Flag questions

[grannylib]

I recently got hired at our local paper and there was much discussion in the Ad department around Memorial Day about proper and improper use of the flag in advertising, and what could the paper get in trouble for printing. (Not much enforced on that score anymore, we found...and advertisers use it like crazy, everywhere.)
Now I am NOT in favor of an anti-flag-burning amendment, for bunches of reasons. And I place significantly higher value on the nation and its principles and ideals than on the piece of fabric that represents all that. However, I do have some real issues with some of the use of its imagery that I see today. When I was kid, it was pretty well understood that it was not printed on anything disposible, or on paper, or clothing except as a badge on a uniform or some such thing; I was in color guard in Girl Scouts and really loved being part of that. So it bugs me hugely to see it on napkins, paper plates, barbecue mitts, etc etc etc all over on cheap crap. I don't find that patriotic, quite the contrary. It makes it cheap.
So they don't want anyone to burn a flag as a sign of protest against the government, but it's OK to pile one's spud salad and greasy bratwurst on it, then toss it in the trash on the 4th of July, right after you set your Stars and Stripes barbecue mitt on fire while grilling.....WTF????
Anyone else bothered by such things?

[MercutioATC]

1. According to the rules:

"The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown."

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#4

[Mizmoon]

2. No

It's not a problem for me. Your question reminds me of people who found Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner offensive.

Being patriotic is not about being proper about flag display, or holding an icon sacred, or following sheet music "the right way". Loving the USA is about wanting it to be the best it can be, about fulfilling the Founder's vision of freedom, about constantly evolving toward an ideal. Being proper about the use of the flag does not have anything to do with these goals and, respectfully, it seems bourgeois.