You see them everywhere, all the time, in supermarket parking lots, auto dealerships, malls, hotel frontage ...the American flag, old glory ...SUPER-SIZED! ...like some fast food ploy to sell more cheeseburgers.
To my mind, and my mind’s eye, the American flag should not be displayed as an advertisement or an advertising agent for a business. It just seems wrong. Common sense should indicate that it seems wrong. It’s crass, crude, and credulous.
I know the argument is, “Hey, buddy, I’m an American and I’m proud of it and I’ll fly my flag wherever and whenever I want, and as big as I want! You got a problem with that?”
Well, no, I don’t have a problem with that. I love our flag, in fact, I feel much the same way. Where we differ, however, is that I’m not much of a flag-waiving yankee doodle dandy. I’d take a more subtle approach and show a little more respect for the flag. I’d be a bit more reserved about exploiting the flag commercially.
Maybe I’m being too sensitive because of my own personal mindset and experiences as an American, but don’t try to cash-in on my patriotism and don’t insult me or my country by waving your giant super-sized flag in my face when it has nothing to do with your patriotism and more to do with selling your products and yourself as a “good American” ...all at the expense of the honor and dignity, and sacrifice, that the American flag represents.
Wen I see a flag so grossly out of proportion to the flag pole on which it is attached, almost touching the ground, it makes me angry that the insensitive owner of the business doesn’t realize he is discrediting his own patriotism by “using” the flag to promote his business. I’m sure he thinks, and hopes, that his customers think he’s a “good American” and thus “a good guy” by flying a flag so large that it can be see from outer space, the bigger the better, but the effect is just the opposite on me and on many others. I see a misdirected patriotism. A businessman unaware that he’s abusing the flag, hiding behind it, and proffering all it represents just to make a few bucks and mark his location to be seen for miles around. Of course, he doesn’t see himself this way.
I’m walking a thin line here criticizing someone’s possibly well-intended patriotism. It’s personal, I know, and I don’t mean to offend. People see things differently, they express themselves differently. So, I apologize if I sound like a patriotic prude. Lord knows there are more important things to worry about, like our other national symbol https://www.belgraviacentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Could-Donald-Trumps-Hair-Loss-Halt-his-Presidential-Bid.png
There is everything from American flag underwear, sox, shoes, hats, sun glasses, lunch boxes, candy and condoms. These are novelties, beyond the absurd. Somehow, they don’t bother me as much, or at all, really. You can only shake your head at the silliness and juxtaposition. Then there are the giant football field size flags for ...football fields. They are specifically meant to be seen from outer space. A grandiose flag in a grandiose gesture at a grandiose event, all in the spirit of the thing ...jets in formation overwhelmingly flying over. There are many sizes and shapes of the flag in many forms, and many assorted venues to which they are applied. One Fourth of July I saw a gorilla in an Uncle Sam American flag suit dancing on ice skates holding a flag in both hands ...paws ...or whatever gorillas have for appendages. These all seem to fit into some kind of hyper-Americana, good natured, an American experience that we all share together as Americans. An America that we all love together, laugh with together, cry with together ...take pride in together ...mourn with together. This flag is draped over the coffins of soldiers and civil patriots who fought and died for us today and throughout our American history http://www.sosiwojima.com/images/web_icon.jpg
It’s disrespectfully wrong to display the flag in a bizarrely outsized format, much like a clown in make-up and costume, for blatant consumerism by someone posing as a “good American”, whatever that is these days http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/gorilla-for-less.jpg
There are no laws against flying a bizarro freakishly large American flag, so this is just my own personal opinion. Maybe I am too sensitive to the issue and I should lighten up. But I do believe the flag size should be in proportion to the pole. Look at the flags at post offices, National Guard armories, at state capitol buildings. They make good proportional sense and yield the proper affect to an adjudicated patriotism https://utahstatecapitol.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/DSC_0096.jpg
There must be standard size requirements for the American flag displayed on flag poles. http://blogs.reinhardt.edu/history/files/2018/02/flag-903x1024.jpg But if there’s not, common sense should tell you that if the flag hangs half way down the pole, or is close to touching the ground, it’s too big. If that same flag was required to be flown at half mast, as is often required, it would be on the ground or draped over someone’s Volvo in the parking lot https://sep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/theflagpole-store/LMS120Dealershipflagdown101.jpg
Wearing your flag on you sleeve is like wearing your heart on your sleeve. It’s like a bumper sticker. There’s noting wrong with it, it’s personal, but it does tend to define and expose you. I used to wear a flag lapel pin, still do at times, it made me feel patriotic, proud to be an American, but the more I see them on the lapels of people who just seem to be selling something, or some worthless politician or congressman, the more I’m shying away from the advertising these days.
Better to be a subtle patriot, speak softly, and fearlessly carry a big stick ...and the right size flag.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
