Flag of the Day

Today is Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flag of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Vanuatu.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Taiwan Flag at World Masters Games has Chicoms seeing red

The flag of the Republic of China on Taiwan was marched into Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton along with 83 others on July 22, drawing a strong rebuke from the communist government of China. The organizers of the games have promised the reds not to allow the Taiwanese athletes to appear under their own flag again during the games. Eighty-two Taiwanese athletes arrived in Edmonton for the Games, compared to 13 competitors subject to the communist government of the mainland.

Flag of the Day

Today is St. Olav's Day in Norway.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

A Texan soldier's flag

A Texas flag that once flew over Texas National Guard Master Sgt. Michael Young's bunker in Vietnam now soars over the Task Force Raider Tactical Operations Command tent in Romania. The flag flies one last time before the fifth generation Texan retires from his 38-year military career in February.

Flag of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Peru.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

New Zealand Campaigners Abandon Petition to Change the Flag

A petition to change New Zealand's flag to better represent the country's national identity has been withdrawn after it failed to get enough signatures.

Flag of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Belarus.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Liberia and the Maldives; and Ratification Day in New York.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Revolution Day in Egypt.

Because I won't be able to post Sunday or Monday, here are those days' flags:



Sunday is Simon Bolivar's Birthday in Ecuador; and Pioneer Day in Utah.



Monday is Flag Day in Argentina; Battle of Isted Day in Denmark; Constitution Day in Fiji; St. James Day in Spain; and Republic Day in Tunisia.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

British schools should fly Union Flag

Liam Fox, the Conservative Party's shadow foreign secretary, believes that British schools should be required to fly the Union Flag. Fox said that flying the flag would remind pupils of their shared values and ensure that future generations did not become alienated from society.

The move would be a way of fostering "a sense of unity" in an increasingly diverse and multi-cultural society, said Dr Fox.

Ohio County, Kentucky will not ban flags

Wednesday I posted a story about a proposal to ban from the schools of Ohio County, Kentucky, clothing which displayed Confederate flags. Yesterday the school board voted against the ban.

Flags of the Day

Today is National Day in Belgium; and National Liberation Day in Poland.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

A 48-star mystery

The Courthouse in Grant County, Minnesota was built in 1905. On June 24, 2005, in a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Courthouse, the time capsule placed in the corner stone was removed and opened.

What the people who opened the time capsule found has presented a mystery: a 48-star flag. In 1905 there were only 45 states in the United States, meaning that the U.S. flag would only have had 45 stars on it.

A new flag in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has adopted a presidential flag:

The president's standard (flag) is a red banner decorated with gold ribbon and gold fringes. There is a gold circle in the center, and inside there is stylized depiction of the state emblem. The flagpole holds a silver brace with the president's full name and the dates of his term in office engraved on it in the official state language.

Flag of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Belgium.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Returning Japanese flags

As the World War II generation is passing, there is an increasing interest in returning Japanese flags to the families of the men who carried then into the war. These flags, sometimes referred to as prayer flags, "were reminders of home as well as patriotic symbols. When a Japanese man was drafted during World War II, neighbors and family would wish him luck and sign their names to the flag. He would carry the folded flag under his uniform for good luck."

H.K. Edgerton is on the road again

H.K. Edgerton is former head of the NAACP in Asheville, North Carolina. In recent years he has lead a campaign to protect the display of Confederate flags. A few weeks ago he was in Maryville, Tennessee, to protest a plan to oppose a plan to ban clothing with images of Confederate flags from the schools of that city. He is now in Ohio County, Kentucky, opposing another proposed flag ban.

Flags of the Day

Today is Presidents Day in Botswana; and Independence Day in Columbia.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Laos; Martyr's Day in Burma; Liberation Day in Nicaragua; and Flag Day in the Swedish region of Scania.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross; Scania Flag courtesy of Flags Of The World.

Another flag-related editorial cartoon

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Flag of the Day

Today is Constitution Day in Uruguay.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flag of the Day

Today is Flag Day and Constitution Day in Norway.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flag Maker Retires After 64 Years

Frances Major began working for Valley Forge Flag Company in 1941. Friday was her last day on the job. She is retiring after sixty-four years as "a modern day Betsy Ross."

Dual Flag law adopted in Macedonia

Yesterday the Macedonian parliament enacted a law that allows the Albanian flag to be hoisted on public buildings alongside the Macedonian flag in areas where Albanians make up more than half the population. This applies to 16 of the country's 84 municipalities.

Flag of the Day

Today is La Paz Day in Bolivia.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Bastille Day in France; 14th of July Revolution Day in Iraq; and Day of Association in Senegal.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is State Day in Montenegro; and General Forrest's Birthday in Tennessee.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Kiribati and in São Tomé and Príncipe.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

The London Bombings

There have been a lot of flag related responses to the London bombings. An example is the following from the July 5th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

The British Union Flag is shown here upside-down, I suspect unintentionally.

I have also noticed a revival of the so-called Grand Union Flag, the original flag of the United States (1 January 1776 until 14 July 1777), as a sort of Anglo-American solidarity flag. The Grand Union Flag, whether coincidentally or by design, was nearly identical in design to the flag of the Honourable East India Company as it existed in the 18th century.

My personal favourite as an Anglo-American solidarity flag is the 19th century version of the East India Company flag, with the British Union Flag canton in its current configuration.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in the Bahamas; and Statehood Day in Wyoming.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Argentina; and Constitution Day in Palau.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in the Solomon Islands; and Saba Saba Day in Tanzania.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

India to allow wider flag use

A few years ago, citizens of India were not permitted to fly the flag of India. That changed, but the Indian Flag Code still did not allow wearing the flag, which caused some controversy when Indian athletes were told to remove the flag from their helmet or caps.

Yesterday, the Indian cabinet approved proposals to amend the Flag Code, withdrawing the ban on use of the Tricolour on "costumes and dress material" ? that is on clothes or accessories (such as caps, helmets) worn above the waist.

But it laid down that ? unlike many countries in the West, such as the US ? the national flag cannot be used either on undergarments or on clothing worn below the waist, such as shorts, jeans or swimming trunks.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in the Comoros and Malawi; Battle of Fredericia Day in Denmark; Statehood Day in Lithuania; and the Dalai Lama's birthday in Tibet.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

What you know about Stars and Stripes is probably wrong

Marc Leepson, author of the new book, Flag: An American Biography, wrote an article about some of the suprizes he got while doing the research for his book. The article was published in the July 3rd edition of The Arizona Republic.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in Algeria, Cape Verde, and Venezuela; and Peace and National Unity Day in Rwanda.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

Fragment Of Civil War Flag Donated To Maine Museum

At the Battle of Gettysburg, the flags of the 16th Maine Infantry was torn apart by the men who served under it to keep it from being captured by Confederate forces. Isaac Monk was a Maine solder who received one of the fragments. Now, 142 years later, Monk's great-grandson, Neil Brown, is donating the flag fragment to the Maine State Museum.

UPDATE:
Here is another story with photos. The fragment in question is from the 16th Maine's blue regimental colour.

Flags of the Day

Today is Independence Day in the United States of America; and Statehood Day in Alaska and Hawai'i.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

The Professor should know his flags

In an article title "Burning flag amendment issues" published in the June 30th edition of The Washington Times, Professor John Banzhaf wrote, "A statute criminalizing 'physical desecration of the flag of the United States' would not prohibit protesters from burning something that appears to be - but technically isn't - the U.S. flag. Burning a look-alike flag - for example, one with 49 or 51 stars - would be indistinguishable to most onlookers from burning the flag itself and would have exactly the same effect, but the proposed amendment wouldn't give Congress the power to protect anything beyond the flag."

The professor is apparently unaware that a 49 star flag is "the flag itself". The flag gained its 49th star on 4 July 1959, following the admission of Alaska to the American Union. The 50th star was added on 4 July 1960, following Hawaiian statehood.

According the the United States Code, "The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag shall be forty-eight stars, white in a blue field" [4 USC §1]; and "On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission" [4 USC §2].

President Eisenhower's Executive Order #10834 (published 25 August, 1959) establishing the pattern for the 50-Star flag, which would become the "official flag of the United States on July 4, 1960", also states "All national flags...now in possession of executive agencies...shall be utilized until unserviceable." As a result, the older versions of the flag remain "the flag of the United States".

Republican/libertarian political activist Chuck Muth writes, "Banzhaf is the guy leading the trial lawyer assault on the fast-food industry. You have no idea how I hate to agree with this guy. But when you're right, you're right. Congress should stop wasting its time on this flag-burning amendment and focus on restoring the constitutional private property rights which were struck down in the Supreme Court's Kelo decision." The Kelso case is the recent Supreme Court opinion allowing, as a matter of federal constiututional law, governments to take private property by condemnation, to then be turned over to private developers for a non-governmental use.

Celebration honors 1874 flag

All evidence of the frontier town of Medary, once prosperous a few miles south of Brookings, is gone except for the homemade American flag that first flew during the town's second Fourth of July observance in 1874.

The flag is now in a display called "The South Dakota Experience" in the state museum at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre.

"It is probably the oldest American flag ever flown in what is now South Dakota," said David Hartley, director of the state museum.

Restoring the tatters of history

The seven-year effort to preserve the faded glory of America's most famous flag is nearly complete. The Star-Spangled Banner will never wave again, but thanks to an $18.6 million conservation and education project, it has a good chance of being around for another century.

One Row At A Time: Knitting An American Flag

Artist David Cole has created a knitting machine of two John Deere excavators holding 25-foot aluminum light poles serving as knitting needles. This knitting machine is knitting a 20 foot wide US flag, which is expected to be completed at noon today. This is all part of an exhibit at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. The exhibit includes a miniature depiction of the knitting machine as well as Cole?s "Memorial Flag", a 5-foot by 9-and-a-half-foot flag that was designed with "about 18,000 toy soldiers melded together under a gleaming coating of red, white, and blue."

The flag has the power to generate differing perspectives, according to Cole?s quote in the Globe article.

"Within the same piece, you might be making one statement and then making a contradictory statement. Both are true. It?s not something in between. Somehow it?s both. The flag is a symbol of hope and promise and what Army recruiters would like you to think. And it?s a symbol of shortsighted, greedy international behavior. It always has been. I like that the flag means a lot of things."

Flag of the Day

Today is Statehood Day in Idaho.

Animated flag provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.

July 2nd Independence Day?

On this date in 1776, the great rebel, John Adams, wrote to his wife back home in Massachusetts that, finally, the Congress had adopted a resolution establishing the independency of the former colonies from Great Britain. He believed that henceforth the 2nd day of July would be celebrated annually as our holiday of liberation.

Two days later, the Congress approved the language of the Declaration of Independence, which was a statment to the world justifying the action taken by the Congress on July 2nd. The Declaration included the text of the 2nd of July resolution in its concluding paragraph.

Of course, the date of the Declaration, July 4th, rather than the July 2nd date of the Resolution, has come to be the date of the celebration of our Independence. The observation of the 4th of July began as early the first anniversary of independence in 1777. But we should remember that, without the July 2nd Resolution, there could not have been a July 4th Declaration.

IN CONGRESS, July 2, 1776.



The unanimous Resolution of the thirteen united
States of America



Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

Yesterday, University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway presented a KU flag to soldiers of the Kansas Army National Guard?s Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery. The unit is being deployed to Iraq. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the commander in chief of the Kansas National Guard, and Maj. Gen. (KS) Tod Bunting, the adjutant general, participated in the ceremony.

"It is a privilege to present the KU flag to these courageous soldiers as they depart to serve their country," said Hemenway. "I hope the flag will serve as a daily reminder of the support and pride that this university has for their immense personal sacrifice. We look forward to welcoming them back from Iraq, so we fly the flag over campus in their honor."

Sheboygan insurer raises flag on nation's tallest flagpole

Acuity Mutual Insurance Co., of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, unfurled a massive American flag Friday on what it says is the tallest flagpole in the United States.

The flagpole is 338 feet tall.

"It's amazing, the way (the flag) went up and just opened up," said Matthew Taub, a 23-year-old marketing analyst with Acuity Mutual Insurance Co. "It was just huge. Just having people drive by and honk their horns, it sends shivers down your spine."

Taub was one of 17 employees connected with the military who carried a 7,200-square-foot flag to the pole Friday - the same day he was to deploy to Iraq with the Army National Guard's 120th Field Artillery Regiment.

The flagpole is part of Acuity's $45 million expansion project. The new pole and flag have been dedicated to Sheboygan's military veterans.

Texas: Lone Star Pride

A photographic exhibit tilted Texas: Lone Star Pride opens tomorrow at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

The images in the exhibit were captured by Houston Chronicle photographer, E. Joseph Deering. He was amazed by the way images of the Texas flag just popped up in the most unlikely places-the sides of barns, mailboxes, airplanes, porch swings, front doors, water towers, pickup trucks, cowboy boots, even running shorts. He had never seen so many displays of state pride and state love as there are in Texas.

Deering found a flag built into the side of a hill beside U.S. 59. A Southwest airlines plane shows its state pride with a mural of the flag painted on the side. In the west Texas town of Adrian, Deering discovered the Antique Ranch BBQ Barn, which has a wall painted as the Lone Star flag. At the New Terminal Warehouse near the Houston Ship Channel, the silos are decorated with the flag. A popular finding was boots adorned with Texas pride.

The exhibit will be shown through October 16th.

Flag of the Day

Today is Flag Day in Curaçao, one of the islands of the Netherlands Antilles.

Flag image provided courtesy of Flags Of The World.

Original Maple Leaf flag home for the holiday

The original Maple Leaf flag, mentioned yesterday, is being rushed home on a commercial flight in time for Canada Day festivities.

A Canadian diplomat will carry the historic flag on a flight from Belgium, where it has been stored away for years.

It will arrive at its original home -- Parliament Hill -- in time for a Canada Day celebration on the grounds below the Peace Tower today.

New Flag Book

Flag: An American Biography is a new book by Marc Leepson that traces the life story of the flag, from its creation in 1777 to its emergence as a popular symbol of patriotism during the War Between the States, its burning by protesters during the Vietnam War and its use as a symbol of a united nation at war against terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001.

I just received my copy, and have not begun to read it yet. You can find reviews of it American Vexillum and at The Houston Chronicle.

Flags of the Day

Today is Canada Day. It is also Independence Day in Burundi, Rwanda and Somolia; Battle of Køge Bugt in Denmark; Republic Day in the Ghana; and Freedom Day in Surinam.

Animated flags provided courtesy of Pascal Gross.