A US flag can be too big... right?

[LeeEJ]

Seems to me that LPSG can have some solid politically-charged discussions, so I figured that I'd try mentioning this here...

I was browsing around the news on my Wii (heh), and saw a story about a Hummer dealership in Las Vegas being ordered to take down its oversized flag.

Oversized American flag*causes flap*in*Las Vegas - CNN.com

Supposedly, the city council has gotten over 100 emails, most of them disagreeing with its decision.

The coucil approved the 100-foot pole with the promise that the dealership would also erect a memorial. The Mayor was quoted in the article as saying,

"Get us a memorial, and then we can talk about a flag in excess of 40 feet," said Goodman, who last year endorsed letting the dealership exceed the city's 40-foot flagpole height restriction.

The dealership says that it's erecting a concrete pedestal at the base of the flag, on which it will mount a plaque to honor veterans.

The owner, Dan Towbin, says the 30' x 60' flag fits his dealership. According to the AP article, "'The building's oversized, the sign's oversized, the cars are oversized,' he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal."

Well, okay. I think the dealership is in the wrong, and in several ways, too.

If they wanted to be truly patriotic about its display, they would have done their research. They would be using a flag of the proper dimensions, which -- for a 100-foot pole -- can be a maximum of 30' by 50'.

They should also not be using it to draw attention to their dealership (in essence, serving as an advertisement), which, according to a nearby resident, is what they seem to be doing:

Gary Swanciger, a resident who said the flapping of the big flag wakes him at night, said he thought the super-sized Stars and Stripes was designed more to attract customers than build patriotism.

According to the article, the council (giving yet another sign that Vegas has zero taste) has already allowed a gas station/convenience store chain to fly 30'x50' flags on 100' poles at its stores -- which is the maximum allowed size (both in pole height and flag size) for public display. Their normal flagpole height restriction is 40 feet.

I think that 1) it's too big, and 2) it's there for the wrong reasons.

I'm sure that Vegas isn't the only place like this, but still, it just annoys me. It's probably the Boy Scout in me that wants to see this kind of stuff fixed, along with the fact that I have my grandpa's burial flag in a shadowbox in my entryway at home.

I'm also still mad at myself for not going into a Perkins restaurant back home to get their attention after its oversized flag had fallen down its staff and was laying halfway across the street...

Rules & regulations links:
Flag Rules and Regulations
Flag Rules and Regulations (most of the same as the first link, but with more situations & questions clarified)
Flag of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SpeedoGuy]

Well, okay. I think the dealership is in the wrong, and in several ways, too.

They should also not be using it to draw attention to their dealership (in essence, serving as an advertisement), which, according to a nearby resident, is what they seem to be doing:

Using the flag in garish advertising schemes (and, make no mistake, that's what this is) is tacky and trashy. I'm always suspicious of any merchant or organization who overuses the flag in displays.

 

[B_Hickboy]

I bet they tell people Jesus would drive Hummers.

 

[B_Think_Kink]

What would make you want to buy a vehicle more if a huge flag is flying over it? seriously now... someone please explain this concept to me....


Actually I'm sure a few dealerships/buisness' here have HUGE flags like that....

 

[SpeedoGuy]

What would make you want to buy a vehicle more if a huge flag is flying over it?

A good question. If someone knows the answer, please post it because I'm baffled as well.

An enormous national flag must mysteriously motivate some consumers. Its not a one-to-one analogy but perhaps the effect is similar to how enormous penises motivate porn viewers. One thing is sure: patriotic virtue can't be the only reason merchants spend scores of thousands of dollars hoisting and illuminating such banners.

 

[agnslz]

Have you all ever seen the giant Mexican flag flying in Juarez (visible from El Paso) and the others flying in most major Mexican cities? All put up by the government of Mexico, BTW. Now that's garish!

 

[mindseye]

Hummers are attractive to non-environmentally-conscious Neanderpublicans, who go apeshit over big giant flags.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

Have you all ever seen the giant Mexican flag flying in Juarez (visible from El Paso) and the others flying in most major Mexican cities? All put up by the government of Mexico, BTW. Now that's garish!

I've seen the very large Mexican flag on the waterfront in Cozumel. It didn't strike me as garish because it wasn't surrounded by plaid-adorned car salesmen, thousands of helium balloons, cheesy billboards promoting sales or advertising schemes colored in day-glo, etc.

 

[agnslz]

I've seen the very large Mexican flag on the waterfront in Cozumel. It didn't strike me as garish because it wasn't surrounded by plaid-adorned car salesmen, thousands of helium balloons, cheesy billboards promoting sales or advertising schemes colored in day-glo, etc.

No, that would make it tacky. But the absence of those things doesn't make it any less garish, IMO. And the fact that the government of Mexico spent money to put them up in dirt poor places such as Juarez (where my family is from), strikes me as especially repugnant.

We have a giant flag at a car dealership here in Albuquerque, which I find offensive as well. We also have a giant flag flying at our city's busiest interchange, put up by our state, which also offends me. To me they are equally annoying and unnecessary no matter who puts them up, or the reasons why they were put up.

 

[rob_just_rob]

Can someone explain the flag worship cult to me? I don't get it.

Seriously.

 

[LeeEJ]

Las Vegas...

...is tacky and trashy.

:wink:

 

[B_big dirigible]

There's an enormous American flag on a short flagpole on Rt. 6 in Barnstable (if headed to Provincetown you can't miss it). It's a long-standing fixture over a bus terminal/overpriced gas station/Burger King. It's even illuminated at night, as it should be.

It's the cat's ass, fer sure.

 

[LeeEJ]

Can someone explain the flag worship cult to me? I don't get it.

Seriously.

Which version -- overdoing it like the car dealer in the story, or people like me who think they should stick to the rules?

For me, I think that any country's flag should be respected. It's a symbol, that's all it is; but somehow it's more politically neutral and more idealistic. A new flag's design comes about when a group of people decides that (again, idealistically) they're in this thing for the long haul, that they want to carve out a space for themselves on this planet.

At a glance, a viewer would often recall the history of the country represented by a flag -- sometimes several centuries' worth, sometimes almost brand-new but with a history yet to be written. I used to see the Soviet flag and think of the hundreds of warheads aimed my way that were once under the command of a podium-pounding Nikita Khrushchev. I see the Russian flag now and think of an old nation that's still struggling with a new identity.

It's odd, really, that a rectangle of fabric is saddled with notions like these.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

No, that would make it tacky. But the absence of those things doesn't make it any less garish, IMO. And the fact that the government of Mexico spent money to put them up in dirt poor places such as Juarez (where my family is from), strikes me as especially repugnant.

I think I see what you're getting at: That its just as offensive to ostentatiously hoist an expensive, huge flag over a barrio as it is a commercial establishment.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

For me, I think that any country's flag should be respected.

Good post.

I cringe whenever I see the American flag used in tacky items of clothing, beach towels, cheesy vehicle or boat paint jobs, beer coolers, etc.

 

[snoozan]

Good post.

I cringe whenever I see the American flag used in tacky items of clothing, beach towels, cheesy vehicle or boat paint jobs, beer coolers, etc.

Agreed, and me too. American flag as a fashion accessory and a home decor accoutrement run completely contrary to how the flag should be used... and of course it is usually the flag-thumping repukes that have entire rooms in their home decorated in "2002 Kuntry Patriotic."

Ick.

 

[B_big dirigible]

and of course it is usually the flag-thumping repukes that have entire rooms in their home decorated in "2002 Kuntry Patriotic."

A bit of classic LPSG bigotry here.

Do you know any, or is this just wishful thinking?

 

[B_big dirigible]

Which version -- overdoing it like the car dealer in the story, or people like me who think they should stick to the rules?

And this "rule" is?

Any American has the legal right to fly any American flag. There are voluntary guidelines for where and when and how it should be flown and how it should be handled. Car dealers have much the same rights as the rest of us.

 

[mindseye]

Do you know any, or is this just wishful thinking?

I don't know. What've you done with your parent's basement?

It's safe to say that Wal-Mart wouldn't carry the tacky jingo crap they do if it didn't sell to someone.

(To answer your question: Yes, I know people in my own extended family whose homes have a Flag Room, an Eagle Room, and a Crucifix Room.)

 

[jakeatolla]

Didn't Donald Trump run afoul of city bylaws in South Beach Fla for
having a flag thay was deemed too big ?
I never heard who won.