American Flag Blog

A vote is scheduled this week in the House of Representatives on HJR-10, otherwise known as the Flag Protection Amendment. If you are a reader of this blog, you know that we support this amendment because we don’t beleive that the protections afforded by the First Amendment should be expanded to include acts that are violent or that threaten violence.

Earlier this month, an organization called The First Amendment Center issued a press release with the results of a poll they had conducted. 63% of respondents, according to the pole, felt the U.S. Constitution “should not be amended to prohibit burning or desecrating the American flag,” while just 35% thought the Costitution “should be amended.” For what it’s worth, the First Amendment Center is an arm of the Freedom Forum, an organization founded by Allen H Neuharth, the publisher of USA Today.

We didn’t report on this earlier because it was pretty obvious that the "news release" was timed to coincide with the pending vote in Congress, and we question the credibility of polls in general.

Well, as if to prove our point, the American Legion, in a press release today, made public the results of another survey which says that 75% of Americans support the Flag Protection Amendment. So which is it - 35% or 75% in favor? The American Legion pole was at least conducted by a reputable, independent, publicly held firm - the Opinion Research Corporation, as opposed to in-house pollsters.

I think that the vote in Congress will tell us a lot about which of these two polls has the greater credibility. Members of Congress don’t care what this group or that group thinks. They care what their constituents think and have a good idea of what side of this issue to land on to stay out of trouble.

There’s a lot of truth to the old adage, "You learn something new everyday."

On Flag Day, the U.S. Army celebrated 230 years of service with a ceremony in Times Square. To schedule the ceremony to coincide with Flag Day makes some sense - pooling resources and all that. But the something new I learned was that Flag Day also marks the founding of the United States Army.

On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution creating "the American Continental Army." A considerable amount of secrecy surrounded the actions of the Continental Congress that day, so records of the details don’t exist.

It turns out that June 14th has a dual significance in American history. First, it marks the day that the U.S. Army was formed, and second, it marks the day that our American flag was adopted.

I read a column today that called to the reader’s attention, all the ways we inadvertantly desecrate the American flag while innocently beleiving were are honoring the flag. For example, the U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag should not be used as clothing, or for advertising purposes or for an item, such as a knapkin that is disposable. The point being that there is a big difference betwwen unintentional desecration and intentional desecration.

That part of the article was exactly right. Where the author went wrong was to then make the statement that intentionally desecrating the flag is protected under the First Amendment because intent is something that is protected.

Just so we’re all on the same page, here is what the First Amendment actually says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In this simple single sentence. we clearly can see what is protected - freedom of speech, which means words that are spoken - freedom of the press, which means words that are written - and the right of the people to peaceably assemble. It might be a good idea if people stop trying to re-write the First Amendment to include the protection of flag burning as free speech, and just accept it exactly as it is written.

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah had this to say of the pending Flag Amendment:

"It’s important that we venerate the national symbol of our country. Burning, urinating, defecating on the flag — this is not speech. This is offensive conduct."

We couldn’t agree more. You are free to write, think or say almost anything you want here in America. But why should burning a flag in public trump laws  that prohibit starting fires in public? Senator Hatch has nailed it exactly - the desecration of the American flag involves conduct, much of which, if it were not for the American flag being involved, would be plainly illegal.

Congress will vote on the Flag Amendment next week. Let’s hope they pass it.

A one-line blurb caught my eye earlier - someone had stolen an American flag, then burned it in the town of Sturgis. My first thought was that it was Sturgis, South Dakota, made famous by their annual Bike Week, when thousands of motorcycle riders from all over the US converge for a week of biker stuff. My second thought was that I’ll bet the person who did this would not have the courage to do it in broad daylight during Bike Week, lest he or she become the highlight event of the week. Use your imagination.

Alas, after doing a little investigation, I discovered that this was Sturgis, Michigan, not Sturgis, South Dakota. But my point is the same - the perpetrator of this vile act happens to also be the type of person who does it secretly, under the cover of darkness, which makes it simply a senseless act of cowardice.

Take it a step further. Imagine that an unhappy person - maybe the unemployment checks are always late - decides that it’s time to protest and goes out and buys (not steals) an American flag. This person then takes the beautiful new flag to a street corner in Sturgis, South Dakota during Bike Week and lights up. I don’t think that the fact that this righteous individual actually purchased the flag would prevent he or she from entering into American folklore before the flag finished burning.

As Flag Day is now behind us and the Fourth of July is fast approaching, we here at Flagstuff.com are focusing most of our attention on American flags. And the dicussions we have often revolve around the symbolism of the American flag, what it means to be an American and traits we view to be peculiar to Americans.

There is one trait in particular that I think was once more common among Americans than it is now, and I think it should be revived. That trait is one of healthy skepticism. My father used to say, "Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see."  And while I thought that his admontion was mostly humourous, as I grew older, I came to realize that there is a lot of truth in it.

Now we find out that there is a guy who is a professor emeritus of Texas A&M University by the name of Morgan Reynolds who is voicing his opinion that the colapse of the Twin Towers in New York was probably  controlled demolitian carried out by the US government.

But my point here is not to examine the merits of his argument - I personally don’t think there are any merits to his argument - but rather, to make a statement about the veracity of stories we read in the newspapers, etc. The following is a statement on Mr. Reynolds that was quoted in a UPI news service story. Please take note of the portion that was written by a UPI reporter - it’s the line that is in bold and underlined.

‘ "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an ‘inside job’ and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government’s collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings." ‘

Now read the official response from Texas A&M’s website to this and other stories about Reynold’s comments. Again, please pay particular attention to the bold and underlined sentence:

‘The following is a statement from Texas A&M University regarding recent news reports about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11.

Dr. Morgan Reynolds is retired from Texas A&M University, but holds the title of Professor Emeritus-an honorary title bestowed upon select tenured faculty, who have retired with ten or more years of service.  Additionally, contrary to some written reports, while some faculty emeriti are allocated office space at Texas A&M, Dr. Reynolds does not have an office on the Texas A&M campus. Any statements made by Dr. Reynolds are in his capacity as a private citizen and do not represent the views of Texas A&M University.  Below is a statement released yesterday by Dr. Robert M. Gates, President of Texas A&M University:

"The American people know what they saw with their own eyes on September 11, 2001. To suggest any kind of government conspiracy in the events of that day goes beyond the pale.” ‘

The whole point is that the reporter, in his or her zeal to punch-up this story, plays fast and loose with the facts, which, in effect, kills the credibility of the entire story.

Moral of the story - Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.

Besides being Flag Day, today is my 50th Birthday, so we’ll keep it short.

The following joke was contained in an email I received this morning from Peter Ansoff of the North American Vexillological Association, of which we are a member. It was paraphrased from a recent posting by Ivan Sache on FOTW and was originally about a Belgian flag:

A man walks into a flag store, and says to the clerk "I’d like to buy a green American flag."

"Sorry," says the clerk, " but we don’t have any — all of our American flags are red, white and blue." 

The man thinks about this a minute, and says, "well, alright — I guess I’ll take a blue one."

And on a more serious note, here’s a poem that was emailed to us by Roger Hancock of PoetPatriot.com fame:

One Flag
       by Roger W Hancock

One flag over one land,
One flag, our ever-loving freedom.
One flag evangelize,
One flag to teach world peace.
One flag alone stands tall,
One flag in righteousness.
One flag when tattered shows,
One flag over struggling rights.
One flag of history’s pride,
One flag over any other.
One flag, remembrance,
One flag, freedom’s sacrifice.
One flag alone stands tall,
One flag; the red, white, and blue.
One flag, one heart, one hand,
One flag over this great land.
One flag in protest fly,
One flag, responsible liberty.
One flag, my God allows,
One flag, my worship free.
One flag, Old Glory,
One flag, American banner.
One flag, one nation’s flag;
I pledge to this one flag.

(c) June 15, 2003 Roger W Hancock www.PoetPatriot.com

Well, hope you enjoyed our Flag Day blog - now I’m off to polish off a big grilled steak!

Here’s a timely article that appears in the "Articles" section of our website, Flagstuff.com. It’s interesting to me how these things come about, so I thought it might be interesting to someone else out there too - enjoy!

The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of the Stars and Stripes) as ‘Flag Birthday’. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as ‘Flag Birthday’, or ‘Flag Day’.

On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution celebrated Flag Day.

Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time, historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the Mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the American Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter, the day be known as ‘Flag Day’, and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small American Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small American flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

In 1894, the Governor of New York directed that on June 14, the American Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy VanHorn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children’s celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humbolt, Lincoln and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.

Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson’s proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

Today is the first day of National Flag Week, which incorporates, of course, Flag Day. Even though our nation is still relatively young, the design of our flag is one of the longest lived in the world, due in large part to the stability of the American system of government, the foundation of which is the Constitution of the United States. So the next time you hear something you disagree with coming out of the mouth of a politician or your next door neighbor or your dentist, why not reflect on the great good fortune you have to be living in this time and place in history.

The following is the official proclamation from President George W. Bush:

For more than two centuries, the flag of the United States has been a symbol of hope and pride. The flag has inspired our citizens during times of conflict and comforted us during moments of sorrow and loss. On Flag Day and throughout National Flag Week, we celebrate the proud legacy of Old Glory and reflect on this enduring symbol of freedom.

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field." As States have been added to the Union, the flag has been modified to reflect their addition to our Nation. Today, the appearance of our flag is based on President Eisenhower’s Executive Order of August 21, 1959, to include a star for all 50 States together with 13 stripes representing the original 13 American colonies.

Generations of Americans in uniform have carried the Stars and Stripes into battle so that our citizens can live in freedom. Across the globe, a new generation of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen has stepped forward to serve under our flag, defending America from our enemies. We are grateful to them and their families for defending our flag and the values of our great Nation.

On this Flag Day, we recall the rich history of Old Glory, and we remember our duty to carry our heritage of freedom into the future.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as "Flag Day" and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as "National Flag Week" and calling upon all citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2005, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 12, 2005, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by flying the Stars and Stripes from their homes and other suitable places. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

I’m pretty sure that people who harbor a penchant for desecration of the American flag don’t do it because they have a problem with the physical form or design of the flag. They do it, rather, because they despise what it represents.

So I think it’s a fair question to ask, exactly what does it represent? Well, to me, it doesn’t represent a political party or a particular candidate or who’s in the White House, or who currently controls Congress or a point of view or a religion or any of that. To me, it represents the unprecedented freedoms the citizens of this country have enjoyed for more than two hundred years.

So why do some people insist on attacking the symbol of the very idea that allows them to attack the symbol (without fear of reprisal) in the first place? I don’t get it. Anyway, here’s two quotes from men with very different viewpoints. The beauty of it is that both were able to have their say without threat of persecution for their ideas.

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag."
-Zell Miller - Democrat Senator from Georgia.

Hey Zell, you left out "wash the flag!"

"If you want a symbolic gesture, don’t burn the flag; wash it."
-Norman Thomas - Socialist and a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.