In Our View: Flag should be a symbol for all Americans

The origins of the American flag are murky, but its use through the years is not. The 50 white stars and 13 red-and-white stripes stand for our union of states and our experiment with representative democracy, now approaching 250 years old.

The flag flies proudly over national cemeteries and monuments as a tribute to those who gave their lives defending our nation. It flies over schools, a reminder of our free public education. It flies over courthouses, where people are entitled to equal justice under the law.

This year it seems to fly too often at political rallies and protests. In an eloquent piece published in the Miami Herald on the eve of the 2019 Fourth of July holiday, Jan Zauzmer lamented whether buying a blanket with stars and stripes conveyed a political meaning.

“Nowadays, Republicans are holding the flag hostage, alongside its values,” Zauzmer wrote. “This takeover of the literal fabric of our nation is ripping apart the figurative fabric. And the grab for ownership does not stop with the iconic cloth that waves on poles and adorns podiums and appliques T-shirts. It readily extends to the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,” which pays exquisite tribute to those ‘broad stripes and bright stars … so gallantly streaming,’ and to the troops, who valiantly defend the honor proclaimed by the bunting and banners.”

Well said. Although currently more symbolic of the right — the Trump reelection campaign in particular has hijacked it — the left has been equally guilty. Who is old enough to remember the left burning flags to protest the Vietnam War?

Some groups have altered the flag for their own purposes. Probably the most talked-about recent alteration is the Blue Lives Matter flag. You’ve likely seen it, or a decal depicting it. It features a black-and-white U.S. flag, with a single stripe printed in blue. Supporters see it as a symbol of the importance of supporting and protecting law enforcement officers; opponents see it as another sign of unequal power between races and social classes in the United States.

Of course, using the flag for political purposes is hardly new. The Continental Congress ordered the original Stars and Stripes in 1777, while the Revolutionary War was raging, as a symbol of its desire for independence. Betsy Ross may or may not have sewn the first one. We know George Washington’s troops carried it at the Battle of Brandywine later that year, and it’s likely been used in every presidential and congressional campaign since.

Using the flag for protest is protected by the First Amendment. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that flag desecration laws are unconstitutional.

But that doesn’t mean our flag should be held hostage as a political symbol. The U.S. Flag Code says, “No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America.”

The code further specifies that the flag:

• Should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.

• Should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

• Should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

• Should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.

In other words, people have the right to use the flag as they wish. In fact, the flag represents the nation of laws and freedoms that give them that right. But let’s not confuse our legal rights with the right thing to do.