Displaying the USA Flag
Channel: Matthew Rafat
Date: 2021-02-28

I don't own an American flag, but I'm surprised how many people don't realize the way they fly it confers particular meanings. For example, an upside-down USA flag is a distress call, a call for help. 

It's possible federal flag regulations are designed to prevent groups from creating additional, unofficial meanings through various flag positions. Some states also go further than the federal government in mandating specific flag handling rules. I do not own or fly a flag, because there are too many rules around the act, and I am not a fan of national flags anyway. They remind me more of Jehovah's Witnesses' Supreme Court cases than patriotism. 

Bonus: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/4/7 

Bonus: https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagdisplay.pdf 

I'll end with an interesting statement from a state government: "When the flag is worn out or otherwise no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."