Flags

Whenever people from other countries ask me why Americans make such a big deal out of their flag, I roll my eyes and say, “I have no idea!”

Flags. Every country has one. Some religions have them. In this country, every state has one, in addition to the country’s flag.

Flags have been around for centuries. I’m sure T-Rex would have had a flag if he could only have reached it.

But only in this country do people stand with hand to heart pledging their allegiance to a piece of cloth. Yes, they also pledge that allegiance to the country as a sovereign nation. But why, when no other country in the world has a pledge to their flag, do we have one?

Now, before you go ballistic and accuse me of being unpatriotic, I’m not saying anyone shouldn’t do this. I’m simply asking why we do when nowhere else is it done. Incidentally – you can google this – it is actually unconstitutional to require students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.

Other countries have national anthems that are sung at the beginning of sporting events and national events – or when an athlete from their country wins a medal in the Olympics.

We have one of those, too. In fact we have no shortage of patriotic songs about our country and our flag. Yet, with the exception of multi-national events, almost any time the national anthem is sung, the pledge is said as well. But why?

Americans are huge flag-wavers. At every parade on every national holiday, the flag figures in a big way. Nearly every organization marching in a parade carries a large American flag.

Yes, to welcome troops back from war, at royal weddings and many national events, other countries use their flag. But this isn’t always the case. On Armistice Day (Remembrance Day), while Americans wave their flag, the British wear poppies.

America has rules about the flag: which way the flag must face when hanging horizontally or vertically, how to fold it, how to dispose of it when it gets worn out. It’s not supposed to be flown after sunset unless it is lighted. It isn’t supposed to be flown in inclement weather unless it’s weatherproof. Yet nearly every business in this country seems to have a large flag flying.

What I find a bit odd is that the proper way to dispose of a worn out flag is to burn it. Yet, people protesting against the United States burn the flag and it’s considered a sign of disrespect.

American flags are also not supposed to be worn as clothing, so a bandana around someone’s head that is clearly made to look like an American flag is a flagrant violation.  And you see almost all politicians in the US wearing flag pins on their lapels. Yet no one is incensed by these practices.

Other countries don’t seem to raise flags to the level of veneration that Americans do. So why do Americans do it?

Throughout history flags have been used to mark out land ownership, to define which group of knights or soldiers were holding ground, and to indicate that one side or other is still part of the mix. The flag was draped over the body of a slain warrior, and a white flag was flown to indicate surrender.

Even in modern games, capturing the “enemy” flag is a symbol of winning.

Yet Americans enshrine their flag in a way that other nations don’t. Not long ago, some American athletes chose to show their protest of issues that should have gone away centuries ago but haven’t. Their choice of protest was to kneel during the National Anthem (and the Pledge of Allegiance).

Some people, encouraged by the current occupant of the White House, demanded that these athletes be fired immediately. Who did they think they were, showing such disrespect for the flag? These same people who were so offended would no doubt die of apoplexy if someone dared hint at any attempt at regulating guns in this country. That, they say, is infringing on their second amendment right to bear arms.

Yet they ignore the fact that the protesting athletes are merely exercising their first amendment rights to free speech.

And how is kneeling disrespectful? One kneels to be knighted. In many faiths, one kneels to pray. They simply chose not to recite the pledge and quietly and respectfully kneel instead. They did not yell; they did not disrupt others; they did not set the flag on fire. They knelt. And that is their right.

It wasn’t the fact that they were exercising their rights. It was the fact that others didn’t agree with their opinion. And mostly, it was because these athletes were people of color.

Those who thought they should be fired would have beaten a path to the nearest law firm if they were fired for exercising their own first amendment rights. If they found the behavior of the athletes so offensive, the proper response was to exercise their own first amendment rights and boycott the games of the offending teams. Money talks in America.

Besides, all the athletes did was fail to salute a piece of cloth.