Flag use on clothing

[EmailPoster]

We have a disagreement in our office....

We have a disagreement in our office....

Can/should a smaller version of an embroidered American flag be
displayed on the center/back of a jacket? Our company is nice enough
to provide us with a "company jacket"....with our company logo on the
front...and the American flag displayed on the back....with our
company's logo underneath.

Is this appropriate?

[tmiller]

It is great to see that your employers wish to show their American pride. However, to display the flag on the back of a jacket along with their company is technically not appriate flag etiquette for a few reasons. First, according to the United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 — The Flag section 8i, "the flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever". Also, according to section 8d, "the flag should never be used as wearing apparel" and in section 8g, "the flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature".
Maybe you could design a jacket with the company logo on the back and wear an American flag pins to show your pride and support our soldiers!

[tedbriseno]

According to the Code, then, should ANYONE wear the Flag on clothing?
Does the Code say only Military, Police and Fire Fighters can wear a Flag on clothing?

[akfriend]

is it appropriate to wear a dress made to look like flag material - meaning the whole dress has the flag pattern on it...???

[american_flag_uk]

Akfriend - welcome to USA flag site

My opinion is - yea it is absolutley fine - so long as it is not made from real flags!

[ECVII]

AKFriend:

The way I understand it as long as the clothing itself is not made of a whole or part of an actual American flag. I work for a wholesale company that also has several websites, the owner is very patriotic and one of the sites is actually Patriotic Clothing & Flag Shirts - Quality Patriotic Clotheswhich I don't have a problem with. As long as the shirts or clothing is tasteful obviously. . . .

[Robin Hickman]

.
Hello, ECVII !

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums !


My opinion is that while depicting an American Flag, or some kind of version of it, on an article of clothing is probably "okay", using a REAL honest-to-goodness American Flag as an article of clothing is NOT.

The difference between a "depiction" (picture, photograph, artistic rendition, etc.) of an American Flag and a REAL American Flag is similar to the difference between a picture of me and the REAL ME.

SEE ???


Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
.

[NAVA1974]

.
The difference between a "depiction" (picture, photograph, artistic rendition, etc.) of an American Flag and a REAL American Flag is similar to the difference between a picture of me and the REAL ME.
.

Robin,
Respectfully, I have to disagree with you here. While I agree that I would rather have someone run over my photograph with their car than run over ME with their car, I can be equally offended by someone personally assaulting and cussing me out, or by placing malicious lies on a poster with my picture and placing them in public places or posting it on the internet for all to see. Indeed, internet and media slander can be far more devastating than a simple physical assault.

Specifically, relating to the Flag on clothing the Flag Code says:

"The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." and " No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform."

That is pretty specific wording. In the first case I interpret that to mean an actual flag should not be used as clothing. The second case could be interpreted to mean any design with white stars on blue in conjunction with red and white stripes, however the prohibition is limited to costumes or athletic uniforms.

Any use of the flag that shows disrespect, whether it be graffiti on a 3x5 ft nylon flag with heading an grommets, or a picture of a flag used in an advertisement, is a violation of the Flag Code.
Nick

[Peter Ansoff]

" No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform." . . . That is pretty specific wording.

True, and what's interesting about it is that there's no mention of showing disrespect -- it just says flatly that you are not supposed to do it. Taken at face value, it would apply to a person wearing an Uncle Sam outfit in a parade.

Any use of the flag that shows disrespect

The problem, of course, is that (as Justice Holmes said in the quote down at the bottom of my posts) disrespect is often in the eye of the beholder. How about Wonder Woman's costume -- is it disrespectful, or uber-patriotic?

Peter Ansoff

[merz]

I am still somewhat confused after reading all of the posts. May I, or may I NOT, wear a very respectful, patriotic T-shirt that has the American Flag on it?