It fills me with joy that on some national holidays many Americans pull out their American flags and fly them carefully and with dignity, pulling them down when it rains or gets dark. I fly the flag myself. However, when it comes time to fold the flag, a pernicious lie invariably crops up on the internet and at public ceremonies. According to the lie, when the US flag is folded into that neat little triangle, each of the various folds has a particular official meaning. That is FALSE FALSE FALSE.
The folding ceremony is very old. In some rather recent year some unknown Christian poet belatedly penned these supposedly official meanings to conform to the already-old traditional folding ceremony. As a private profession of meaning, I congratulate that poet for expressing their personal views so eloquently! I have no problem with people either (a) belonging to any given religion if they find meaning in it, or (b) doing the same sort of thing by privately embracing this poet’s ascribed meanings for the flag folding ceremony. Fine, whatever works for you.
The LIE creeps in when people who know the recently penned poem is just that – a private person’s recent poetry – but they nonetheless assert the meanings as being some sort of official expression. The supposed meanings are overtly religious in the Christian vision. For example some of the poetry goes like this: “The second fold is a symbol of our belief in eternal life…. The fourth fold represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn, in times of peace as well as in times of war, for His divine guidance.”
The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment prohibits government from adopting any such “meaning”. So while it was perfectly fine for for this unknown Christian to belatedly ascribe some personal meanings to the folds, their work is being unconscionably spread around as though it is an official statement by the government about who we are as a people, but that is NOT true! The US Flag Code is spelled out in federal law. There are no meanings included in the act. These meanings have never been adopted by any legislative body as an official part of how we honor the flag.
Innocently forwarding these meanings or using them in a flag ceremony as though they are official when they are not is a forgivable oversight to check the facts first. Forwarding or using them as though they are official when you KNOW they are not official (which many chapters of the VFW are now doing) is an attack on our constitution and the very republic for which the flag itself is a symbol.
While I value the service of our armed forces, I value the republic and the constitution they are defending more. Unbelievably, one of the most auspicious organizations that is propagating this attack on our constitution is none other than the congressionally-chartered Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). My most recent review of the VFW’s central website did not find these supposed meanings, but various chapters are still asserting them. For example this and this. Shame on those chapters of the VFW and others who have seized this solemn occasion to advance their own political and religious agendas.
I submit that meanings were assigned to the flag-folding ceremony by a Christian to further indoctrinate and perpetuate the myth that America is a Christian culture and a Christian society, instead of a constitutional republic that respects all faiths equally. It is fine to report that some folks like this imagery. It is simply untrue to report it as official policy, and an attack on one of our founding pillars to promote its use. Doing so when you know otherwise…. that is what we call a “lie”, and it is a lie calculated to deny equal religious liberty to every American regardless of faith. That is not the idealistic vision we inherited from our Founders.
I suppose I should repeat – again – that I think this private person’s poetry is just fine. I support the reading of the “meanings” at any private and voluntary ceremony, provided the program states that these meanings are not official, and provided that any other dignified text could be read instead. That protects religious freedom for everyone, including Christians.
Here is what some others have had to say about it:
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Here is an excerpt from the Sons of the Conneticut Society of the American Revolution
http://www.connecticutsar.org/flag_etiquette….
“A properly proportioned flag will fold 13 times on the triangles, representing the 13 Original Colonies. When finally complete the triangular folded flag is emblematic of the tri-corner hat worn by the Patriots of the American Revolution. When folded no red or white stripe is to be evident leaving only the honor field of blue and stars.”
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Here is an excerpt from Snopes (famous for hoax busting and fact checking on the internet)
http://www.snopes.com/military/flagfold.asp
“The American flag isn’t folded in this manner because each of the folds has a special symbolic meaning; the flag is folded this way because it provides a dignified ceremonial touch that distinguishes folding a flag from folding an
ordinary object such as a bedsheet, and because it results a visually pleasing, easy-to-handle shape. This thirteen-fold procedure was a common practice long before the creation of a ceremonial assignation of “meaning” to each of the steps.”
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Here is an excerpt from USHistory.org , sponsored by the Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia
“[This]is an unofficial, but popular script for folding the flag. It does not appear in the Flag Code and would appear to be in violation of military guidelines, in violation of the Establishment Clause [found in the First Amendment of the US Constitution]. The Establishment Clause requires that expression not create the reasonable impression that the government is sponsoring, endorsing, or inhibiting religion generally, or favoring or disfavoring a particular religion.”
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Another blog with good points. http://wp.me/p1dDS-jy Among other things this poster asks why not just use the script that US Air Force has been using for a long time? He also points out that for a time the Dept of Veteran Affairs had been using these meanings for funeral ceremonies, but when the unofficial poetic and very recent nature of these meanings was pointed out, the department ceased using the meanings as an automatic thing and now invites families to request any comparable script, whether religious or otherwise, to be read during the folding of the flag. The department’s current policy is here: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1406
In case you’re interested, yes, I fly the US flag on national holidays. I learned to respect it on my way to becoming an Eagle Scout a long long time ago. I also learned to respect my neighbors who have different faiths, the union of the states, and the US Constitution which makes it possible.
Or at least, used to. How long before we have religious wars in this country if we turn our back on the Establishment Clause? Is the VFW ready to shoulder its part of the blame?
Nubis Pertusus
Tags: flag, flag-folding ceremony, folding, god, Politics, religion, symbolism
