http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

back to top    back to Flag main page      back to HELADA home page

'The Flag Code, a national guideline on ways in which the flag is to be respected, states that no disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America.'

Specific ways, in which the flag should not be used, according to the code, are listed at:

http://www.ctssar.org/flag_etiquette.htm

back to top    back to Flag main page     back to HELADA home page

Free Speech Protections
Rules and etiquette are the basics, but the Constitution guarantees some flexibility of expression. In a very thorough discussion, ArtLex reminds us that:

'Like a nation's name, its flag is among its most potent symbols -- patriotic and political. As one publicly honors or abuses a nation's flag, one symbolically honors or abuses that nation -- its government, its people, its interests. In 1989 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag in public to protest government policies is a right protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. One contemporary artist placed the American flag on a floor, and another placed it in a toilet. Each has been guaranteed protection under the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech.'

Check out this and a lot of other information on flags and their uses:

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/f/flags/

back to top     back to Flag main page    back to HELADA home page

"The first of the First Amendment's two religion clauses reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ... .” Note that the clause is absolute. It allows no law. It is also noteworthy that the clause forbids more than the establishment of religion by the government. It forbids even laws respecting an establishment of religion. The establishment clause sets up a line of demarcation between the functions and operations of the institutions of religion and government in our society. It does so because the framers of the First Amendment recognized that when the roles of the government and religion are intertwined, the result too often has been bloodshed or oppression."

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/establishment/index.aspx

back to top    back to Flag main page     back to HELADA home page

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

back to top    back to Flag main page     back to HELADA home page

Some fun, all serious history, from American Revolution. Start here:
Flags Over America shows the flags that have flown from Viking days forward.
http://www.americanrevolution.org/flags.html

These and more at US History site:
Declaration of Independence http://www.ushistory.org/declaration
Documents of Freedom http://www.ushistory.org/documents  
The Electric Franklin http://www.ushistory.org/franklin  
Liberty Bell http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell  
Revolutionary War 1777 http://www.ushistory.org/march  

back to top     back to Flag main page     back to HELADA home page