# I wish the American flag wasn't co-opted by the right wing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081 "2022-04-19T20:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/21 "2022-04-19T21:59:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **Don’t let them.** Fly the Flag when you want to. This. No political party or position owns the flag. It’s my flag too, and I’ll wave it when and if I want to. Which, admittedly, has mostly been at political protests in combination with a sign making it clear what my position is. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/22 "2022-04-19T22:03:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > For what it’s worth, **I** don’t assume that of people flying the American flag. But if you own a camper trailer that has a huge flag mural down the entire side, with an angry eagle? And if the roof had the stupid ass blue line flag? How about then? 🙂 I saw that on a FB group. I wanted to post "How to say “I am a trump republican” without saying “I am a trump republican.” " but I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/23 "2022-04-20T07:14:57Z")
Was left wing people flying the UN flag in the 80s/90s a thing? I vaguely remember that. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/24 "2022-04-20T07:25:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m correct in my call way more often than I am wrong. Runyon’s law: _The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet._ ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/25 "2022-04-20T07:48:14Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I would like to point out that both in Germany and in Spain the respective national flags have been more hijacked that merely co-opted by the right wing. They seem to be very good at that kind of cultural appropiation, it comes naturally to them. One of the tell tales of fascism is identifying the nation with its symbols and a leader. Indeed, and I would say that historically the USA’s high regard for its flag (and therefore planting it in every class room and politician’s office) is an outlier on the international stage. It’s a sign of the disturbing underbelly of the current UK government that they have started appearing on zoom calls and in PR photos with [Union Jacks constantly on show](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/06/uk-government-spends-union-flags-two-years-boris-johnson). This is new, and I don’t like it one bit for the very deliberate message it’s sending out to the right wing. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/26 "2022-04-20T12:40:15Z")
Co-opting the American flag goes back a long way. I seem to recall it was done in the 1960s by those in favor of the Vietnam War. It apparently goes back even further. In 1939, a pro-Nazi group used an American flag and 30-foot banner of George Washington at its rally: > **[When Nazis Took Manhattan](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/02/20/695941323/when-nazis-took-manhattan)** > > In 1939, an event at Madison Square Garden was billed as a "Pro American Rally." It was, in fact, a rally in support of Hitler and fascism. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/27 "2022-04-20T12:43:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Nah, it’s easy. Fly another flag alongside (or beneath). Pride, BLM, etc. Take your pick. The message will be clear. Whether you can do this depends on your own safety. When Ms. Napier put an Obama bumper sticker on her car, she was soon run off the road by a yelling man in an old pickup truck. She almost got hurt. A friend of mine who was very publicly liberal lost his several dogs to poisoned meat thrown over his fence. He never knew for sure what the motive was but guessed it was probably his politics. We used to get campaign signs to put in our yard, but within a day or two they were always taken. Local Republicans in our area have been photographed stealing Democratic signs at night and our best guess is that that’s what happened to ours. I don’t think we’re really just opponents in the traditional political sense any more. I think we have become enemies in the last few years. Given uncertainty and some deniability in many of these situations, we all just have to consider our own safety as best as we are able. I think it’s unsafe, and unwise for people with family to protect, not to suspect others of being enemies on the basis of their American flags. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/28 "2022-04-20T12:51:19Z")
My “Vets for Obama” sign was stolen off my front lawn back in the 2008 election on the second night it was out. Thankfully I had a second sign. I reported the theft to the police\* who actually stepped up driving by my house. The second sign lasted to election day. \*not a police report, that would have been a waste of time ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/29 "2022-04-20T13:02:47Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Whether you can do this depends on your own safety. Absolutely. It’s unfortunate that these things have to be considered, but they always should be. > [@Napier](#): > > I think it’s unsafe, and unwise for people with family to protect, not to suspect others of being enemies on the basis of their American flags. In my community, this is untrue. But mine isn’t yours. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/30 "2022-04-20T13:04:24Z")
I remember reading a newspaper column long ago (by Erma Bombeck?) about a woman who flew an American flag at her house on certain holidays, i.e. the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, during the Vietnam War. Right-wingers assumed she was gung-ho for the war and praised her. Left-wingers assumed the same thing and vilified her. Both were wrong. Moral of the story: people read way too much into a simple patriotic display. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/31 "2022-04-20T16:02:58Z")
I have neighbors who are originally from Russia. They traditionally display a US flag on every holiday. Lately they’ve been displaying the US flag and the flag of Ukraine. I don’t think I have to be concerned about their views. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/32 "2022-04-20T18:22:21Z")
The Stars and Stripes is a national flag. It belongs to _everyone_. Fly it with pride no matter what others say. I’ve been interested in flags since I was a Boy Scout and first learned about flag history; it struck me from a very young age how much symbolism and emotion can be packed into a windblown piece of colored fabric, for better and (too often) for worse. I now have a collection of several dozen U.S. and other flags. These days I’m flying the flag of the 1st U.S. Volunteers, Theodore Roosevelt’s regiment: [Rough Riders Flag](https://www.flagguys.com/roughriders.html) (the Flag Guys, linked here, are a good source for flags, BTW). I like the idea of pairing your American flag with another flag - your state or city flag, a Pride flag, a political or organizational flag, a pirate flag, or whatever. I’d ask only that you make sure the American flag is in the place of honor, to your right as you look out at the street, as the U.S. Flag Code suggests. As **What\_Exit** wrote, and as a Democrat down to my toes, I don’t assume that flying an American flag = MAGA, and God willing, that day will never come. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/33 "2022-04-20T22:49:29Z")
The flag is every American’s flag. It’s the MAGAts’ flag, but it’s mine, too. They can’t stop me from flying it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/34 "2022-04-20T23:40:19Z")
The thin blue line flag previously mentioned is the obvious-to-me MAGA version. We fly the flag on holidays only. I think this sends a message of patriotism tempered by moderation. However, the American flag’s symbolism is vague enough that others can’t be expected to perceive that message. Not a problem for me. I can’t worry about what total strangers think about me on the basis of zero evidence. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/35 "2022-04-24T20:48:46Z")
The U.S. flag. The Gadsden flag. The “OK” hand gesture. LIberals surrender territory far to easily. You are allowing incels, living in their parents’ basements, far too much control over your behavior. The U.S. flag should be flown by anyone who has positive feelings about the U.S. The Gadsden flag should be flown by anyone protesting against a government policy they disapprove. The OK sign means that you are in a condition you consider to be favorable. If people you disagree with think they own them, they are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/36 "2022-04-24T20:51:01Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Was left wing people flying the UN flag in the 80s/90s a thing? I vaguely remember that. I don’t recall ever seeing that practice during those eras. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/37 "2022-04-24T21:05:49Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The thin blue line flag previously mentioned is the obvious-to-me MAGA version. I see that one as the Black Lives Don’t Matter one. It’s from the people who can never simply reply: “Why yes, yes they do.” when presented with the phrase Black Lives Matter. The best they can muster is a contradictory, subject changing, concept stealing Blue Lives Matter. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/38 "2022-04-24T21:08:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > Was left wing people flying the UN flag in the 80s/90s a thing? I vaguely remember that. > > I don’t recall ever seeing that practice during those eras. In fact, I can find no references to this practice at all on the interwebs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/39 "2022-04-24T23:36:43Z")
I would not assume these things do to a national flag. Maybe a different one or Maga hat. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081/40 "2022-04-24T23:39:20Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The flag is every American’s flag. It’s the MAGAts’ flag, but it’s mine, too. They can’t stop me from flying it. Yep. And IMO it exists and should be displayed in its proper colors. The black “thin line” flags are annoying for reasons **bobot** stated well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-the-american-flag-wasnt-co-opted-by-the-right-wing/963081.md?page=3)