ID Check

There's a debate going on Blackfive regarding the flag. Some people allege that we have made an idol of the American flag, and pledging allegiance to the flag is akin to worship.

Unfortunately an essay about the flag that I wrote several years ago is published under my real name, so I can't use it here. But I'll do my best to recap and deal with the issue at hand.

A while back, I created a ruckus by taking down the very damaged flag that was flying at my office building. A lot of people were not happy with me, and they made complaints about everything from liability to the fact that I talked the local fire department into helping me. A couple veterans understood, but they were in the minority. I realized then that a large portion of America has no clue of what the flag is all about.

From dictionary.com:
FLAG: 1.a piece of cloth, varying in size, shape, color, and design, usually attached at one edge to a staff or cord, and used as the symbol of a nation, state, or organization, as a means of signaling, etc.; ensign; standard; banner; pennant.

"As a means of signaling, etc" is fascinating to me. The flag is an identification of all who rally underneath it. I remember when I was in the Middle East someone's overprotective mother sent a Canadian flag patch for her to put on her pack, to make her "less of a target". We all laughed about it, but it still aggravates me years later. I don't have any trouble with going "unlabeled" in a dangerous region, but wearing another country's flag feels...treasonous. I've masqueraded as Russian more than a few times, and even used some of their symbols...but never the flag. I own an ancestral flag or two, but they do not receive the same honor as the Stars and Stripes.

So many Americans under appreciate our flag because they only know it as another corporate logo and have never experienced it as a signal. Navigating airports and Customs gives a small taste; walking under the flag into the American Embassy in a hostile country teaches more in 30 seconds than a hundred civics lessons. It's knowing that you're among your own, that the Marines have your back, that as much as the diplomats/politicians annoy you they won't kill or kidnap you. It's knowing that you're under the protection of the Constitution again. It gets tricky trying to wave US Soil, Embassies, Marines, the Constitution, etc in front of our homes and public buildings. So we've chosen a flag to represent everything we hold dear about our nation. Those who abuse and disrespect the flag intentionally are making a clear declaration about their own identity: they are the people who on some level do not value all this country has to offer. Yes, they have the right to their opinions, and when they break the law in their dealings with the flag, they have the right to a fair trial. And the government has the right to put them in jail when it is clear that the broke the law. Freedoms don't abrogate the law; they help shape the law.

ALLEGIANCE: 1. the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign. 2. loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.

Pledging allegiance to the flag makes sense when you understand what the flag itself means. If you've ever kissed a loved one's picture or letter, you already have a basic understanding of this. It's not about the paper and ink, it's about what is represented by that paper and ink. We treat them with special care because of what is represented: the people we love. It's too complicated to list off everything we love about our country in our official pledge of allegiance, so we let the flag symbolize it all. We let it identify who we are.

Disrespecting the American flag also tells us something about the people who engage in such behavior. Either they are ignorant, or they do not love the same things we love. As long as they stay within the law, they are free to believe this way. But we are free to rally around our flag, look at these others, and say "You are not with us."