So I’ve been toying with the idea of putting up two flag poles in my yard, flying the two greatest flags in the world on them and installing lighting so that the flags may fly 24/7.
I’ve been looking into the cost which is just a few hundred dollars and realized I really would like to do this to show my support for the 2nd greatest country in the world and the greatest of all countries, the “Independent Republic of Texas.” Ok so Texas isn’t a country technically but in the heart of every Texan it means more to us than the ole’ USA does. And we could be a country…we are the only state of the 50 that has the option of succession…its in our Constitution and our deal with the US.
Anyway…I discovered that I can have Phil Gramm(R), one of my Senators here have a flag flown over the US Capitol and then sent to me with a signed certificate that says it was flown there and on what day. I can also contact the governors office here in God’s country and have a Texas State Flag flown over the capitol in Austin, with a certificate stating the day it was flown.
I’m going to do this…I think the nostalgia of having the two greatest flags flying over my home would be increased ten fold knowing that they both flew over the buildings that represent the greatness they stand for.
Call me a patriot…call me an idiot, but what you can’t deny, is that I love this land and all that it means to me!
Sky, I gotta admit, though I usually find Texans boorish, I admire your unabashed dedication. (I also found that business about constitutionally opting out of the USA fascinating; so much classier than heaving cannonballs into Ft. Sumpter, I’d say).
One word about your flags, though. I once saw a news segment about this. I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but what you consider “flown over the capitol” and what they consider “flown over the capitol,” may not be the same thing. IIRC, two guys are stationed at the base of a flagpole and spend the entire day zipping flags up the mast, and yanking them down a split-second later; they must go through hundreds, if not thousands of these “official” flags a day.
Not only that (you probably already know this) but the TEXAS flag is the only flag that can be flown at the same height as the US flag. Seems it was deal that was made between The Republic and the U.S. when we joined. All other flags must fly a few inches lower but not ours! I’m looking for a replica of the ‘Come And Take It’ - I’ve looked all over the net but no luck, if anyone has any leads please post.
Forgive my Yankee ignorance, but I don’t know what a “Come and get it” flag looks like. I have the catalog of a flag-making firm that offers something called an “Alamo” flag (vertical green, white, and red bars w/“1824” in the middle) as well as other historic/state flags; maybe they’ve added the flag you want since they published my (old) catalog. They’ll also custom-make whatever you want, if you want to go that route. I pass this along for what it’s worth:
Abacrome, Inc., 151 West 26 Street, New York, NY 10001
212/ 989-1190
It’s a modest-sized operation, so you might even want to ask for the president of the place, Steve Becker.
Not to rain on your Texas parade, Sky, but you’re wrong here. Nowhere in the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States is it stated that Texas retains a right to secede from the US. It does state, however, that we retain the right to divide into five states, so long as one of those states remains the State of Texas.
Occasionally citizens in certain parts of the state threaten to break away because they feel that the state ignores their needs and concerns. One of the more notable occurrences of this was early in the 20th century when the citizens of West Texas threatened to break away if the state didn’t establish a college in their region. The result was the establishment of Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock in 1923.
Nor is the right to secede found in our state constitution, as far as I know (I don’t have the full texts of the various constitutions the state has worked under – the Constitutions of 1845, 1869 or the current one from 1876). Regardless, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1867 that Texas did not have any more right to secede from the US than any of the other states did:
“When Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.” Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700, 703 (1868)
“The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.”
This means that the US flag should be displayed on a staff that is higher than the staff of state flags. However, it doesn’t seem to single out the Texas flag as an exception.
“No flag or pennant other than the United States flag should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the state flag’s right, that is, the observer’s left. When the state and United States flags are displayed at the same time, they should be flown on flagpoles of the same height, and the flags should be of approximately equal size. The United States flag should be displayed to the United States flag’s right, that is, the observer’s left. However, when it is necessary for the state and United States flags to be flown from the same flagpole, the state flag should be displayed underneath the United States flag. When the state flag is displayed on a separate flagpole from the United States flag, the state flag should be hoisted after the United States flag is hoisted and lowered before the United States flag is lowered.”
The Texas code contradicts the US code by stating that “When the state and United States flags are displayed at the same time, they should be flown on flagpoles of the same height…” But the rest of the code seems to indicate a deference to the US flag.
So, at most, I think the idea that the US flag and Texas flag have equal standing may only be from the perspective of us Texans. Nothing in the US flag code singles out Texas as being treated differently from any other state.
