The state flag - upside down (page 2)

LouBelle

If I may ask a stupid question perhaps? How come each state hard their own flag? Just that we dont do that here in SA. But then again the USA is massive, need to identify each state, we only have 9 states (we call them provinces).

POs Son

In the US, each state is just that, a sovereign state, not a province or district. Both Texas and Vermont were actually independent nations at one point in their history. We tend to be rather proud of our independence of states. Prior to our Civil War in the mid 1800's, this nation was often referred to as "These United States", signifying the independence of each state. After the war, the people saw the need to unite, and the phrase became "The United States" signifying more unity as a body.

As it is in Europe currently with the EU, each nation is sovereign, but they have joined forces to make the economy more stable, transactions easier and travel easier. Really, its similar to what we did 200 years ago. Sadly, along the way, each of our sovereign states allowed the federal government have a whole lot of power to dictate how they work and to control a lot of the social aspects of the states.

Just an interesting note, in most nations, the Federal Government is the highest ruler, and the districts or provinces are subordinate. In the US, the Federal Government is supposed to be subordinate to the states, but over the years that balance has changed. In our early years, the Congress was considered the most important of our ruling bodies, since it represented the people and the states. Now, we tend to see the President as more of a leader, perhaps because of increased communication.

I live in Connecticut, a tiny state near New York, and am very proud of my state (though not always of Her politics). We were one of the original 13 to break from England, and we have some great history to go with that. My in-laws come from Minnesota, in the center of the country, and will talk about "this great restaurant that has been here forever....almost 10 years! Their viewpoint changed a bit when I took them to my favorite restaurant, a tavern that was occupied by the British during our war of independence, and is still standing in much the same fashion today.

potentialJWconvertswife

Hey, Jim! I think maybe those folks at the trailer park are not native Texans. That is the ONLY excuse for not knowing which way is up! Come on- we Texans are so dang proud of our flag that many decorative items incorporate it- as much of it as we see around here, you'd think people could get it right! I don't blame you for being pissed- I would be too. No Texan worth his or her salt would stand by for the kind of disrespect to our Lone Star flag. Shame on those folks! At least they finally fixed it.

LouBelle- PO's Son got it right- except one thing- Texas has actually retained it's independent nation status (I believe). Every now and again a cry for the state to secede from the union can be heard from radicals. Another point about the states, that may not exist in your provinces is state laws- each state has it's own laws regarding income taxes (Texas has no state income tax, one of the few) the sale of alcohol- (in Texas each county or city actually controls this, and there are areas that are "dry"- you can't buy alcohol), etc, etc. We are very proud of our state flag here in Texas, it is one of 6 that have flown over the state, including the flag of Mexico among others. It's a stunningly simple design, but invokes staunch loyalty from the citizens of the Lone Star state. Here's something you probably don't know if you're not from here: Texas comes from the American Indian word "tejas" (pr: tay- haas), meaning friend. This concludes our Texas history lesson for today. :) -Potential

AlmostAtheist

Here's an article about the problem of the Texas state flag popping up inverted here and there:

http://media.www.kykernel.com/media/storage/paper305/news/2001/03/02/NationalNews...

The article introduced me to the term vexillologist, which is a flag expert! So if they accuse you of being "vexing", be sure to thank them!

Dave

Tired of the Hypocrisy

Being patriotic or not is not the issue. The issue is respect. Flag etiquette dictates that Old Glory be flown upside down only as a distress signal. http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

As far as the individual states go, I can only assume there is a similar rule for the treatment of the banner. My take on it is that it is the symbol of a sovreign state and should be treated as such by a government official, US citizen, or even an enemy combatant. Sort of a do unto others situation in his case.

A video of what happened when some guys flew the Mexican flag in the USA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nONjlZ8YMkA

"An easy way to remember which way is up regarding the Texas flag is....the red stripe symbolizes the blood that was spilled for her independence. Blood runs down..."

Yup. I always remember it as 'at first Texas was pure - or white - then blood was spilled - or red.'

I know it's hokey - but it works for me.

Regards,

Jim TX

The state flag - upside down

LouBelle

POs Son

potentialJWconvertswife

AlmostAtheist

Tired of the Hypocrisy

LouBelle

What-A-Coincidence

What-A-Coincidence

DublDipd

Jim_TX

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