Folding the Canadian flag?

[Peter Crowe]

I am going to throw this in, because I have seen it done incorrectly at so many Games and Renfairs. When flying the flags of more than one nation, they all go at the same level! In peacetime, the flag of one nation does not fly above the flag of another, at least according the the US Flag code. In the US, the Stars and Stripes would go to the flag's right, or centered in front, but NOT higher.

Thanks Geoff, that is a particular bugbear of mine, and when done is an insult to the other nation whose flag is being flown below 'Old Glory'.

[piperdbh]

What bothers me is for non-Royal-family people to display the Lion Rampant, as a flag, bumper sticker, t-shirt, etc,. My understanding was that it belongs to the Sovereign and is to be displayed only when she/he is present. Go to any American Games and you'll see vendors selling them right and left. At the Greenville (South Carolina) Games a few years ago, Prince Edward attended for part of Saturday. The vendors were asked to remove/cover their Lions Rampant while he was there, but as soon as he left they all came back out.

[Friday]

Oh - not at all - the flag is the Stars and Bars - and as the day is usually sunny and warm the flag gets to either air or dry out after washing in the shade of the apple trees.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

To further steal this tread, Anne if this is a flag of the Confederacy I would suggest using another day to air the flag. One of the chief cities of the Confederacy was captured by Union troops on the 4th of July. In some areas of the US south there is little celebration on the 4th of July for this reason.

[macwilkin]

Confederate flag is what I initially thought too, since I recently sent one to a internet friend that lives in Yorkshire. She wanted it because she liked the design and I ended up explaining the connection to slavery and that most people find it offensive. (At least in the northern states.)

"Stars and Bars"
Attachment 10940

Except this is not the "Stars and Bars" -- that nickname refers to the First National Confederate Flag:

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-csa1.html

This particular flag is the CS Naval Jack and a battle flag used by some regiments in the CS Army of Tennessee. It was designed by William Porcher Miles of the Confederate Congress, but was rejected because of its resemblance to a "pair of braces". Miles thought the First National was too similar to the US flag (and there were documented incidents where the First National was confused for the US flag during battles) and the flags of Liberia and Hawaii.

Apologies to Eagle JCS for not seeing his comments before I posted.
T.

[macwilkin]

Seems you've probably got the straight goods. As an immigrant from the U.S. I was surprised that Canadians do not treat the Maple Leaf with the same ceremony the U.S. treats Old Glory. Folding the Stars and Stripes in ceremonial fashion -- as I have done many times -- never fails to invoke those emotions I felt in moments of great solemnity and, occasionally, deep sorrow.

Ironically, it's not a very old custom -- my old chief ranger, who was also a longtime Indian Wars reenactor at Ft. Davis, Texas, loved to tell folks how in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the US Army would simply roll the flag up into a ball and store it on a shelf in the guardhouse of an evening, ready to be raised on the flagstaff the next morning with as little creases as possible. The custom of folding a flag into a "cocked hat" shape didn't come about until after the First World War -- right about the time that the US officially adopted Francis Scott Key's song as its national anthem. Before that, it had a contender in the tune "Hail Columbia!"

T.

[Dixiecat]

Seems you've probably got the straight goods. As an immigrant from the U.S. I was surprised that Canadians do not treat the Maple Leaf with the same ceremony the U.S. treats Old Glory.

As a Canadian who visits the US very often, I'm always surprised at the ceremony with which the US flag is treated. It's fascinating and moving. However, the Maple Leaf is fairly young in comparison as it was only introduced as our official flag in 1965. I started school in 1966 and I know my school didn't fly the Maple Leaf until 1967 our 100th Birthday and it flew along side the Royal Union Flag (Union Jack) for a few years after that. When I was growing up Flag Day was a wonderful holiday. It introduced our new flag and reinforced it's use.

[Old Hippie]

And Francis Scott Key wrote his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" intending it to be put to the music of "To Anacreon in Heaven" -- a British drinking song. So I was taught in school, anyway, and "teh interwebz" seems to back that up.

More than once I've thought the singer needed a couple of beer to loosen up for the high notes.