Henrietta Hay's Column

In the words of a famous ex-President, the one who gave me the final nudge into the Democratic Party, "Let me make myself perfectly clear." I respect the flag of the United States. I respect what it stands for. I am exceedingly glad that my ancestors chose to cross the ocean and make new homes here. I find the sight of the stars and stripes rippling in the wind against a blue Colorado sky to be beautiful and uplifting.

Having said that, I suggest that the proposed amendment to the constitution, which says that, "Congress and the States shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States," presents a grave danger to the very thing it proposes to preserve. My real loyalty is to "the Republic for which it stands," and that Republic cannot afford to have its constitution chipped away for purely political reasons.

A flag is by definition a piece of colored fabric, which serves as a symbol. I remember as a kid studying the history of the American flag. The Continental Colors had a Union Jack as a canton. The flag officially adopted in 1777, which was probably not sewn by Betsy Ross, had 13 stars in a circle. One of the early flags had a coiled serpent with the words, "Don't tread on me." Altogether the stars and stripes have gone through 27 versions, the latest adopted in 1960. Along with its history, we were taught the etiquette of the flag, including the fact that it should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset, that it should always be displayed with the stars to the left and a lot of other rules which are mostly disregarded in 1995. Oh yes, I was also taught that when a flag is worn out, the proper procedure for its disposal is to burn it.

The flag is a symbol. America is the reality - you and me, the land we live on "from sea to shining sea," the constitution, the government, the economic system -- that is the reality.

The reality is a huge, diverse, often divided, raucous, mixed-up bunch of people who have the freedom to speak and worship and write and read as they choose.

Certainly nobody wants to see the flag desecrated, but flag burning is not epidemic, nor is it fatal usually. There have been an average of eight protest flag burnings a year since 1990. As a form of protest I doubt that they are any more dangerous than the actions of a famous talk show host who wrapped himself in a mythical flag and advised his listeners to aim for the head rather than the body of law enforcement officers.

We don't take the symbolism too seriously anyway. I drove down 7th Street last week and saw all the little plastic flags stuck in the ground on sticks with advertising cards. In a few hours many of them were on the ground being walked on and driven over.

I have seen quilts with flags in their design. People sleep on them. Gardens are planted to form flags. People walk around and cut the flowers. I just saw an ad telling how to frost a cake to form a flag. People will eat it. Many people wear tiny flags in their lapels. These are symbols, symbols that make us feel good. The flag symbolizes what we believe in. Waving it makes us feel patriotic.

There are serious problems facing Congress today, not the least of which is an angry populace. Our legislators should be addressing such issues as balancing the budget, violence in the streets, racial divisiveness, poverty. But instead they are chipping away at the 200 year old guarantees of the right of free expression, however much it may offend. As George E. Bushnell wrote recently, " As long as leaders posture over who reveres the flag the most, none of the 'real' work will get done. There may be votes in banning the desecration of the flag. But there are principles that are worth much more than votes in the next election. It is these principles that are enshrined in our flag"

The flag is a symbol. Long may she wave. The real job is to be sure that our rights as Americans to disagree are not destroyed. If they are, she won't wave much longer.