Monday, June 14, 1999

Sales flying high as Flag Day is observed

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BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Flaggs USA's Terri Amann is wrapped up in the business. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        If an enduring symbol could be said to have a season, this is it for the American flag.

        Today is Flag Day, not a national holiday, but a day for displaying the American flag and reflecting on it as a reminder that we are one nation.

        “It's a time not necessarily to celebrate, but to show appreciation,” said Rick Canter, owner of Bannerday Flags in Fairfield.

        From Memorial Day through the Fourth of July each year, flag purchases are popular, retailers say. Decorative flags in general are in style, adorning Cincinnati-area homes with everything from storks to sports teams' symbols to Santas.

        Semicircular banners in red, white and blue are a popular way to mark the season, Mr. Canter said. But for respectful occasions like Flag Day, people prefer the flag itself.

        “There are people who want to fly a flag because it is a little more reverent,” said Mr. Canter, a former teacher who opened his business in August. “I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who wanted to hang an American flag.”

DISPLAY RULES

The Federal Flag Code contains detailed instructions about displaying the American flag: • Display it from sunrise to sunset only, unless it is illuminated at night. • Hoist it briskly and lower it ceremoniously. • Take it down during bad weather unless the flag is weatherproofed. • Display it during school days in or near every schoolhouse. • Put it to the right of other flags on display. • Destroy it in a dignified way, preferably by burning, when it is no longer in good condition.

        In fact, interest has been growing for about five years, said Terri Amann, an owner of Flaggs USA in Oakley.

        “We had an incredible Me morial Day,” Ms. Amann said. “We've said this for a number of years in a row, that this was our best Memorial Day ever.”

        Flag Day commemorates the June 14, 1777, decision by the Continental Congress that the stars and stripes become the national flag. Before that, a variety of flags were used by different colonies and military commands.

        Flag Day originated in 1877, a full 100 years later, as part of America's centennial celebration Even then, Flag Day did not become an annual celebration for another four decades. President Woodrow Wilson established June 14 as the day to annually celebrate the U.S. flag.

        He said in 1915, “We meet to celebrate Flag Day because this flag which we honor and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation.”

       

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