop the building. I ask them when the flag becomes too torn and faded and needs replacing ("Oh, I don't know when we do that") to call me (I leave them my phone number on my Scout card) and I will come and collect the old one for a proper retirement ceremony ("you do that? What does that mean? We send it back to the company. I don't know what they do with it").

I keep a supply of old flags for units to use and have been called for such many times . CSDC, Camporees, IOLS, etc.

Sometimes the flag is still in useable condition and we save it for folding practice or to fly at a campout. I have one that is about 15 by 20 feet. Came from a carwash managed by an (old) Eagle Scout. He was very glad to speak to me. I use it sometimes for a teamwork exercise, where a group must work together to fold it (in right triangle!).

 

Hey, next time you are in a store and see a display of US flags for sale, ask them about your STATE flag and enjoy the blank stare you receive.

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This summer, I was driving out of a department store parking lot after we had stopped to use the restrooms en route to summer camp, when a man noticed my scouter uniform and flagged me down. He said he had a tattered flag in front of his home and knew something should be done with it and asked if Scout troops accepted them for proper disposal.

 

A lot of people want to do the right thing with an old flag but don't know what it is. I like SSScout's idea of approaching them with a scout business card and offering to dispose of it properly or to use it for training. If a troop is looking to do a good deed, help the community, and get some good publicity for their troop, maybe it would be a good idea to call the metro editor of your local paper and ask if they would be interested in an interview on how to properly care for and dispose of old flags, and offer to accept old flags. Get some photos of the scouts folding a flag. A couple of weeks before Independence Day, Flag Day, or Memorial Day would be a good time to make such a pitch to the local editor.

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I fly a US flag from a flagpole I constructed 24/7.

 

Sorry, I don't have the resources for dawn and sunset flag ceremonies.

 

I don't think that indicates disrespect for the flag. I've asked vets their opinion on the matter fromk time to time, and most say they are happy to see the flag being flown.

 

I do replace the flag when it becomes tattered and worn, usually about once/year.

 

Sorry if you find that annoying, but that's life.

 

I guess if the Supreme Court finds a constitutional right to burn the flag as a political gesture and act of contempt, my effort to honor the flag is consistent with the law.

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All of the above pales in comparison to my neighbor a few houses down the street. That nice teaparty supporter, a good Christian minister who is (thankfully) very open about his racism and bigotry has an American flag in his front yard. He positions it on the same pole and just below his Confederate flag. What a guy!

There are a few other examples of this kind of display around the area as well.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that the Flag can be displayed 24/7 if it it lighted and can be flown in bad weather if it is an all-weather flag, i.e. nylon. I know from experience that a cotton flag will not hold up to the elements for a year and begins to look a bit tattered well before the annual replacement.

 

Stosh

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All of the above pales in comparison to my neighbor a few houses down the street. That nice teaparty supporter, a good Christian minister who is (thankfully) very open about his racism and bigotry has an American flag in his front yard. He positions it on the same pole and just below his Confederate flag. What a guy!

 

Yeh could always exercise your right to bear arms and mount a civil-war era union cannon in your front yard aimed at da stars and bars, and on every major federal holiday put a round through the top of his flagpole in patriotic celebration. ;)

 

B

 

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:) The Stars and Bars is NOT the Rebel Flag.

 

The Rebel Flag was the battleflag made famous by the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of Robert E. Lee. It was never recognized as a "confederate flag". The Stars and Bars was the official national flag of the Confederate States of America and consisted of a blue union (just like the US Federal flag) with 13 stars and 3 wide stripes, one red on top, one white in the middle, and another red at the bottom. It looks remarkably like the new Georgian state flag. They replaced the rebel flag emblem on their state flag with the official Stars and Bars of the Confederacy and 98% of the people quit complaining. Isn't ignorance of history really handy at times? :) Officially it was the First National Flag of the Confederacy.

 

It became confusing on the battle fields of the Civil war because it could be easily mistaken for the Stars and Strips from a distance.

 

The Second National Flag of the Confederacy was the St. Andrews cross emblem (the battle flag, if you will) in the Union and the rest of the flag was white. This was referred to as the Sterling Banner.

 

As the flag was 3/4's white it was often mistaken for a flag of truce, and so a wide red strip was put vertically along fly end of the flag. This Third National Flag never made it to the battlefields until very late in the war.

 

Most of the St. Andrew Cross flags were square, only the naval union jack and ANV flags were rectangular like the modern "Rebel Flag" of today. Confederate units could carry any battle flag it wished with it's national colors, many preferred the square St. Andrew's Cross, but far more picked something else, like the "Bonnie Blue Flag" of South Carolina.

 

Stosh

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...rolling eyes...yeah, yeah, we got all that in 5th grade history. I'm FROM the South, you know. But if you ask any of the people who fly the flag what it is, guess what they tell you? Yep. You're swimming against the current.

 

In the guy's defense, it's a lot easier to find and purchase the flag that he flies as opposed to one of the 'national' flags of the Confederacy. I mean, there are stores around here which sell nothing else BUT stuff with that flag design plastered all of it. Amazingly, those people actually get enough business to make a living of it. Plus I suspect that version is cheaper too. :) (probably made in China) ;)

 

So, if I give you his phone number would you give the guy a call and 'educate' him as to the fine points of the official flags of the Confederacy? Can I listen in?

 

(just in case...I also know this isn't a pure Democracy, etc., etc.)

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As a Son of the South (I display my great-grandfather's Confederate musket and saber with equal pride along side his Oath of Allegiance to the United States), I've often noted that the passion with which the Stars and Bars is displayed is usually in inverse correlation with an actual knowledge of history.

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""speak to the owner (Apu?) or mangager about it,"

 

What the the hey? Seriously?"

 

LisaBob, -- There was this show on TV called the Simpsons, it had a character who ran a conveinience store, his name was Apu, this was not racially motivated or otherwise hateful (from what I can tell) comment, just a funny pop-culture refrence.

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