flag on clothing dispute

[geekwanab]

My brother-in-law and I had a discussion about a sweater that had an embroidered U.S. fag on the front my wife had bought at a discount clothing store to be used in a sweater throw that she was making. I said that this was a violation of the U.S. fag etiquette code 4-d. He became very angry yelling that this was B.S. I e-mailed that specific code but it seems to be a little vague and brings up the question of clothing being made out of a flag or an article that may eventually be disposed of later such as decorations or napkins. The question is exactly is the rule on the image of the flag on clothing. Is that a violation of the code? His contention was he owned and wore T-shirts that had the image of the U.S. flag on them and that was patriotic and did not violate any rule.

[NAVA1974]

The current flag code states "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." It does not say the flag should not be used ON wearing apparel.

The code goes on to say "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform." I do not take that as a prohibition against wearing a flag on a sweater or other garment in a respectable manner.

Nick A
Columbia MD

[APS221]

The code goes on to say "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform." I do not take that as a prohibition against wearing a flag on a sweater or other garment in a respectable manner.

I agree, since the code goes on to permit the wearing of a flag patch on uniforms. Clearly, the placement of a flag on a garment is not completely prohibited. I agree that the code indicates it should be done in a respectable manner.

[Peter Ansoff]

As Justice Holmes said in the quote down there at the bottom of my posts, the meaning of a symbol depends in part on who is viewing it and on the context. Most people would agree that wearing a clean T-shirt with a flag printed on it is an expression of patriotism. But -- what about a flag T-shirt that is torn and stained with oil and grease? Is the message patriotic ("I'm a hard-working American who's not afraid of getting his hands dirty") or derogatory ("I don't care if the symbol of the nation is stained and torn")? It all depends. Generally, flying a flag that is dirty and tattered is not considered to be very patriotic -- but what about the famous World War II poster that shows a such a flag with the caption "Remember Pearl Harbor"? Again, the difference is viewer perception and context.

Peter Ansoff