Later tonight, I shall be arrested. Possibly.

[kaigou]

(If I'm critiquing a neighbor, does that count as a review?)

Yo, neighbor, you suck.

Last night I drove past your house after sunset. Apparently you seem to think you're quite patriotic, but tonight I shall probably be arrested for spray-painting across your house, lawn, and truck that you're not patriotic but an OVERCOMPENSATING IGNORAMUS.

I could pretty much guarantee that you've never been in the armed forces, sir, despite your proud "GOD BLESS THE TROOPS" sticker on both your gas-guzzling SUV and your gas-guzzling F250, neither of which -- I couldn't help notice -- have even the remotest hint of dirt, scuff, or scratch, so why you'd need either in a suburban neighborhood with FULLY-PAVED ROADS in a state where it never freaking SNOWS is completely beyond me. Because if you had been in the military, or had anyone in your family who had, you would bloody well know YOU NEVER LET THE SUN SET ON THE AMERICAN FLAG.

Moron.

Why does it seem the people who slather every car with "God Bless America" stickers, who proclaim the loudest that burning the American flag should be against the law, OMG arrest those hippies who'd ban Independence day, who shout like all get out when someone suggests removing "under god" from the pledge," who just go livid at the notion that anyone could possibly be against 'the war' (let alone say it publicly) -- why are you ALWAYS the freaking' biggest HYPOCRITES when it comes to public shows of respect?

Okay, jackass neighbor, here's the rules.

First of all, don't let that flag touch the ground. Ever. If you do, you have desecrated it, and according to the US Flag Code, you must burn the flag. Yes! It's true! If you outlaw BURNING the damn flag, then you have REMOVED the only legal means of the code's sole suggestion for DISPOSING of a flag.*

* unless "take to the nearest VFW" or "take it to the Marine Corps" counts as alternate types of "disposal".

Second, never let the sun go down on the flag. If you want it displayed 24-7, then get a damn SPOTLIGHT -- they're real cheap, go by Lowe's and pick one up, you truck-driving gas-guzzling, useless waste of air -- and set it on that flag and when the sun goes down that light had BETTER go on or I WILL be back to kick your ass all over again.

Third, raise the flag quickly, but when you bring it down, you do so slowly. It's a sign of RESPECT.

Fourth, you don't make the flag into something that's disposable. You can make an eleven-stripe flag into drink twizzlers, or into cheap flags you fly on your car, or into a bumperstick, but a thirteen-stripe flag -- the actual, official, flag image -- should NEVER be something that's used once and discarded without second thought. If someone gives you crap about this, just tell 'em you believe in showing respect to the real thing. Or better yet, take those frickin' useless overcompensating stupid little flags OFF your oversized hatchback-killing SUV.

[In fact, while I'm on the topic, it is NOT illegal to fly the flag upside down. This is a well-known, militarily recognized DISTRESS SYMBOL. It is both acceptable and legal. Don't be giving anyone crap about that form of presentation, not in my hearing at least.]

Fifth, when you do have an official, formal flag, you do not, do NOT, do NOT let it get ragged, torn, dirty, ripped, stained, sun-bleached, or otherwise mangled in any way. The second that fluttering nylon flag on your car gets torn at the edges, or the sun beats down too hard, or -- bloody hell -- it starts to rain!? -- TAKE DOWN THE FLAG, then burn it with all due respect, and then -- if you absolutely MUST again try to convince me that you are oh-so-patriotic and country-loving, THEN you replace it. With a new flag. That does not touch the ground, that does not get left out in the dark, that does not get worn and ripped and faded --

Sixth, to continue the above thought, that does not GET RAINED ON. In inclement weather, the flag SHOULD come down UNLESS it's a flag specifically designed to shed water and be used for bad weather. The average el-cheapo nylon flag will get soaked and end up a sodden mess wrapped around the pole. This is NOT OKAY. If you can't afford the really nice weatherproof flag, or you prefer the cloth-created thwap! sound of a flag whipping in the breeze, then the instant the sky darkens, you go get that flag and bring it inside.

Seventh, the more flags you display on your cars and your house, the more likely I am to believe you're only paying lip service to the concepts ingrained in our nation's founding. The more times I see "God Bless America" and "God Bless Our Troops" the more likely I am to gather that you're all about the easy version of this country, the easy ride, the "let someone else fight but I'll support 'em" attitude. The more I see "In God We Trust" slapped all over your car's ass, the more I know you're someone who'll raise a fist high at the first sign that someone might question this country's path, but that you probably don't know jackshit about what this country is really about because that would be too HARD for you, wouldn't it, because then you might have to deal with the fact that someone's else's right to speak out is actually, woah, a frickin' RIGHT and that suggesting that "God Bless America" not be made our national motto is not, in fact, a sign that someone is a godless commie.

In fact, I got a newsflash for you.

Go ahead, follow the link. I'll wait.

*whistles for a few minutes*

Okay. Had a really good look? Since there's a chance you're a Neanderthal bozo who roots for the Cowboys, I'll even translate it for you.

FROM MANY, ONE.


And since that might be too esoteric -- that is, too non-English -- for you, I'll take it another step.

OUT OF MANY [PEOPLES], ONE [PEOPLE].


That's our great seal. That's what's on the wall behind the president, every president, when you see him give the state of the union address. It's hanging on the wall in just about every military base and post HQ I've ever stepped foot in, and I had a good fifteen years of stepping into a great many. We don't need no stinking exclusive "God Bless America!" crap, nor a resounding cry of "In God We Trust" because -- sit down for this -- from the very start this country has included people who'd prefer it be NoGod, and just as many whose beliefs leaned towards "Gods bless". The entire reason e pluribus unum is so powerful is because it bypasses all the things that make us different, that make the immigrant and the nisei and the third-generation Kentucky miner and the sixth-generation Bostonian and the fourth-generation North Dakotan farmer and the children of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers and green-card-spouses into a country that could be blessed, by any divinity of anyone's choice.

I really, truly, loathe the argument that "God Bless America" be made into the national anthem, or recognized as an official phrase, or any variant of it. I frankly think the one we've got -- no matter how hard to sing, nor how dubious and colorful its melodic history -- and the slogan/motto we've got -- no matter how *cough* esoteric it may seem to some ill-educated twits -- are both just fine. The entire point about e pluribus unum is that so many divergent peoples can become, by hook crook and general good will, a single unified nation.

Which is what really makes me grate my teeth, the hypocrisy of that argument: ever noticed how the ones crying the loudest for "God Bless America" are the same ones who insist this was a 100% Christian nation from the get-go (FYI: for those of you unfamiliar, consider this warning to don't EVEN get me started) and that we should stop messing with "the natural order" by legalizing abortion and allowing gay marriage and all these other things that would undo whatever private (and of course Christian) notion the Founding Fathers had.

Except that e pluribus unum wasn't a private, maybe-expressed notion, it was important enough to put it RIGHT THERE on the great seal, that's how important it was, and it's not like "God Bless This Country" was an unknown thing at the time. (Hello, "God Bless the Queen", anyone?) So we've got an anthem, and we've got a national motto (or about as close to it as one might wish) on the great seal, and that seal's been in place and unchanged since 1782. Right after signing the Declaration of Independence, the First Continental Congress selected a committee to come up with a national emblem. Six years later, the final design was accepted and it hasn't been messed with since.

Which means it's an Old Thing, it's something dating from Our Country's Origins -- woah, just like all these bassackwards notions some backwater inbred mouthbreathers seem to think are truths about the founding -- and if you're going to argue that A and B shouldn't change because that's against the First Dudes' intentions, then you can't also seek to ditch what was legitimately and verifiably an intention. You can't have it both ways. Accept the hard parts of e pluribus unum and I don't just mean that it's not in english you fricking twit, and then you can chant all you like about original intentionality, OR argue that as long as other things are changing that you want a shot at revising rights, too. But you can't have both.

And while you're at it, GO GET THAT FLAG. It's not just night, now, it's also drizzling. I drive past your house in another hour and see the flag's out, I may not be able to restrain myself. If you want to piss on the constitution in the privacy of your own home, if you want to portray this country as an boy's-only christians-only white-sheet-only kind of golf club amongst your friends, go right ahead. But I'm not going to sit here and tolerate it when you disrespect the flag my father, grandfather, and greatgrandfathers fought to defend.

Bloody hell.

---

Cripes. I've gotta make some flyers so I can just hand them out instead and walk away, or maybe attach 'em to offending flag poles or something. Either that, or blow a gasket one of these days.

Comments

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

I'm a neighbor who sucks. :<
I come from a military family, and fly the flag for personal reasons, and I'd forgotten the part about taking it down at sunset.
Given the hours I keep, I'm gonna have to rig up a spotlight or something, because it would be impractical to take it in and out every day.
Thanks for reminding me.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I rather like when someone has a spotlight on their flag. It shows they took the time to think about the presentation, and that they didn't just stick it up there to say "hey I'm amurikan too buddy" etc etc. It's one thing, though, to see a neighbor got caught off-guard by encroaching nightfall -- it's another thing to see the same ragged, tattered flag still out there, at the same time my headlights catch the "God Bless America" and flag bumperstickers on both cars. That's a bit different.

That said, I'd think a spotlight that has a light detector -- and goes on at nightfall -- might also help you remember, too. You see the light go on, and it might remind you to go bring in the flag? Or if not, at least you'd know it's still lit. ;-)

[branchandroot]

I only ever was in the Brownies and I know that. Gotta say, it was one of the things that got my goat most consistently after 9-11. I even suggested making a drinking game out of "spot the flag code violation".

... wonder if I can fit in some Franklin, next term, along with the Jefferson. Do the kids good to read the real stuff.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

The most egregious example I ever saw -- about a month after 9/11 or so -- was in the mountains of SW Virginia. Here comes a minivan flying along the Shenandoah parkway, with a flag on each front fender, another flag on each front window, another flag on each passenger window and yet another set of flags at the very back, tucked into the rear hatch. CP's head whipped around in time to catch the two -- TWO! -- flag bumperstickers on the back window.

I mean, really. Protest much, buddy?

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks those ignoramuses need to find out what the hell they think they're defending before they open their yaps, and show some respect for the symbol of what they supposedly revere.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

It was actually in the year or two after 9/11 that I often went a bit red everytime I heard/read news that someone, yet again, was suggesting "God Bless America" get some kinda official standing, or to make the song our national anthem. I kept saying -- and feeling like no one was listening -- that, hey, what was wrong with e pluribus unum? I thought that one fit things just fine.

Then again, I still want to make that bumpersticker that shows a cross-cut image (half, cut at diagonal) of the flag, with the 'red' stripes in gray, and the words: THESE COLORS DON'T RUN, BUT THEY WILL FADE. PROTECT THE BILL OF RIGHTS.

Depending on my mood, that second phrase becomes "protect the constitution" or "defend the bill of rights," but the gist is the same. The cause is all those stupid flag bumperstickers that so proudly said, "these colors don't run!" That's a great phrase, but boy does it develop a second meaning when you see the sticker and the red has faded out completely.

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to make one myself now. XD

[eclecticmum.livejournal.com]

I must agree with most of your annoyance with "bumper sticker patriotism", as a military brat it has always irritated me as well.

Only one small quibble - technically, there is no method for disposal under the US Flag Code (http://www.afa.org/members/uscode.asp), it is merely a suggestion that when a flag becomes unservicable that it be disposed of in a respectful way, such as ceremonial burning.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

True, that technically burning is only a suggestion. I've just never heard of any other method being considered suitable -- unless "take it to your nearest VFW" counts as "disposal" -- since then they would be burning it, and not you! ;-)

[sans-pertinence.livejournal.com]

Have heard all of this, ad infinitum, from Dad (Navy), who flies ONE flag and observes the proper protocol at all times. When I was twelve, he burned a truly abused flag someone discarded on our front lawn round about Independence Day. Frothing mad? I have seen it. My father is scary.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I watched my dad (USAF) stop the car one evening, and get out the car while I'm still going "Dad? Dad? Who's house is this?" and then sat there while he knocked on the door and politely -- but with that professorial voice, I'm sure -- told the homeowner to remove the flag, and remained while the man did so.

A'course, Dad was also in uniform, which probably helped. Still, it made an impression on me, that despite being a piece of fabric, and something for which the symbol should always remain more important than the thing itself -- that doesn't make it okay to disrespect the thing itself.

[flamesword.livejournal.com]

♥

I remember being so stunned when we learned the flag code in grade school, baffled because we were surrounded by myriad examples of people NOT observing it. I was like...this has rules? Why doesn't anyone follow them?

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I don't recall ever learning the code, per se. It was just always part of my life, especially when every July 4 we headed to the nearest AFB to see the fast jets! and the big building-sized cargo planes! and the fast jets! and the big honking planes! and then some AF fighter jet group or another would fly overhead and do all kinda fancy things while my dad talked to us about how he was head of a mechanic's group working on those planes when I was a newborn and I talked about how someday I wanted to fly one of those planes and my mom just looked kinda green.

Actually, what I wanted to fly were the big honkin' carries-a-tank planes. For some reason, I thought those were awesome.

But, at the end of the day, as the sun set, they'd bring down the flag, taps and all -- and if you want respectful ceremony, there you got it. A'course, after that it was all about the fireworks, which was the other real reason to go to the base on July 4.

Okay, that, and my dad always flew the flag on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, and when I was really little, he'd even blow taps. (He'd been one of the ones assigned to evening bugling while stationed in ND, IIRC.)

[l-clausewitz.livejournal.com]

Why didn't you want to fly the gunships instead? That way you can get both big cargo-plane bodies and enough armaments to blow any prospective enemy to bits twice over....

[mikkeneko.livejournal.com]

Our family has never been one to fly flags -- we have other ways of expressing our patriotism -- but I always get this cold frission of uncertainty and unhappiness when I pass a flag that's out at night, or torn in some way. This sense of "Aren't they supposed to not do that?" So hey, even us non-flag blasting heathens KNOW THIS.

Also, I've supported the Cowboys all my life, even when they weren't cool...

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Like Chelidon comments below as well, it seems to be the heathens who often know the ways and wherefores of respect better than those trumpeting it all over the place. I recall seeing broadcasts of Vietnam protesters burning the American flag and asking my dad why they'd do that (to me it was just, "why did you burn that cloth?" -- I was probably 5 or 6). I don't recall the specifics, only that he was adamant that we have the right, as citizens, to dissent with the government, and that sometimes destroying a symbol of that government is a powerful way to do it.

And that coming from a man who was a lifetime officer in the USAF. I'm not saying his tolerance (however begrudged, possibly, not sure) is universal, just that it had a big impact on me when it came to dissenting views.

[hinotori.livejournal.com]

I always find it very interesting reading this kind of post, especially when it's this well written. :)

Being from Germany, I have no inkling of flag treatment etc -- here, a flag will attract stares on good days (i.e. days of world cup matches etc), and produce outright hostility or accusation on others.
I didn't even know there was such a thing as "flag conduct" until I first visited Denmark, where the rule of not letting the sun set on the flag is the same -- you can fly the small, triangular ones 24/7, but not the Dannebrog. Thinking about it now, it makes sense -- and I guess there's similar rules everywhere in the world. I'm guessing most people here would feel somewhat uncomfortable with a Bundesflagge being, say, burnt or trod into the mud -- not so much with people wrapping themselves in one after a game or sitting on it during.

I can't think of any non-governmental institutions that fly the flag and just the German flag unless they're on the far side of the right wing (or, indeed, there's a game on -- I remember being distinctly uncomfortable with the fact that my brother kept a flag in his window for weeks even after the world cup was over.) Usually there's at least a Flag of Europe and a flag bearing the coat of arms of the respective Land in addition to the Bundesflagge. To most people, the only thing that leaves a worse taste while still being legal is probably the display of the Reichsflagge, the black-white-red flag of the World Wars.

I get a feeling I'm going to be thining about this for the next few days now. Well done. :)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

(Don't you mean "this well ranted"? Heh.)

The one time I really, really get uncomfortable at sight of the flag is anytime someone gets wrapped in it. The most often is why an Olympic athlete wins a medal, and at some point you might see a shot of them with the flag draped over their shoulders. Okay, I get it, and I get the symbolism, but I still get a shiver of intense discomfort.

That's probably because the first time I ever saw someone draped in the flag, it was when I was maybe eight or nine years old. We were visiting cousins, and driving into their neighborhood we passed a house with a huge burnt cross on the front lawn. The grass was blackened, and the cross' wood was charcoaled and broken. I was mystified, and asked my parents about it, and (in a very uncharacteristic response), neither would really explain. They just got this look on their face that told me they were intensely unhappy/uncomfortable, and that they didn't want to talk about it. So I shut up, but remained baffled why anyone would do that to their front yard.

Later that day, while playing with my cousins on the front lawn, a truck drove down the street. Three or four guys were standing in the truck-bed. Two had their shirts off. One was draped in the flag, and they were drinking beer and yelling things I don't recall -- I just remember their tone, the way they looked at us. Four white kids, but the animosity was clear, some kind of smug nastiness in their jeering.

My parents never really explained that, either, but that image remains with me, always (and I was probably 10 before I put it together and realized I'd been seeing the KKK and bigotry in action). I don't care what the purpose, but someone draped in the flag makes me think of that moment, of that sense that the person was saying, "this symbol is mine and it protects me, and you're not included in it", somehow.

Perhaps the reason Olympic athletes don't create quite the same level of discomfort is because so often the images of them are definitely expressions of complete amazement, joy, and humility, along with a huge teary grin. That's a long way from prideful, smug nastiness, and I s'pose that helps, some.

[l-clausewitz.livejournal.com]

The thing about not flying the united German flag alone probably has to do with Germany's long history as a collection of independent principalities that never properly got united until the 1860s--up there when you're, say, a Saxon, then you're a German and a Saxon, not just a German in the general sense. Even in World War I the German soldiers still swore their allegiance mostly to their own kings or princes or dukes or whatever, not to the Emperor (except when the German was also a Prussian, in which case his King and Emperor was the same person). And a German general in World War II refused to take an active participation in the coup against Hitler (though he took no actions to stop it either) by saying "A Prussian officer doesn't mutiny." A "Prussian" officer, not a "German" officer!

Interesting country, isn't it?

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It is sad to say that, as you note, there seems often to be an inverse relationship between displaying the flag, and actual respect for both the symbol and what it is intended to represent. And if you truly respect the flag, and the "Republic, for which it stands," actually showing that respect, in the appropriate manner, seems the least one should do.

You and I have very similar opinions about this issue, and for similar reasons.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

It is sad to say that, as you note, there seems often to be an inverse relationship between displaying the flag, and actual respect for both the symbol and what it is intended to represent.

Strange, isn't it? After 9/11, it never even occured to me to hang a flag, or put one on my car. I mean, I didn't feel like I needed to display any solidarity, because for me, my solidarity had never been in question in the first place. What did I have to prove?

That's part of what left me so uncomfortable, I suppose, with the excess display then, and which remains in some pockets, now.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

I think your mind might just about explode if you visit New Jersey. We still have some nitwits here who take flags and go out and tie the on to overpasses. So that they get rained on, and tatterd, and shredded and look like crap. No lights on them at night (unless you count the car headlights as they pass by.) and certainly not removed during inclement weather.

I remember seeing for months after 9/11 dozens of those little pennent flags littering the road, because they would come off people's cars as they drove. It was rather distressing to see them laying in the mud. Even if they might not have been "official" it still smacks as disrespectful.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Try living within thirty miles of the nation's capital. The one benefit was that the few flags hung on highway overpasses did -- after a few weeks -- come down, perhaps thanks to the hundreds and thousands of military families in the metro area. Someone out there had to be gnashing their teeth as hard as me, every day, to see that poor flag hung so cruelly out in the weather.

Then again, we also had signs on overpasses that raised questions, and which I cheered every time I saw them. There was one whose exact phrasing I still can't remember, but it may've been a quote -- it said something like, "When will it be safe again to question our government?" Another said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Both would go up, get ripped down, and get replaced.

At least we didn't have flags littering the roads. That might've been more than could've been handled by people still suffering the shock of seeing a big gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon. (And, as someone whose mother was evacuated from the military base right across the highway from where the plane hit, I get really pissed off at the conspiracy theorists going on about how there wasn't a plane. Right, nor were there any funerals, shut up, morons.)

[christeos-pir.livejournal.com]

Just to play Devil's Advocate heckle for a moment: If Ft. McHenry had followed proper flag etiquette, we would have a different national anthem. (Not entirely a bad idea, IMNSHO.)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Survey says... BZZZT. Battle flag etiquette is completely different.

(Besides, who the hell would light a battle flag overnight? Just might as well put up a neon sign that says, AIM BOMBS HERE PLSKTHXBAI.)

[pxcampbell.livejournal.com]

Too many people are simply ignorant.

What pisses me off more than anything -- when you gently, diplomatically refer them to legitimate sources to help them dispel their ignorance, they get huffy and abusive -- instead of grateful. When did it become okay to be stupid and ignorant?

"In God We Trust" was adopted in 1956 in response to communism. With the threat of communism gone, it ought to be retired from our national iconography. (It was a tragic oversight that the Founders neglected to mention that 'e pluribus unum' was a motto.)

The nation was founded by secular Humanists who respect a person's right to counsel (or not) with his/her own God (or lack thereof). It was not founded by conversative Christian hypocrites who choose to iterpret individual sections of the Bible literally (and ignore the parts that are inconvenient to them).

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Someone once told me -- at work, of all places, the last place I want to get into it -- "it's high time we go back to being a Christian nation."

Insert a split second of dead air in my head. I mean, wtf do you say to that, and at work, especially a civil-service-office where I'm not only surrounded by current and former military and military dependents but also a crapload of "good christian folk" and the last thing I'm gonna do is tell anyone off, ugh, ugh, diplomacy skills, don't fail me now.

All I could think to say was, "I recommend at some point in your life, you have a chance to live for a year in Rhode Island."

I left it at that, and figured either it'd tweak someone's curiosity and they'd look it up, or it'd go over heads and we could drop it... but we wouldn't even have a federal union, let alone the "freedom of religion" on the bill of rights, if not for the representative from Rhode Island insisting. Move to that state, and they're quite proud of that contribution; the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations had "freedom of religion" in their colonial charter from day one, and were the only ones who did.

[pxcampbell.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention Rhode Island -- I went to college there and then was back again twenty years to run a company there. It's a quirky state, that's for sure.

Site the nation's first synagogue.

Here's some fodder for a diplomatic response. Meacham does such a good job of stating the historical facts and leveling discussion to something rational. http://www.newsweek.com/id/73863

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Hey, any state where the locals' idea of state-introduction is, "have you seen Dumb and Dumber? No? You should! It was written by two Roe Dylanders, and it's about two Roe Dylanders!"

Insert image of me staring blankly. I mean, just what do you say to that!?

Yeah, quirky doesn't begin to describe it. My sister went to RISD, and my roadtrips to visit her were always an event -- and then my first S.O. up and decided on J&W's culinary school, so a year after my sister left Providence, I was moving in. It does grow on you, though, and I'll always love Providence. It's a pocket-sized city!

[keilexandra]

A question, out of curiosity--do you think flag-burning as a form of protest should be allowed?

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

It's a powerful form of expression, nearly as powerful as that of taking the flag and trodding it under your feet. I'm not saying that such shouldn't be allowed, and in fact the more I value/understand the proper form of respect, the more I'd have a visceral reaction -- which is entirely the point of that sort of display/treatment.

Then again, sometimes I have to remind myself of a favorite quote by Bruce Baugh: “The real test of any claim about freedom ... is how far you’re willing to go in letting people be wrong about it.”

[okaasan59.livejournal.com]

Ignorance of the rules, while unpalatable, is at least understandable. But how much brain power does it take to know that a tattered, faded flag should be replaced? Mine only goes out a couple of days a year and never at night or in the rain. Hence, it has lasted 20 years. (It's also a good quality flag.)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Apparently there are some who hang the flag and simply forget about it: did my part, now I'm done, kthxbai. Then again, this isn't unlike their notion of being a citizen -- do the lip service and spend not a moment's more thought on things like, y'know, upkeep.

Morons. Surrounded by morons.

[sabrinafair.livejournal.com]

It's funny the different levels of intelligence in the state of Texas. Personally, being the granddaughter of Navy and Army folks, I know more rules about the flag than most people my age. I know that Texas is the only state which can fly the state flag at the same height as the US Flag, but you still put the American flag in the middle.
But then I also think Texas tries to be too unique because we still say the Texas pledge in school every day. The flag thing I understand; I'm proud to be from Texas even if most people in my state are morons, but the pledge (especially the new pledge) makes me want to scream and throw things.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Actually, the bit about the Texas flag flying at the same height is urban legend. All state flags may fly at the same height as the US flag, if the order is (from viewer's left) US flag, POW/MIA flag, state flags, then locality flags (such as city, university, organization). If the flag pole in the center is raised slightly, then yes, the US flag goes in that position of prominence.

I only know the "all flags same height" rule thanks to going to Six Flags Over Georgia as a child, back when it was only in GA and they really did fly all six flags -- Spain, France, Britain, the US flag, the Confederate Stars/Bars*, and the state of Georgia. (Although, technically, GA has never been a sovereign nation, so that final flag shouldn't be in there, but I guess "Five Flags" just doesn't sound as catchy as "Six Flags".)

I also used to go every summer to Eight Flags over Mississippi, not far from my materal grandparents' home -- and out front, every summer, my grandmother would quiz us on the eight flags hanging in historical order: France, Britain, Spain (parts of Mississippi and Florida were taken by the Spainish during the Rev. War), the early US flag, Republic of West Florida (thanks to ongoing legal questions about the actual territory covered by the Louisiana Purchase vs. continuing Spanish claims to the coastal areas), Mississippi Magnolia (when Mississippi seceeded fromt the US in '63, it did so as a sovereign nation, not as a member of the Confederacy, which makes it one of the three states in the Union with sovereign history -- Texas and Vermont being the other two, I believe), the Confederate Stars/Bars, and then also the state flag of Mississippi (which gets the same "uh, mebbe" as the GA state flag).

Actually, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Vermont, Texas (including the Republic of the Rio Grande, which was subsumed into Texas overall prior to Texan independence), and "West Florida" (covering Florida and the coastal sections of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana) were all sovereign nations at the time of their inclusion in the union (or re-inclusion as the case may be). And that said, some state flag codes specify, like Texas, that the state flag can fly at the same height as the US flag -- but the US flag code doesn't say that the state flags can't be flown equal-height. (This applies only when they're on separate poles.) Which means: fly 'em at the same height, US flag on far left, and be done with it.

Or you can really test the local state-knowledge by flying this flag (http://www.dixieflag.com/Detail.bok?no=180) instead!

* I specify stars/bars as opposed to the battle flag; the latter is what you see when people are being major bigots, as it's most recognizable, thank you NOT dukes-of-hazard. Sheesh.

[l-clausewitz.livejournal.com]

Now that makes me wonder what the North Korean flag code looks like....

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Uhm... "touch it and we blow you up"? Wait, are there any North Korean flags, or have they all been eaten by the citizenry?

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Well said! I've actually had a number of these thoughts before, but I'd never put them all together so well as this. Very impressive! :-D

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have a little plastic circle in the middle of my back, and if you pull its cord out to full length, I can rant for some time before running down. Just say the right word, pull it out, and off I go!

I'm tons of fun at parties. Oh yeah. /sarcasm

*rolls eyes*

But, uh, thanks! Expect more rants in the future. It's kinda inevitable, I suppose.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I greatly enjoy reading anyone who can successfully full off a sustained rant. Every time I try I either compress everything down until it's too short to qualify as a rant or else I introduce humor in inappropriate times/amounts/style and end up diluting the emotional impact. Ranting is one of those things things that easy to do well as people think. (Don't get me wrong - it's easy to do, but doing it well is an entirely different level of difficulty.)

[kraehe.livejournal.com]

Go for it -- print up the damned flyer! Send me the .pdf file & I'll pass them out, too!

I remember reading about people getting beat up during the late '60s for wearing, say, a flag patch on their pants pocket or otherwise making the flag into an item of clothing, which is definitely against the flag code. Funny thing is, it was the redneck idiots doing the 'beating up'; now they're the primary abusers.

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I still get uneasy when I see, like, boxers or shorts printed like the flag. Clothing looking like it's "made out of a flag" was one of the few things that would annoy my father, and really irritate my grandmother (officer's wife). Okay, when I'm not uneasy, I'm more like worried, thinking, "oh, man, take that off, before someone comes along and like, uh, arrests you or something for mutilating the flag!" ...except no one ever has, damn it, so guess it's up to me. Hah.

[fyretoppaaa.livejournal.com]

... Wah. That was educational. X) I lived in Canada up until about 5 years ago, and my entire family is Chinese; I guess with my parents' mindsets and so forth the lot of us just never got around to learning much about American traditions like flag codes. :o Although, possibly my sister might run into it at some point, she's had a lot of her schooling here.

I also get this feeling that a lot of your rants are going to end up in my memories as references/rereads for a rainy day; not a bad thing, nope. XDD

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

If it's any help, I believe the Canadian & British flag codes are pretty similar. They're all based, mostly, on the Continental traditions of battle-standards, dating from the late Renaissance or something. (I'm sure if we asked, some on my flist would know, and would happily hold forth for some time. Heh.)

Btw, total icon lurve. Yes, that would be ME. ;-)