What is flag protocol?

[Baitball Blogger]

You just assume that a flag represents all of us, Americans, period. And that no one can commandeer its meaning. However, I've just learned otherwise so I have to ask. Is it acceptable to assign one particular flag to represent a select group of people? As in, this flying American flag is dedicated to the service men and women from so and so. The flag is located in the entryway of a residential community, so, the flag itself, which is an American flag, has been assigned a different meaning.

I mean, I can understand setting up a monument for that purpose. I just think it's odd to assign the actual flag as the monument. But I don't know, maybe this is common practice in other places?

[mrmpa]

1. the flag represents the United States....

to honor service members, it would be appropriate to fly the individual flags of each branch of the service.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. You would think that a person with a military background would know that, wouldn't you?

So, commandeering a flag to create the illusion that it's only for a certain select group is one more example of hubris, surely?

[mrmpa]

4. the operative word for the person who thought up this great idea............

is "think", they didn't. Yes it is hubris.

I can fly 4 flags from my porch; they are the US Flag (flown on all holidays), the Marine Corps Flag (flown on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the Marine Corps Birthday) the Polish Flag (Flown on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, my great uncle, born in Poland, fought for the US in WWII and was killed in France, I had 2 other uncles who also served, one being wounded twice) and the flag of Ireland (flown on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and St. Patrick's Day, my grandfather 1st generation American, fought in WWI for the US and my father was in the Marine Corps for 14 years serving in Korea).

There has been thought by me on how these are flown & when they are flown, the US Flag is always flown the highest.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. This particular group of good ole boys was behind an operation

in the late nineties which cost the city two million dollars to settle. Because they were not personally called out by name, they went in under the radar. That's what happens when you have lawyers who run around covering up for this kind of toxic leadership; and of course, in turn, they make it all too easy for the lawyers to use them to push other agendas.

[rgbecker]

3. So here's a flag issue I've been hung up about.

In my small town, it is not unusual to see the flag at the police/fire station and town hall flown at half mast when a local notable dies. Everything I can find on the subject of flying the flag at half mast is that can only be called for by the President of the US.

I am bothered by this because locals are dying all the time and who is to say one local deserves the honer while another does not. Say a local member of the volunteer fire department dies...flag goes to half mast. A former member of the Planning board that the current selectmen despise dies....flag stays up.

I'm about to call the town on this, but wonder what you think?

[mrmpa]

5. Oh, I agree with you.......

call the town officials. You can read to them about flag protocol, but what also works is a letter to the editor. The governor can call for the US flag to be flown at half staff, but usually it is for service members killed on active duty.

The township can have their flag flown as they wish, the fire hall can have their flag flown as they wish, but they cannot order the American flag flown at half staff for whoever they want. It pisses me off, a lot of times it's right wingers who "love" America, but have no idea how you treat its emblems.

Also I have seen schools fly the flag at half staff for students killed in car accidents, it pisses me off. When I try to explain, why the flag should be at half staff, I tell the person I'm explaining it to, that the person being honored must have been an asset to the United States as a whole.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. I do get the impression that every local and state government feels

sovereign on that issue. The unfortunate thing is that you can ask a public employee why the flag is flying at half mast and chances are they won't know.

I wonder if this is yet another example of the overreach that has been going with the poor leadership in our local governments? A lot of back slapping and self promotion that goes on around there.

[kristopher]

8. I think you can find the answers you seek here

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/faq.htm

However, no matter that the law says it isn't appropriate, I've seen local decisions to fly the flag at half mast for as long as I can remember.