[Djinn Raffo]

Originally posted by antryg: My observation over the past 35 years is that when everything is going good in the country, and there isn't a national controversy, then anybody can ignore the US Code. They can use the flag to advertise, wear it any way they want, and they can desecrate a flag (fly it in the dark, leave it on the ground, etc.). If there is a large national controversy then these are the rules that apply. If you support the President, you can still do what you want because that is patriotic. If you don't support the President any display of the flag, even conforming to the US Code, is unpatriotic and probably treasonous. The real problem with this issue is that, in America, the tendency to make nationalism a religion is very strong. Thus the national images become religious symbols and are vested with an interegal power and worth. To attack the symbol is to attack nation.

This is a good observation.. and each side of the angle has both pros and cons. The best imo would naturally be some kind of balance between the two different eras when this phenomenon occurs.