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Flag Day was Saturday. Did you miss it? That’s probably because its not a holiday that leads to a day off.
The day commemorates the official adoption of the U.S. flag by the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
In the past century, Congress passed an act establishing June 14 as Flag Day, though it’s not a federal holiday.
Several years back, one of the members of the church I attended donated a set of flags, a U.S. and a Christian flag, to be displayed on patriotic holidays and Flag Day, if it fell on a Sunday. Our pastor called me one day and asked how we were supposed to place the flags in the sanctuary.
I didn’t know the answer, but I knew where to find the answer: the Uniform Flag Code, which details just about everything you need to know to show proper respect for the flag.
The answer, by the way, is that the American flag goes on the speaker’s right.
The flag has become an integral part of our culture and language. We tell people to rally ’round the flag. Patriots are called flag wavers. When war breaks out, we have battles between people who use the flag to protest government policy and people whose reverence for the flag and what it stands for makes them positively apoplectic about those protests.
Strangely, too many folks on both sides have no idea what the official law of the land says about proper treatment of the symbol of our nation.
You probably know the flag should never touch the ground, and when it has become worn and unsuitable for service it should be disposed of in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.
But did you know the flag should never be used for an advertising purpose.
It is not supposed to be printed, embroidered or otherwise impressed on stuff that will be used temporarily and then tossed. So those paper plates and napkins you use for your barbecues on patriotic holidays shouldn’t have a representation of the flag on them, and all those car and furniture dealerships probably shouldn’t be using flag backdrops in ads hawking their wares.
Oh, and that T-shirt with the flag on it? That’s a no-no as well, as I understand the code.
I remember attending a service club meeting one day in Lockney, and one of the members came in livid because he’d seen a teenager wearing a pair of jeans with a flag patch sewn on the back pocket. As I recall, he wanted to put the print of one of his boots on the other pocket.
A patch like the one the young man wore may be acceptably displayed on uniforms of military personnel, fire and police personnel and members of patriotic organizations. On Army uniforms, the patch is worn with the stars facing forward, as though it were being carried on a staff and blown back.
Flag lapel pins, the lack of which put one presidential candidate on many Americans bad side, are the exception to the apparel rule.
All this and more is detailed in the flag code. So what happens if you break the code? What are the penalties should someone work himself into a snit and decide to turn in flag scofflaws instead of administering West Texas, Justin boot justice?
Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The code specifies no penalties for failure to observe it. You can’t be given a fine, sent to defensive flag-flying school or put in jail. Enforcement is maintained strictly through respect. And thanks to the Constitution, you are free to respect it or not.
A lot of Americans don’t like that concept. They would like to see some teeth put into respect for the flag, but most everyone knows respect has to be earned, not forced.
This Flag Day, take time to educate yourself about what your government says constitutes proper respect for our nation’s most powerful symbol. Then, if it has earned your respect, give honor where honor is due.
Michael O’Connor can be reached at editor@trcle.com.
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