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It's just a flag, right?
Author: TriSec
Date: 10/05/2013 11:15:41
You all know that growing up and living in the Greater Boston area gives me a vast connection to history. (Hey, some other places around the US get that, too.) So I’m going to think about some things we might do to honour the past. I'll start by flying a few flags.
You're probably familiar with this one:
It's one of the earliest flags of the revolution, and was used by the early separatists at the fortifications on Bunker Hill, which is why it's now known as the Bunker Hill Flag.
Many other flags that the "teadiots" have taken over come from this period. I don't like the Gadsden Flag, but not because they hijacked it - I've got a thing about yellow. It's icky, right?
When I did fly a "don't tread on me" sort of thing, I used the Culpeper Minuteman Flag, which expresses the same sentiment, but is far less well known than Gadsden.
I stopped flying "Old Glory" sometime after 9/11. Despite all the changes in the ensuing years, I still don't. My flag of choice these days is the Bennington Flag.
Of course, we're lucky that the US Flag Code codifies that all historic US flags are still legitimate and valid, and can be displayed, and accorded the same respect, as the Stars and Stripes we all know and love. Even the icky Gadsden one.
But I want to think about some other flags today, too. We'll start with one of our oldest and bitterest foes. This was the banner that they flew at the same time as the aforementioned Battle of Bunker Hill.
Being the flag of a former enemy, you'd think that it would be a bad thing to fly this publicly, but I've flown it from my own flagpole on a number of occasions, and this past summer it was part of my troop's "gateway" into summer camp. I think we have mended our differences with these guys.
But suppose I wanted to fly something different?
Not that long ago, this was a good-luck symbol. After WWI, a unit of the American Army used a swastika with similar coloration as their unit emblem, but it was changed in the mid 1930s for political reasons. Hell, even Lindbergh flew to Paris with a swastika hand-drawn on the inside of his plane's spinner. Despite the positive history, nobody would ever dream of flying such a flag today now, would you?
Which finally brings me to my point. Last week, this happened.
I think our friends south of the Mason-Dixon line can cry history, symbology, honoring their past, honouring their war dead, and who knows what other excuses all they want. The fact remains that this is the flag of traitors and enemies of the union. We're supposed to preserve, protect, and defend against this sort of thing. So why is it that most of us just shrug and pass it off as "crazy southerners" when this is flying over United States soil?
You're probably familiar with this one:
It's one of the earliest flags of the revolution, and was used by the early separatists at the fortifications on Bunker Hill, which is why it's now known as the Bunker Hill Flag.
Many other flags that the "teadiots" have taken over come from this period. I don't like the Gadsden Flag, but not because they hijacked it - I've got a thing about yellow. It's icky, right?
When I did fly a "don't tread on me" sort of thing, I used the Culpeper Minuteman Flag, which expresses the same sentiment, but is far less well known than Gadsden.
I stopped flying "Old Glory" sometime after 9/11. Despite all the changes in the ensuing years, I still don't. My flag of choice these days is the Bennington Flag.
Of course, we're lucky that the US Flag Code codifies that all historic US flags are still legitimate and valid, and can be displayed, and accorded the same respect, as the Stars and Stripes we all know and love. Even the icky Gadsden one.
But I want to think about some other flags today, too. We'll start with one of our oldest and bitterest foes. This was the banner that they flew at the same time as the aforementioned Battle of Bunker Hill.
Being the flag of a former enemy, you'd think that it would be a bad thing to fly this publicly, but I've flown it from my own flagpole on a number of occasions, and this past summer it was part of my troop's "gateway" into summer camp. I think we have mended our differences with these guys.
But suppose I wanted to fly something different?
Not that long ago, this was a good-luck symbol. After WWI, a unit of the American Army used a swastika with similar coloration as their unit emblem, but it was changed in the mid 1930s for political reasons. Hell, even Lindbergh flew to Paris with a swastika hand-drawn on the inside of his plane's spinner. Despite the positive history, nobody would ever dream of flying such a flag today now, would you?
Which finally brings me to my point. Last week, this happened.
Hundreds gathered in a wooded area alongside I-95 just south of Richmond on Saturday to celebrate the raising of the Confederate battle flag — which many critics view as a symbol of racism and hate.
The crowd cheered with rebel yells and gunfire as the 15-by-15 foot flag was lifted up the 50-foot pole, which can be seen by tens of thousands of motorists along the highway each day.
But Susan Hathaway, a member of the Virginia Flaggers — which purchased the Stars and Bars from the Army of Northern Virginia — said the message was heritage, not hate, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
“As sons and daughters of the South, we have inherited a birthright. Ours is a proud heritage,” she told the crowd during the flag-raising ceremony.
“We are descendants of Confederates, we are friends of Confederates. ...The flag that is being raised today will be a living, breathing memorial to our Confederate dead.”
I think our friends south of the Mason-Dixon line can cry history, symbology, honoring their past, honouring their war dead, and who knows what other excuses all they want. The fact remains that this is the flag of traitors and enemies of the union. We're supposed to preserve, protect, and defend against this sort of thing. So why is it that most of us just shrug and pass it off as "crazy southerners" when this is flying over United States soil?
