American flag

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Iowa Man Ends Up in Jail Over Upside Down Flag

Homer Martz was trying to protest an oil pipeline

(Newser) - A 63-year-old Calhoun County, Iowa, man was none too pleased about an oil pipeline being constructed between his home and his well and decided to quietly protest—only to end up briefly jailed. Homer Martz raised the American flag upside down, with the Chinese flag above, and was on Friday...

With Orlando, Obama Sets Record for Lowering the Flag

He's ordered the flag to half-staff more than any president in history

(Newser) - USA Today reports President Obama reached a "sad but remarkable milestone" this week, having ordered flags to half-staff more than any other president in history. He reached the mark Sunday following the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead. That made 66 times...

Ex-Marine Fired From Job for Lowering Flag on Memorial Day

He says he did it in memory of a Marine who killed himself

(Newser) - A former Marine says he was fired from his contract job with Time Warner Cable in North Carolina after he lowered the American flag to half-staff on Memorial Day, the AP reports. According to the Charlotte Observer , Allen Thornwell, 29, was thinking about his best friend, a former Marine who...

Illinois Teacher Fired for Stepping on Flag in Class

Board voted 6-0 to dump Jordan Parmenter

(Newser) - A different kind of flag controversy is playing out in Martinsville, Illinois, where a high school English teacher has been fired stepping on an American flag during class. The Mattoon Journal Gazette reports the Martinsville school board dismissed Jordan Parmenter on Thursday in a 6-0 vote; the decision was effective...

History Buffs: Iwo Jima Photo Has 70-Year-Old Error
 History Buffs: Iwo Jima Photo Has 70-Year-Old Error 
in case you missed it
Nov 29, 2014 8:03 AM CST

History Buffs: Iwo Jima Photo Has 70-Year-Old Error

One of the men raising the flag may have been misidentified

(Newser) - Two amateur historians—one in Ireland, another in Nebraska—say that after spending dozens of hours reviewing the iconic World War II photo of the flag-raising in Iwo Jima, and consulting other historic photos and documents, one of the six men listed in the photo has been misidentified. Their full...

Museum Looking for Patches of 'Star-Spangled Banner'

Bits of original flag were given away as keepsakes long ago

(Newser) - If you happen to find some remnants of woven wool in your attic—in red, white or blue and marked Fort McHenry—the Smithsonian Institution would like to know. Two hundred years after a massive flag was hoisted over the fort in Baltimore that withstood a British attack, Americans from...

Cops Still Baffled Over Brooklyn Bridge Flag Stunt

Police seeking 5 people seen on the span's footpath about 3am

(Newser) - Apparently, all you need to orchestrate a prank on the Brooklyn Bridge are aluminum roasting pans and some mad climbing skills. Police say a small group of intruders used the pans to cover floodlights on the bridge's two towers before they hoisted two bleached-white US flags overnight Monday, the...

2 White Flags Hoisted Atop Brooklyn Bridge

Cops investigating how someone breached security to replace American flags

(Newser) - The NYPD can say for sure that New York City is not surrendering, but no one’s sure yet how or why two white flags replaced American flags on top of the Brooklyn Bridge this morning, reports the Wall Street Journal . After social media started pulsing with pictures of the...

American Flag Flown at WTC After 9/11 Stolen

Flag had been given to family of fallen firefighter

(Newser) - After 29-year-old Jonathan Ielpi was killed while responding to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the fallen firefighter's sister Melissa Brengel was given an American flag that flew over the WTC during the clean-up. "We put it out during certain times of the year just to...

Worker Saves Hundreds of US Flags From Trash

Sanitation worker keeps them for dignified disposal

(Newser) - No matter how old and tattered they are, American flags aren't trash, says a New York City sanitation worker who has saved more than 700 from an undignified fate over the last year. After Ed Shevlin started rescuing flags he found in the trash, organizations began presenting him with...

Braves Set US Flag on Fire
 Braves Set US Flag on Fire 
Apr 10, 2014 2:04 AM CDT

Braves Set US Flag on Fire

Fireworks were too close at home opener

(Newser) - A pretty inauspicious start to the season for the Atlanta Braves: At their home opener Tuesday night, a fireworks blunder ended up setting the American flag on fire in front of 50,000 fans, WXIA reports. For the first—and last—time, the team tried setting off fireworks from the...

Court: School Can Ban US Flag Shirts

Calif. school wanted to prevent Cinco de Mayo fights

(Newser) - A history of violence between white and Latino students justified a California high school's 2010 decision to order students wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo to turn them inside out or go home, a federal appeals court has decided. "Our role is not to second-guess the...

Sheriff Joe: Flag-Trashing Inmates Fed Bread, Water

ACLU blasts Arpaio's 'publicity stunt'

(Newser) - The controversial sheriff who considers himself "America's toughest" is trying to make jails in Arizona's Maricopa County more patriotic, with the national anthem played regularly—and harsh punishments for inmates who desecrate the US flags that hang in each cell. Sheriff Joe Arpaio says inmates who mess...

Southern Sheriff: I Won't Lower Flag for Mandela

Because it's only for Americans, he says

(Newser) - A sheriff in South Carolina has shrugged off orders from President Obama and refused to fly his office's flag at half-mast to honor Nelson Mandela, the Greenville News reports. "The flag at half-staff is for Americans’ ultimate sacrifice for our country," said Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark....

Flying Over US Capitol on July 4: Hemp Flag

Hemp legalization advocate came up with the idea

(Newser) - On Independence Day, the flag flying over the Capitol building in DC will be made of hemp. Colorado hemp advocate Michael Bowman came up with the idea, and Rep. Jared Polis, sponsor of a hemp amendment that could help get farmers back into the hemp-growing business, helped Bowman make it...

Florida Town Lifts Ban on Non-US Flags Ahead of St. Patrick's

Irish pub can put Ireland's flag back up

(Newser) - Just days ahead of St. Patrick's Day, a northeast Florida Irish pub has won the right to fly the Irish flag again. On February 20, Culhane's Irish Pub was told it had 24 hours to "cease display of flags other than American flag." The rule was...

1 American Dead in Egypt, Libya Protests

Film from US that ridicules Mohammed sparks outrage

(Newser) - Protesters climbed the walls of the US embassy in Egypt's capital today and brought down the American flag, replacing it with a black Islamist flag to protest a US-produced film attacking the Prophet Mohammed. Hours later, armed men in eastern Libya stormed the US consulate in Benghazi and set...

NASA Flags Still Upright on Moon

...except for Apollo 11's banner

(Newser) - Decades later, America's mark on the moon remains: All but one of the flags left by the Apollo missions are still flying. Scientists reviewed photos taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, sent to study the moon in 2009. The images show shadows revolving throughout the day around the flags'...

Group Fighting to Ban Pledge of Allegiance in Schools

It has no educational value and is reminiscent of McCarthyism, group argues

(Newser) - The Pledge of Allegiance has no educational value, an activist group insists, and thus has no place being recited in schools. As such, Brookline PAX is pushing a resolution that would ban the pledge in Brookline schools, the Boston Globe reports. Technically, reciting the pledge is voluntary, but the group’...

Flag Day: Five Myths About the American Flag
 Five American Flag Myths 
happy flag day
Jun 14, 2011 9:45 AM CDT

Five American Flag Myths

You can burn it, but you shouldn't wear it

(Newser) - In honor of Flag Day today, the Washington Post lists five of the most common myths about the national symbol:
  • Betsy Ross made the first one: You’re probably sitting there shaking your head and saying, “Yes, she did!” but there’s no credible historical evidence. The story,
...

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