June 14, 2025 -Dangers to Democracy in the United States

My flagpole and the flags I fly are not generally a political statement. I fly flags because it brings me joy to do so. Occasionally, when the events move me, I feel compelled to make political statements with my flags.

Today, the flag of the United States flies with the union down as a signal of the danger our democracy is facing.

Title 4 United States Code Section 8 is entitled, “Respect for Flag.” It states that Americans should not show disrespect to our nation’s flag and lists several actions which congress considers disrespectful. Subsection a of this section reads, “The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a simple resolution, reading, “Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and while; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” These simple words created a flag which has changed through the years to the fifty star, thirteen stripe flag we have today. To me, the flag of the United States symbolizes the ideas that our nation is built upon. Paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence, a small sampling of these ideas are:

• All people are created equal.
• All people are endowed with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• Governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Unfortunately, in 2025, the values, rights, and freedoms that are the bedrock of our country are under attack. The Executive branch of the Federal government is running amok, claiming unchecked power, and exercising authority in ways that are abhorrent to the values that undergird our nation. The litany of the ways this is happening is too long to list here, but these are some of the lowlights (in no particular order) are:

• The weakening of the American and world economy through the use of arbitrary and capricious tariffs against numerous countries in the world, including our closest allies.
• The summary elimination and defunding of countless statutory agencies and programs within the Executive branch. These actions are causing real harm both within the United States and around the world. There is an actual death toll because of the elimination of programs.
• The elimination and defunding of numerous foreign assistance programs which save people’s lives and increase good will towards the United States by people around the world.
• The placement on leave, firing, or otherwise incapacitating of federal employees who work for the good of the American people.
• The attempted firing of staff and boards of independent agencies without cause and, in many cases, without the authority to do so.
• The elimination of programs created by statute, which are designed to ensure that all Americans, regardless of origin, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, and other protected categories have the ability to fully participate in their lives and government without fear.
• Countless actions that make everyday life in the United States less safe for all who live here including reductions in food safety, industrial safety, product safety, transportation safety, and national security programs.
• Reductions in the National Weather Service that make it unable to fully staff its offices around the country, making all Americans more vulnerable to the planet’s increasingly volatile weather.
• The pardon of people convicted of attacking, ransacking, and looting the United States Capitol as well as violent assaults on police officers in an effort to prevent the results of a lawfully held election to be declared.
• The politicization of the officers, sailors, soldiers, marines, airmen, and coast guardsman of the United States military.
• The summary detention and removal of immigrants under false pretenses to countries which are not their home and to which they have no connection.
• The conduct of immigration raids designed to make all people in the United States feel less safe, including conduct of raids at immigration courts.
• The use of demonstrably false pretenses to usurp state authority and use the military for domestic law enforcement purposes, without following the law and in violation of the Constitution.
• The open and blatant disregard of court orders restricting or halting some of these actions.
• The reprisals against people who disagree with the administration and have exercised their constitutional rights to make these disagreements known.

These are just a few of the ways that the current administration has not lived up to its duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. On this day, June 14, 2025, Americans of all stripes are taking to the streets to protest the multitude of ways in which the current administration is not serving the people of the United States.

As a vexillologist and an American I have a great deal of respect of the United States Flag. I fly it with pride and accord it the honor it deserves. But I also know, quoting President Andrew Shepard in the movie The American President, “America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight.” Right now it’s putting up that fight.

Alexis De Tocqueville called the United States, “The Great Experiment”. Our times are showing us how tenuous the experiment is and how important it is to stand up for our hard fought rights and freedoms.

Also flying is the original new constellation envisioned in the June 14, 1777 resolution (commonly known as the Betsy Ross flag). This became our national standard during the Revolutionary War and, for 18 years, represented our country.

Also flying is the 15 stripe, 15 star spangled banner which flew over Ft. McHenry on September 14, 1814, inspiring the national anthem. This was our nation’s flag for 23 years, from 1795 through 1818.

I fly these flags with the union up in recognition of the tumultuous times they were born in and how our nation got through them and grew stronger.