Sign Of Distress...

[RAZ]

I have been receiving emails saying that many people plan on flying the flag upside down on the Fourth, I presume as a silent protest of the current administration. I know doing so is an international sign of distress, however is doing this offensive/disrespectful to our veterans and our troops?
Thanks!

[Robin Hickman]

.
Hello, RAZ !

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site forums !


QUOTE : "I have been receiving emails saying that many people plan on flying the flag upside down on the Fourth, I presume as a silent protest of the current administration. I know doing so is an international sign of distress, however is doing this offensive/disrespectful to our veterans and our troops? Thanks!"


Undoubtably, there will be a large number of "Tea Baggers" exercising their "First Amendment Rights" by flying their American Flags upside-down, or flying "Gadsden" flags, or "Gonzoles" ("Come and take it") flags, or "Culpeper Minutemen" flags as a sign of political "protest".

That's the "bad" news. The "good" news is there will be far fewer of them doing it than there were back on April 15th, "Tax Day". Additionally, they will also be far less "organized" for the most part.


So what, exactly, does the United States Flag Code have to say about flying the American Flag with the "Union down" (upside-down) ???

LET'S FIND OUT, SHALL WE ???


UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 4, CHAPTER 1 - "The Flag"

Section 8 - "Respect For Flag"

Sub-section (a.) "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."

Link to the U.S. Flag Code HERE : http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagcode.htm


So..... What do YOU think ???

Re-read the original question, then re-read the applicable sub-section of the U.S. Flag Code.

BUT..... Before you make your mind up, remember that we live in a Nation whose Constitution allows ALL of us to express our "protests" in a variety of ways, including flying the Flag with the Union Down.


QUOTE : "I have been receiving emails saying that many people plan on flying the flag upside down on the Fourth, I presume as a silent protest of the current administration. I know doing so is an international sign of distress, however is doing this offensive/disrespectful to our veterans and our troops?"

SECTION 8 (a.) "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."


As a veteran, I can tell you that while it might tick me off when people fly the Flag upside-down in order to make a "political" point, I am proud to have served (and live in) a Nation that allows it's citizens the right to protest just about whatever they want, in just about whatever manner they choose to, no matter how much their protesting makes them look like utter & complete Un-American & Anti-American BUFFOONS !!!

But then, that's just MY opinion.....


So..... What do YOU think ???


Thank You for bringing your Flag-related question to our Forums !


Robin Hickman
.

[RAZ]

Robin-THANK YOU for your service! I agree with you. I posted the question because others were asking me and I wanted to hear from someone like you. I read that the Rev. Michael Pfleger said he intends to keep flying an upside down American flag outside of his South Side Chicago church to protest gun violence and this seemed wrong to me. Thanks again for your response and your service.
Happy Fourth of July!

[Robin Hickman]

.
NO "prob", RAZ !!!


Check back here when you can as there are other people on here who might express THEIR opinions on this subject (among others...).

Like I said, the good news is that there will be fewer "Tea Baggers" protesting this time around and they will be less organized than they were during the (Republican backed and funded) "protests" back on April 15th.


Oh, Well..... "Tea Baggers"..... Waddya Gonna DO ???


I've got over 100 Full-sized (3'x5') American Flags to take care of tomorrow. So I'm not going to be worrying about what a small rag-tag bunch of "Tea Baggers" are going to be "protesting" about !!!


WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ! ! !


Robin Hickman
.

[NAVA1974]

In practice, flags are rarely flown upside down to signal distress. In the 18th and 19th centuries when visual communications were the only means of "instant messaging" from ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore, flags may have been inverted during daytime emergencies, but these days they are uniformly used as signals of protest regardless of the provisions of the Flag Code.

[fast1]

daytime emergencies? then what about night? isn't your own flag still visibly obvious when it is upside down even at night?

[Robin Hickman]

.
All in all, it's one of the MANY reasons why I do my best to never confuse "politics" with patriotism !!!

Robin "I'm Not Confused, Am I?" Hickman
.

[jefftomczak]

Robin, you have a very appropriate quote cited at the bottom of your feed..."All That Is Needed For Evil To Triumph Is For Good Men To Stand By And Do Nothing" Well did you ever stop to think that the "Tea Baggers" as you so affectionately refer to them (us) are NOT standing by doing nothing? The Tea Party protests are not going to let evil triumph.

For a veteran, you seem to have forgotten the oath that you took to defend the Constitution, specifically the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You seem to want to quash any dissent when you may not agree with it. Read the last line again..."...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." What the heck do you think this is?

-Jeff in Denver
Show Your Colors

[Robin Hickman]

.
Greetings, jefftomczak !!!


Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums !!!


QUOTE : "Robin, you have a very appropriate quote cited at the bottom of your feed..."All That Is Needed For Evil To Triumph Is For Good Men To Stand By And Do Nothing" Well did you ever stop to think that the "Tea Baggers" as you so affectionately refer to them (us) are NOT standing by doing nothing?"


Hmmmm.....


Maybe I should change the quotation in my "signature" to read : "All That Is Needed For EVIL TEA BAGGERS To Triumph Is For Good Men To Stand By And Do Nothing "???

NAW . . . . .


Anyway, all kidding aside, you seemed to have read something in this thread that prompted you to respond. I'm not sure what it was of mine that you read here, so you might want to re-read it.

I do not remember writing in this thread, or in any other thread in any of these forums, anything that might seem to suggest that I wanted to "quash any dissent" that I might not agree with (QUOTE : "You seem to want to quash any dissent when you may not agree with it.").

But, then again, in the year or so that I have been a member here, I've made almost 500 posts, so anything is possible, right?

If you would like to read what I've written just go to the top (upper left-hand side) of any of my posts and click on my name, and a menu should appear. Click on the link that says, "Find all posts by Robin Hickman".

Who knows? You might even find out why I have over 600 American Flags in my house and what I do with a whole bunch of them on most "Flag" holidays !!!


Thank You for bringing your Flag-related question to our Forums !!!


Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
.

[NAVA1974]

Robin,
I note that many people state their opinions in this forum (as is their right) but when opposing opinions are raised they claim that we are trying to "quash dissent." What happened to our rights to state our views?
Nick