US Flag patch etiquette

[GernBlansten]

So, I'm standing at the back of troop meeting last night, reading a flag etiquette guide I found in the scout closet. Imagine my shock and embarrassment as I read the section on flag patch placement and orientation.

 

"the flag patch on the left sleeve of a uniform should have the union to the viewer's left while a patch on the right sleeve should be displayed with the union to the viewer's right so that, in both cases, the flag is facing forward and is streaming to the back as the person moves forward."

 

http://flagandbanner.com/fab/flag.asp?cpage=etiquette1#3

 

A quick glance of my right shoulder and my worst fears were confirmed. My flag patch was backwards. I scanned the audience, every-one's patch was backwards. How could this travesty happen? Who approved this? Can it be corrected? Can we get an exemption? Will the U.P. taz me bro?

[FScouter]

Well, since the Scout uniform does not have a flag streaming in the breeze as the person walks forward, we should be safe. Plus, the Scout uniform is not an army uniform. We don't carry the flag into battle.

[NealOnWheels]

This is a "recomendation" from the National Flag Foundation and not part of the US Flag Code.

 

I did notice however that the US Flag Code says the flag should not be a part of an athletic uniform. I distinctly remember my son's baseball uniform having a flag. I don't recall which sleeve and don't recall if it was facing foward or backward.

[Gold Winger]

Since that's not in the Flag Code that is just the opinion of the writer.

 

The flag code says that whenever the flag is displayed against a surface that the canton (blue field) should be in the upper left as seen by the viewer (who else could be seeing it?)

 

DoD says that the flag patch is not a flag and that they can wear it anyway that they want and that other organizations can do what they want.

 

Displayed on a vehicle? The flag code prohibits draping a flag on a vehicle. I'd say that pasting a big decal on a car is "draping it" so that's illegal.

 

I'll continue to wear my flag the correct way and the soldiers can wear theirs however they want.

[GernBlansten]

Well, I'm not so sure. The local police force wear it so that the union is forward. So it ain't just a military thing. And come to think about it, it does seem more correct than the BSA orientation.

Since the flag is our ultimate patriotic symbol, wouldn't it be appropriate to wear it correctly as a symbol of forward progress instead of retreat?

Does wearing the flag in retreat disrespectful like wearing it upside down?

If I swapped out my incorrectly oriented flag patch with a correctly oriented one, could the U.P. taz me?

[scoutmomma]

I knew I had read the explanation of why the flag patch looks like that -- had to dig around a bit, but here it is:

 

http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/usflag.htm

 

Scoutmomma

[Gold Winger]

Everyone thinks that if the military does it, it has to be right. This is the same military that marched soldiers into atomic blast zones to see what would happen, that fed soldiers LSD to see what would happen, that dumped Agent Orange on our soldiers, that bought Chinese made berets for our soldiers. I don't think that I'd point to the military as the keepers of "what is right."

 

Dig around for some photos of D-Day. The 101st Airborne wore flags with the canton to the rear. Strange how during the biggest war ever, no one gave a thought to making flag look like it is "running into battle."

 

The current military orientation didn't come into play until 1990.

 

Look at any picture of a sailing ship sailing into battle, the flag is blowing forward.

 

March with a flag. That flag goes everywhich way depending on the wind.

 

Until the law is changed, I'll treat the patch as a flag and wear it with the canton in the upper left corner.

[GernBlansten]

Good catch scoutmomma. I was also not aware the flag was optional. I bet Barak Obama would be happy to hear that!

 

I found this cite also...

"...the International Civil Aviation organization decreed that flags painted on aircraft must face the direction of the flight, so as to be aerodynamically and aesthetically correct. We also recommend that flags or flag decals on vehicles and flag patches on uniforms should be so oriented." National Flag Foundation

 

As for sailing ships going into battle with the flag streaming forward, you do realize that when sailing (old school) ships go into battle, they did so with the wind at their back. Hard to maneuver upwind. Tactical advantage. So that depiction is correct and would be inaccurate if done with the flag streaming back. Now when modern (mechanically powered) ships go into battle, they usually do so in excess of the apparent wind so the flag would be appropriately be depicted streaming back.

[FScouter]

"If I swapped out my incorrectly oriented flag patch with a correctly oriented one, could the U.P. taz me?"

 

If you were in the Army, would it be correct to swap out the standard issue flag for an opposite flag? With respect to the Scout uniform, "correct" is what the uniform comes with.

 

What is a "u.p. taz?

[FScouter]

"I was also not aware the flag was optional."

 

Gee, I was not aware that what we may find on a personal internet web site constitutes BSA policy. Where can we find "flag optional" in a Scout pub?

[GernBlansten]

"Don't TAZ me bro." has entered into the pop-lexicon after a student at the University of Florida became disruptive at an speech by John Kerry. The campus police tazered him to submission after repeated pleas from the perp "Don't TAZ me BRO!"

It has become the battle cry against police oppression by free speechers across the country.

So, my quip asks whether the Uniform Police (U.P.) will taz me if I alter my presentation of the colors on my uniform?

 

BTW, I agree, the official insignia guide doesn't say whether the flag is optional. And although it depicts the flag in the wrong orientation, it doesn't reference orientation. So one could argue that orientation is discretionary. One could also assume that since only incorrectly oriented flag patches are sold by scout shops, wearing a correctly oriented flag from an outside vendor would violate the spirit of the guide and undercut the profits of the shop.

 

I just hope that when the next republican congress pushes the flag protection ammendment, they include patch orientation. Remember, these colors don't run!

[Gunny2862]

TAZ is in this case, a shortening of being Tased by a Taser. An individual control device in the less lethal force continuum. Delivers a shock (usually 11,000 to 50,000 peak volts) by means of two contact wires that are generally fired from 6-15 feet away from the intended target - outside of the "immediate threat" area to the officer of a knife wielding subject.

[FScouter]

Hey, heres a thought. If uniform patches are discretionary, how about a homemade patch of the 1-fingered salute with U.P. DONT TAZ ME BRO underneath. It could be 8 square and positioned on the back of the uniform shirt. The Insignia Guide is silent on this so it should be OK.

[GernBlansten]

I like it FScouter. However, I wouldn't want to taunt the U.P. They can get quite testy.

[Stosh]

The "Flag Code" has been re-written over and over again, so what remains is a conglomerate of what people think it is, what it may be, and what politically correct it might be tomorrow. I have many historical reditions of the Code, but I don't think there's anyone out there that can even say which is the current version.

 

Stosh