Flag Protections Are Morally Unconstitutional

July 5, 2005

The U.S. flag is simply some red, white and blue fabric sewn together to make an inanimate object. It does not need Constitutional rights or special protection. Our republic and its freedoms are the real reasons behind our flag and therefore make it an important national symbol which should be respected.

Recall the “Pledge of Allegiance” which says, in part: “I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands….”

Our flag is unquestionably an important national symbol representing the principles on which it was founded. It stands for our republic, the United States of America.

The Constitution was designed to create a republic with a particular form and function, but most of all, it was to preserve and protect an individual’s right over government… and even inanimate objects such as a flag. Constitutionally, individual rights take precedence and must be protected. Unfortunately and unpatriotically, flag amendment supporters ignore this in their misguided zeal. It is sad to see they find it easier to protect fabric than the individual.

A flag does not need protection. It can be burned or stomped on and our country will go on. But if you deny even one person their rights, then the strength of the United States is diminished for everyone.

The irony in all this is that if a constitutional amendment is passed to “protect the flag” it will diminish the rights of the individual to protest the government by burning or mutilating the flag. Though disrespecting the flag is reprehensible, it does not diminish our individual rights and that is what is most important.

A flag amendment would mean a piece of fabric has the same rights as a person and that is shameful. The amendment  would diminish the very freedoms we claim we have and make the Constitution frivolous.  A flag protection amendment is unpatriotic because it does not serve to protect individual rights and is therefore morally un-Constitutional.