I was at an Indy Car race this weekend, and as a pre-race ceremony a parachute team jumped into the racetrack with a huge American flag----which predictably fell onto the racetrack. I thought under no circumstances should you place the flag on the ground, if it can be helped-----Ive been on Google and see a lot of “opinions” on this issue, but what is the straight dope? Is there an exception for skydivers?
Well, there’s no exception in the US Flag Code. The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. End of story.
So, if you can’t jump out of an aircraft holding a US flag in such a way that the flag will not end up on the ground, and you are concerned to respect the US flag code, you shouldn’t jump out of an aircraft holding the US flag.
(Of course, you may not be concerned to respect the US flag code.)
It’s pretty common for people to ignore flag etiquette. I frequently see flags flying that are old and tattered. I frequently see flags flying at night which aren’t illuminated. I frequently see flags on costumes or other things:
[Emphasis mine]
Uh oh …
Yeah, the Flag Code is often ignored in the name of patriotic zeal. As yet another example, while flying the flag illuminated at night is acceptable, the Code is quite clear that it’s even better to fold it up and take it in at night, and that leaving it flying and illuminated should only be done when taking it in is impractical.
OTOH, a *print *of the flag is not *the *flag… So a print of the flag in the front of your shirt or the ass pocket of your jeans, is sort of kosher. What is “wrong” is tailoring a flag into a garment.
Thong bikinis excepted, of course 
And remember, the Supreme Court has ruled that any law imposing a punishment for disrespect to the flag is unconstitutional, so there’s no legal penalty for violating the flag code, short of a constitutional amendment.
That may have been unintentional. When I’ve seen the flag/skydiver thing done at sporting events, they had guys running on the ground grab the flag before it touched.
See here.
A skydiver flying a flag while jumping out of an airplane should have people stationed where he expects to land to catch his American flag. As others mentioned here there is no penalty for the flag touching the ground, it’s just disrespectful to the thousands of women and men that gave their lives to protect that flag.
Same goes for lowering the flag to half staff. No individual flag (read your own) should be lowered to half staff because Uncle Joe died, even if he was a vet. The American flag is not anyone’s personal grief indicator. The flag should only be lowered to half staff for whom and for how long, as long as spelled out in the U.S. Flag Code. Again, to do otherwise is disrespectful to those that actually did something to earn the privilege of having the flag lowered to half staff for them. As a rule of thumb, watch the American flag at your post office. They are notorious for handling their flag correctly.
[SIZE=“1”](I used to be patriot chairman for a national veterans organization.)
[SIZE=“3”]Phu Cat[/SIZE]
Agreed. I’ve seen this at air shows too.
At least one exception that I am aware of: the US flag may touch the casket of an American military veteran as the flag is being draped upon said casket in preparation for burial.
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner]
I frequently see flags flying at night which aren’t illuminated.
[/QUOTE]
So what is “properly illuminated” anyway? Is a streetlight in front of the house enough? Or is a spotlight aimed at the flag required? Just wondering as the streetlights in my neighborhood were upgraded to LED and they’re almost painfully bright.
EDIT TO POST #11:
I hasten to add that the flag itself is not buried. Before the casket is lowered into the ground, two servicemen/women will remove the flag from the casket and ceremonially fold it for presentation to the veteran’s spouse or other family.
I was pretty far away and did not see anyone running towards the flag so either the skydiver missed his target, or there was no effort.
I’d email the raceway organizers about it, but unfortunately it was the pre-race ceremony for this weekends Indy race at Pocono, where a driver got killed, so right now Im sure its not a big concern for them.
Honestly, it really doesn’t sound like something that would be a big concern in any situation. A technical breach of a non-binding suggestion about how to treat a flag is a pretty picayune thing no matter what, I’d think.
Here are some further clarifications about flag etiquette, answering some of the questions in this thread:
I was recently on a ship in May Port Naval base, as A British Auxiliary we perform colours and sunset but not formally. Flag goes up, flag comes down. A enthusiastic young American sailor wanted to film us doing the cerimony, as he does with all foriegn ships. I think the poor chap was a bit disapointed when my friend wandered out wearing a t-shirt shorts and drinking a cup of tea do perform morning colours… The Royal Navy take it a bit more serious, but not like some Americans, getting annoyed over it not being illuminated correctly etc
I have to say, if the *British *are less formal than you are, maybe you’ve been taking things too seriously.
I dunno, it seems to me that the whole point of doing anything with the flag is to demonstrate patriotism, and you better demonstrate patriotism by following the Code than by not following the Code, so doing things with the flag that violate the Code just seems sort of self-defeating to me.
Sure, but a flag is just a symbol of something important - in this case, a country - and not something important in and of itself. It’s a form of communications, nothing more. Following rituals to the letter are more a sign of OCD than they are of patriotism.
But maybe this tangent doesn’t belong in GQ.