4 July 2005 (Monday)
self-evident
Today, Julian and I (and several other people - not all linked-to here) participated in a great Boston July Fourth tradition. No, we didn't go down to the Charles to hear the Pops play a patriotic medly followed by the coordinated booming and roaring and banging and popping of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture paired with cannon blasts and fireworks. (Duh, check the timestamp.) Rather, this morning we decided to head on down to the Old State House to hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence. I've been told that this pubic reading has taken place every July Fourth since 1777 (there was a bit of a time lag in 1776, and the document didn't make it up here and get approved for public reading until the 18th).
It was kind of nifty, seeing the fife-and-drums parade and listening to the awe-inspiring Preamble and Declaration (and the somewhat ranty list of grievances - a prelude to Festivus, perhaps?). After the crowd dispersed, Julian and I wandered around a bit. We spotted more than a few red-white-and-blue outfits (I was among the guilty, with my jeans, red polo shirt, and white beret) - and one girl, probably about 15 or 16, with a particularly interesting take on patriotism. She folded a flag approximately in half to create a triangle, and then tied it around her waist so it draped over her butt. Um...last I checked, that's not appropriate treatment of our flag:
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.
I resisted the urge to speak up (I wasn't in the mood for a shouting match or a fistfight), but I'm rather disappointed that basic rules of flag etiquette aren't more well know. Granted, our flag code is stricter than that of many other countries (which allow their flags to be worn, draped, gathered into bunting, and otherwise used for decorative purposes). But is it too much to ask that, in your endeavor to celebrate our nation and our flag, you at least double-check that your actions are celebratory rather than demeaning?
You are SOOOO on the mark, lulei demistafina, regarding the flag. The problem is that the flag today is used as a design on so many articles of clothing that many people are unaware of the problem.
I was up at Lake George for the weekend and grabbed a towel from the linen closet put it in my suitcase, and only after stepping out of the shower hours later in my cabin did I notice that the towel was a giant American flag! What to do?
PS: you wrote that their are countries that "allow their fags to be worn." Unless the English have started adorning themselves with cigarettes, you may want to edit that!
