Use of A Flag in a retail display

[cinpa]

I recently saw a retail dispay where the American Flag was laid out folded in half in a display area and then 3 manequins where placed on top of this area & flag. Yhe manequens where on 3 prong stand so it didn't look like they were standing on the flag but it was being used similar to a floor cloth. Is this disrespectful? and in useing the flag in a patriotic display, can the flag be used any way except by the stated rules on hanging it or laying it out?

[NAVA1974]

Dear cinpa,
I agree that the display you described is inappropriate and violates the United States Flag code on a number of counts: method of display, use of flag in advertising, flag on the ground or floor, to name a few.

During World War II there were many stores that used the US flag in patriotic displays, but they were careful to keep the display focused on the flag and our soldiers in uniform. They did NOT use the flag to augment a display of merchandise. Of course the display drew attention to the patriotic, civic-minded merchant and his/her store, but they were careful to keep the flag separate from direct merchandising.

That rule is clearly violated these days. Products have been offered literally "wrapped in the flag" with little thought given to the appropriateness of the display, or how our nation's flag was being treated. As a minimum, the flag should be displayed from a staff, or mounted properly against a wall, and merchandise should not obstruct the view of the flag.

Nick

ps. I am not old enough to "remember" WW II. That was a decade before my time. I am a collector, however, and I have a pair of scrapbooks that someone carefully assembled during the early 1940's that include many photos and articles about flag display during the War.