Flag Abuse

[cormac]

Yesterday evening, I rescued an American flag.

The flag had been flying nonstop at a restaurant in Azusa since at least seven months ago, when the owner took posession of the restaurant; I suspect it's been flying there for years. The owner's reason? "I'm a busy man, and don't always have time to take it down and put it back up."

The first four stripes are nearly completely gone, the other stripes have been reduced to a skeleton frame of seams, and the union (the blue section with the stars) is a faded lavender. I'll have photos later this evening.

You see these abused flags all the time, particularly in industrial areas, but anywhere, really. It's a shame that the owners of these companies can't take the time to retire these flags, or at least replace them. No, they would rather leave it up there, torn and tattered, looking more like a prop from a post-apocalyptic film than a symbol of our nation's pride, than take the 2 minutes a day it takes to raise and lower the flag.

To combat this negligence, a couple hours ago I registered a new domain name: http://flagabuse.com . Though I haven't had time to build it up yet, I hope to provide photos, addresses and phone numbers of companies who are neglecting the American flag, so that concerned citizens can compel them to treat our national symbol with due dignity.

Comments

[uniqueblog.livejournal.com]

I know groundlingchild will take up your cause... it's a huge hot button issue with her.
As for me, I'll take photos and send them to you as I see them.

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Thanks. My goal would be to get a shot of the company's storefront (preferably with the flag in view) and a detail shot of the flag itself.

[jj-maccrimmon.livejournal.com]

Gee, you happen to know a photographer who's also a Reserve Air Force Major..

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Gee, I do at that don't I? :)

Soon enough, I'll be posting instructions on photographing and documenting problematic companies.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who has stopped on freeways and highways to recover small flags that have blown off of cars, very much agreed.

Just be careful in some cases. In late 2002 I stopped on San Juan Capistrano to recover a large flag that had been displayed on the overpass near Ave Calafia since September of 2001. It was beyond tattered, literally the zip ties around the seams was the only thing keeping parts of this flag on the bridge, much less intact.

And while taking it down (and folding it *properly*), I was flipped off and yelled at by people in the cars below, and had three very large Marine-types come over to ask "what the fucking hell was I doing". (When I explained that this flag was in need of retirement and asked for their help in folding it, they backed off. They didn't help me fold it though.)

Once a year I take all the flags I collect to the VFW, for them to retire in an appropriate manner.

[sevenleafclover.livejournal.com]

yeah, its funny I think the citizen neglect of the flag is nothing compared to the citizen neglect of the government. our government is becoming an ever eroding husk of corruption because of citizen neglect. i guess that's what we get for depending on politicians to run everything.

"become the change you wish to see in the world"
-gandhi

[cormac.livejournal.com]

I know you're an iconoclast, so I understand where you're coming from, and I agree with your point. However, I see neglect of both flag and country as intertwined, with one being highly symbolic of the other. The idea of caring for and about this country was replaced a while back with half-assed patriotism, whereby you put up a flag (but don't care for it) and listen to pundits on both sides telling you how bad things are getting in this country (but don't do anything to change it). Either way you cut it, it's apathy towards the decline of this country, and neglect of all the things that make us great.

[firedrake-mor.livejournal.com]

Bless you, brother. While I may agree with "sevenleafclover" about neglect of our government, that isn't the point here. You did the right thing. Thank you.

[cormac.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I can only hope that others follow my lead, and either approach the owner of establishments flying abused flags, or take photos and send them to be put on the website.

[phoenixor.livejournal.com]

I *SO* volunteer to build you a web2.0 driven googlemaps widget based forum site! YAY! Do you have hosting?

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm being hosted through isphost.org. And I'll take you up on the offer! Let's get crackin'!

[herveus.livejournal.com]

The most egregious one I recall seeing was someone who mounted a staff in the bed of his pick-em-up truck with a substantial flag on it. The flag was seriously ratty on the fly from the constant flogging inflicted by hurricane and near hurricane force winds. I bet the driver thought he was being extra patriotic for flying such a large flag. Really sad.

[cormac.livejournal.com]

A similar issue, though by no means as visible or egregious, is any driver who has the window flags that they've left on their vehicle since September 12, 2001, where the fly of the flag has been worn down into the union, and the colors are barely discernable due to sun bleaching. But the high visibility of the truck flags, and the permanence of a flagpole mounted to the bed of a pickup, makes it even worse.