Where'd you get that verbage?

Note, as of 1/26/11 the company rewrote their Hawaii flag blog to not be plagiarised. 

I’ll admit to not being the best writer there is out there on blogs. However, there is nothing I hate more than people who don’t write their own blogs,  and worst of all, steal other people’s writing off the web to do so!

Todays shame comes from a companys blog, that specializes in no other than flags! That blog, belongs to the company Carrot-Top Industries.

The example I will use today, their latest post about the Flag of Hawaii. As of 1/25/12 the following is what is taking place (they may have changed it in shame – one can hope). If you are checking out their blog, you will notice they even left in the [1] form the wiki notes! That’s just lazy plagiarism right there!

So what’s stolen? Well, every line of it.

And here comes the original…

WIKIPEDIA’S BLURB ON HAWAII FLAG: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hawaii)

On January 18, 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew, while attempting to discover the Northwest Passage between Alaska and Asia, were surprised to find the Hawaiian islands so far north in the Pacific.[1] He named them the “Sandwich Islands”. After the discovery by Cook, other Europeans and Americans came to the Sandwich Islands.

It is said by several that the Spanish made it two centuries before. Juan de Gaitan is said to have arrived to Hawaii in 1555. There are spanish maps of the era in which islands are shown in Hawaii latitude, but 10° further east. The first sea chart that would prove this is dated 1551, signed by Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian and French cartographers, which it is shown an archipelago located at points close to the place Hawaii occupies on the globe.

The islands were united under a single ruler, Kamehameha I,  for the first time in 1810 with the help of foreign weapons and advisors.

SECOND HALF WAS RIPPED FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE: (http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hhl/hhl25.htm)

The Jack was retained to show the king’s friendship for England. The stripes were said to represent the red, white and blue of the American flag. They were eight in number, to represent the eight principal islands of the group. It was a combination of Hawaiian with European and American interests.

—-

If you’re going to claim that nobody knows more about flags than you do, perhaps you shouldn’t steal your company blog post about flags from other people.  And worse, from wiki!

I will give them some credit. They do give their residents a pdf to download which has some quick information, which is more than a lot of cities do

Julianne Hough

Actress/dancer Julianne Hough decided to perform a little bad flag etiquette recently! Granted this is an American flag towel so it’s not using a fully useable American flag that you would fly, however it’s still violating the Flag Code in itself because Old Glory is not to be reprinted like this. On top of that, according to the US Flag Code in “Respect for the Flag” states that “The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.”

Thanks to our reader Frank for sending this over!

Impressive...almost!

This year on September 11th, the Ravens-Steelers game started off with a beautiful ceremony honoring the attacks on our country using an oversized American flag covering the field. However, a few of the Baltimore players kept their skull caps on while holding the giant flag!

I think any protest is an annoying display of people with nothing better to do. And usually it is a disruption of somewhere so I’m against them in most instances, especially when this kind of behavior is allowed. I’d never hand my country over to someone who’d allow a dog to eat Old Glory and say it’s “The Best Use of Old Glory to Date.” Disgusting.

Matches everyones outfits

America, meet Etsy.com…the one place you can buy homemade stuff from people all over the world and help them build a smal thriving business. I recently came scross this site form a reader submitted image of a tote that is available for purchase there. World, meet the American Flag bag.

Homemade, as you can see, utilizing an American flag. There are only 10 stripes showing on the bag so I’m assuming that the remaining stripes are what went into the handles.

Unless you are taking the stripes apart to properly dispose of an American flag, you should never take them apart to make a tote. According to the US Flag Code, the American Flag should never be worn as wearing apparel. And it definitely should not be cutup and used as a bag to carry crap around in.

That's just a trashy thing to do

Throw away 12,000 American flags? In 2008, Democrats did just that in Denver during the cleanup of Invesco Field after an Obama speech.

According to a Denver Post blogger, the flags were on their way to be disposed of at a local landfill when a vendor realized they were being thrown away and turned them over to local Republicans, who in turn used them at the McCain-Palin rally. I don’t like to talk politics on here, but how ironic is that!

Once again, the American Legion, Boy Scouts an even schools are always welcome to help dispose of American flags, especially 12,000! And if you don’t want to find them a good home, just leave them close to a Republicans doorstep and they’ll take care of the rest.

Lets not trash talk America!

If you’re having a patriotic event, don’t just chunk your American flags afterwards. Depending on the material the flag is made of, you can have the mini flags dismounted from the plastic or wooden staffs and still properly burned by the American Legion. If the mini flags are in good shape, donate them to your local school or church. They’re always looking for donated American flags for patriotic events and can be used on location or by students.

Whatever you do, don’t just toss it to the trash. It’s Old Glory.

Thanks to Art for submitting this photo and helping fish out other American flags out of here not in this photo.

Grabbing attention worth flag disrespect?

As quoted from the source…

This guy has a fruit stand in the parking lot at Joe Patti’s Seafood Store, Pensacola, Florida 32501. He fashioned six US Flags as the “back drop” of his tent The flags are pinned together with safety pins. He does not take them in at dusk nor are they illuminated at night. The lawn mower has blown  clippings on the “back” of each flag. I asked him why he was desecrating this living symbol of our county. His reply was… Look I have Navy Blue Angel pilots stop by and tell me how beautiful my stand looks. I told him the pilots may not know any better, but any Boy Scout could tell him exactly how he violates the Flag Code…

These flags violate the US Flag Code in more than one way. They should never be used as drapery which is what these flags are doing as they are being a “back drop”. They also should not be used for advertising purposes, where the vendor is obviously using them to grab the attention of customers.

Photo submitted by a reader named Harry. Thanks so much for the images!

Even interior designers should know better

ApartmentTherapy.com, saving the world one room at a time, has decided to give its readers tips on using American flags in the home. Known for its design tips, they show us how you can use Old Glory on the couch as a sofa cover, as well as on a wall as art.

First off, the flag hanging on the wall is being hung wrong. The blue field and stars should always be in the upper left corner. As you can see, its hanging by a few pushpins incorrectly.

2. You are not to sit on the American flag, and definitely aren’t supposed to have it used as a sofa cover for decoration. It’s being draped over furniture, touching the floor and in-turn soiled when you decide to “relax” for the day on it. There are many areas of the US Flag Code that this concept of being patriotic is violating.

To see more on how to improperly display the American flag in your home you can see their entire article here. Please feel free to comment on their site!

Can you fly your flags?

A retired U.S. Army chaplain is being threatened with legal action for flying the American flag in his front yard, the Daily Mail reports.

Fred Quigley, 77, of Macedonia, Ohio, a minister who served active duty during the Vietnam War, has been told by the homeowners’ association that his flag violates the property rules.

The association has offered to fly the flag at the entrance of the building development, but Quigley refused the offer.

“If they can dictate to me that I cannot fly an American flag in America, then, to me, the country is lost,” Mr. Quigley told the paper.

Quigley’s lawyer Gerald Patronite said the association has no right to stop his client.

According to the Mail, Joseph Migliorini, the representative for the homeowners’ association and former mayor of Macedonia, which is between Cleveland and Akron, said he plans to take Quigley to court if the flagpole is not removed.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/26/us-veteran-faces-legal-action-for-flying-american-flag/#ixzz1QOJdTpj0

Patriotic...indeeeeeed.

This is another great photo submission from a reader! This comes to us from the July 2011 issue of Birds and Blooms.

This violates the flag code in the sense that “The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.” Now there’s a lot of skepticism about actual flags being used vs painted designs or “patriotic flair”. However, it is my understanding that if it is to represent the American flag (13 stripes, 50 stars) then it is violating the flag code.

Lets start with the red, white and blue gas tank. Well, that American flag could “blow up” the scene if not careful! Next we have the American flag canoe slash planter, and lastly the American flag screen (which is missing some stars and stripes).  All patriotic yes, but made to be flags, therefore walking a thing line on respect for the American flag.

Thanks Art for taking the time to shoot over the photo!

Nice - homemade flagpole?

This photo was sent to me by a reader so first off – thanks for sharing! Though this may or may not be 100% against any Flag Code, it sure is a tacky way to not proudly display the American flag. This is at a car lot, and they are using the lamp posts as flagpoles. This isn’t a proper flag display, as the halyard seems simply twisted around the top of the pole.

There would be no way to lower these flags on proper Half-Staff holidays as well. From what I have been told, they fly full mast every day, sunup to sundown. The flags are also way too large for the lamp posts – but obviously a tactic used to “grab attention” from the road.

Apparently these fly in Seattle, year-round, without ever being lowered. Proper flag etiquette requires you lower and bring in your American flags when it rains. But hey, it’s Seattle. It would take all day to do all these! (now if they were on a flagpole would be fast)

Quite large!

I always love reader submitted photos – it shows that you guys care enough to take the time to stop, get out, and take notice of bad flag etiquette. So if you see any taking place – shoot it over and I will post it up!

Thanks for the submission Bruce!

Flag of Honor

Did you know that there is a new American flag you can buy to honor the victims of 9-11? This year marks the 10 year Anniversary, so a lot of flag companies are trying to make a quick buck off of selling products to help honor the fallen. Personally I think flying Old Glory proudly is enough, everyones memory is true forever on the event.

So this flag can be bought at a lot of flag retailers around the country. It is called the Flag of Heroes and it lists the names of all of those who died on September 11th. Why do I find this WRONG? Well….it violates the US Flag Code that’s why.

You are never to put any insignia, writing, etc on the American flag. It doesn’t matter the reasoning behind it, it is never to be used in this format. The names of all of the fallen is written on all of the stripes. Under the section “Respect for the Flag” in the US Flag Code:

The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

Um, fail!

Where are those bubbles coming from?

Just a few days before Flag Day, Colonel Allen West went for a funfilled Army Veterans dive off the coast in Broward County. And to show his love of America, he took his American flag swimming with him.

According to many parts of the US Flag Code, this is in violation. You shouldn’t get it dirty, it should never be used in this matter as well. Even when it rains you are supposed to bring your flag down off the pole and in from rain to keep it from getting wet. Obviously, it got wet!

Now we can’t fully blame Colonel West – he said he wanted to take the American flag with him whereever he went. But next time, perhaps our Veteran here should make sure to not disrespect it, even if unwillingly doing so!

(I put this story in the “caught int he air” section because I haven’t quite started am “Aquatic America” category JUST yet)