Where Did All the Flags Go?

For quite a long time after 9/11 everyone it seemed was displaying a flag of some type on their vehicles. I drive 30 mins. each way to work and every car I passed had at least one display. I have noticed in the past three weeks or so, that the flags are disappearing. Instead of one flag for each vehicle I may see 1/30.
Did I miss something around the 4th. of July - was there a reason they have been removed from most vehicles?

They are still in evidence around here - we have a home made sign on the way out of town, and when the little flag attached to it gets tattered, someone replaces it. But as I drive further from our town towards work, I do notice that there are not as many on the main freeways. Our neighbor has had his flag flying since he moved in, several years ago. Nice to know that it didn't take 9/11 to have some people consider flying the flag.

They are here too........I have 3 on my truck, and hubby has 2 on his car.........and we have 3 in different locales around the house.

"eyes"

Dh and i have had a flag flying every day, weather permitting, since he moved in almost 5 years ago.
9/11 did not change our patriotism a bit..always have been patriotic, always will be. It didnt take a national crisis to remind us of the freedoms we have on a daily basis.
When the country was on a quest to find a flag, we already had a back up in the closet waiting to replace the one already flying.

We do have one flying at home and on each vehicle, I just haven't noticed them on vehicles on the highway like they were in the past. I don't see hardly any of the ones that attach to the window and fly above the vehicle and very few of the flag decals on windows anymore. Just wondering if the general population has removed them or if they wore out and were not replaced. The ones on our vehicles are inside the windows so washing the car doesn't affect them. But traveling to and from work I just don't see many these days.

My guess is that they wore out and weren't replaced. We have flag decals on the car, and fly the flag at home.

I've seen a lot of tattered flags here and there...I imagine also that they've just worn out. (Shouldn't fly an abused flag anyway I reckon.)
I have an eight foot oak flagpole on my market truck and every Sat I run the flag up when I get there in the morning. People loved it! (Also painted my bushel baskets red, white and blue!)

Our flag is up and at night we leave lights on it. We've taken it down once when we went on vacation and left it down awhile so folks wouldn't associate our flag being down with us being gone...but...we plan on keeping it up until it needs replacing.

If you see someone's flag needs to be replaced. Tell them. They may simply not be aware of it.

Somebody here made the snide remark to my DH that he shouldn't be flying the flag on his Volvo. He told that person that just because he is of German and French decent that he still is patriotic to the American flag and he will fly his flag on anything he wants to as long as it isn't an insult to the flag. He put in 20 years total in the Navy and Army National Guard and he still volunteers for most anything that concerns our freedoms. I am very patriotic also and the flag flys at the end of our driveway almost every day. We plan on putting up a flag post with a light someday also. Even when we don't agree with what our government does we know that all it takes is getting voters to change things. This is the BEST country in the world! Lani

Actually, you're not supposed to have a flag on any car unless it's attached to the chassis or the right "fender".

Those are the rules...and just one. There are a BUNCH of rules for displaying the U.S. Flag.

Thanks smiln32 didn't know that. But must admit there were a lot more misplaced flags on cars a few months ago than there are now. Perhaps the word on flag etiquette is out.

A lot of those car flags that were mounted on plasric to the windows blew off and landed along the highways in the dirt and dust! We picked up 43 of them along a 6 mile stretch and disposed of them properly. In our collective desire to flaunt the flag in a time of sorrow many people forgot to secure them properly. Since they were flown out of love I so not feel they were in anyway lessened by their end. They showed that those who flew them loved them. That so many have stopped flying them now indicates not a lack of patriotic ferver but a healthy and normal return to our way of life. Since for the past 25 years my home office has been decorated with patriotic designs nothing much changed for me except that I have been able to add a whole lot of new pieces to my collection.

Thanks for the realistic reasoning Zany. That does make sense. I didn't think people had lost their patriotism, just thought it peculiar that I wasn't seeing many anymore. That is an excellent observation and could just be the reason I don't see as many out there.

I think maybe another reason is that retailers don't sell car flags or the magnetic flags like they used to, so alot of folks couldn't replace their's - I had two stolen from my car, but my DH still has his.
Please let me add another thought. For those of you who have cotton flags, there are some dry cleaners who will clean your flag for free. If you check around in your area you may find some who will also do some minor mending if needed as well.
Smiln32, while I absolutely agree with the proper displaying of the flag, I do disagree with some of the etiquette you had previously mentioned in the other thread. I always keep my flag flying during the day - rain or shine. Our servicemembers continue to protect and preserve our freedom in all types of weather conditions, and I feel I owe them the same respect by flying our flag when it is raining.

Although I totally agree the sentiment of flying the flag in any heartfelt manor available, my husband is a former US Marine & is totally insensed by people who fly the flag at night without a light, & etc. - and since the proliferation of flag flying (which DH & I both agree is great), he has given me & the kids lectures over and over about the "correct" way to fly the flag whenever he sees it flown "incorrectly". (I still say "follow the heart & just fly it", but he will say that I am a "bleeding heart liberal" as if that is a bad thing - ah, politics at our house is so much fun!) Anyway, just another thought on the toppic.

Some sites about flag etiquette:

http://www.usflag.org/flag.etiquette.html

http://store.yahoo.com/cell-accessories/amflaget.html

Karla

There were several reminders to people in our local newspaper late fall and winter, that when your flag gets to be too tattered, it is not respectful to keep flying it. Many people who had their flags for years and only flew them on special days: Flag Day, Independence Day, etc. hadn't noticed how tattered they were, and since there was such a shortage of flags through the fall, had to wait to replace theirs. Since Memorial Day, I have seen most people with flagpoles displaying new ones. But not many on cars: they were getting pretty bad through the winter, and not many people replaced those.

they are still around here! I saw one van today. had 2 fullsize . like football fields. hanging off his van. I thought he would take flight.

Glad to hear they are still around in plenty although I think Hagerstown and Frederick have run out of supply.

The flags are still here in NE PA there is even a guy up the road that painted his Car RED, White, & Blue... and has a HUGE flag flying on top it.
tamlamb

I'm sad to say that even after 9-11, flags are not very popular here... neither are military. I often feel so very alone and frowned apon here in Madison. Here's a true and terrible story of what happened to my neighbor across the street... after 9-11 they put up a flag in a flag holder in front of thier house, the NEXT day it was gone, she looked out the window later that day and found a 12 year old child dragging it down the street through the mud (it had rained). She ran out and asked the boy where he got that flag and he told her he'd found it in the road up the street. She was pretty upset and the boy said "what are you so upset about it's only a flag".
Now I don't know about you but that still brings a sick feeling to my stomache. That same month the VFW newspaper ran a article on another lady in WI whose BURIAL flag from her father was stolen and destroyed after she put it up to honor the people of 9-11. We live in a sick world.

Why aren't schools still teaching flag etiquette in the early years? It was a regular part of our school day to raise the flag, say the pledge of allegiance and maybe sing America the Beautiful or some other appropriate song. It was considered a serious duty to raise and lower the flag, and you can bet the students trusted to handle that duty were carefully taught how it was properly done. Scout badges were awarded for certain flag ceremonies in which the scouts participated, and much was made of the proper folding and storing of the flag. Maybe it would be well to reinstate this grand old tradition instead of some of the pep rallies and other non-academic activities taking up time. It's downright embarrassing to go to other countries and find that the citizens know more about our country and our traditions than we do, and it's high time we got serious about teaching our kids to be serious. The "if it feels good, do it" age needs to end.

Lots of flags on vehicles and elsewhere in my little town. Yesterday in the supermarket parking lot there were 2 cars parked next to me with flags. I need to replace mine, the wind blew it away. One man in my town has painted his truck in stars and stripes, the front of the truck is blue with stars, the back part is the stripes. It's a real attention getter. I remember saying the pledge of Allegiance every morning in grade school with my hand over my heart facing a small flag that hung above the blackboard. Outside there was a large one on a pole but I don't remember any ceremony and I'm not sure who put it up every morning.

I put a flag to our pole today morning... We have been teached in school how to fold up the flags right way. They were very large flags. :) My cousin, for some reason has a big US flag on his wall.. isn't it against the flag etiquette?

This message was edited Tuesday, Jul 23rd 1:28 PM

I don't think there is any problem with your friend putting up an American Flag so long as he treats it with respect and does not fly it or place it above that of his own Nation, unless of course he is American and then he should have the American Flag in the Highest position.

Hmm, he only has the US flag in his wall, not Finnish flag. Well, maybe it is ok then =)

i've been trying to pay attention to the flags on cars since this thread started.
what i've found is most people seem to have gone to decals and bumber stickers. i usually remember to look when a song comes on the radio. i love toby keiths new one, courtesy of the red, white & blue, i think, and alan jacksons still brings tears.
when i do look, so many of the autos on the road have some sort of patriotic display, that i dont think we've forgotten 9/11. our nation just wants to get back to normal, whatever that is, and so many people didnt fly the flag before, that now that the immediate feeling of danger has passed, life has resumed.
jen

The flags here too are dissapearing. However people it's time to replace them. My pastor is an army reserve chaplain. He and many others around the country are being mobilized for points unknown. You can imagine what that means. Please pray for our troops. The reserves are being called up for the first time like this since WW2. They are leaving jobs, loved ones, etc...for an uncertain future. We owe them our gratitude. As a veteran myself I am fully aware of their debt they pay on our behalf. America's finest deserves our continued support. We may not agree with where they are sent. They have no choice. We still need to support them in any way possible. Just a heads up...