[bugleeditor]

Our school district recently had a logo designed for use on their stationery and on the floor of the main school entrance. It includes a Native American flag on the left of a large letter "A" and a United States flag to the right. I was uncomfortable with the thought of walking across these flags each time I enter the school but can't find a reference to whether this is appropriate use of the image of our flag. Does anyone know?

[Peter Ansoff]

Greetings, bugleeditor - welcome!

That's kind of a tricky one. The flag code is pretty clear that the flag should not be displayed on the floor ("The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water or merchandise."). However, what we have here is not actually a flag, but an image of a flag that's part of the seal. I would also be a bit uncomfortable about the idea of people walking on an image of the flag, especially with dirty footgear. However, I've seen other examples of this sort of thing. The north extension of the Texas state capitol building has a Seal Court that displays the reverse of the state seal on the floor; the seal depicts the US flag among the other flags that have flown over Texas. Texans tend to be very protective of their flags, but I guess this doesn't bother them!

Which Native American flag is on your logo? Native American flags are a fascinating subject in themselves; NAVA member Don Healy wrote a book on the subject some years back. He also maintained a fine web site about them for a while; I'm not sure that it's still active however.

Peter Ansoff

[bugleeditor]

Iroquois Confederacy - I did find Mr. Healy's website. I may just publish the logo and see if anyone feels as I do.

[Peter Ansoff]

The Iroquois Confederacy flag is one of my favorites -- strong symbolism and a very striking design. Could you perhaps post a photo of the logo here in the forum?

Best,

Peter A.

[bugleeditor]

I have viewed the logo, but do not have a copy. If I can gain access to one I'll post it.