The United States Flag Desecration Controversy: A Century-Long Spectacle

Abstract

Controversy over desecration of the American flag has arisen periodically, particularly in times of war but also in recent years. The flag protection movement had its origins in such organizations as the Daughters and Sons of the Republic at the end of the nineteenth century, protesting commercial exploitation of the flag on the grounds that its use in advertising and political campaigns would degrade its significance. However, the concerns of the movement’s leaders may have had more to do with a fear that their traditional position of influence was being threatened by a new class of businessmen and, later, by trade unions, political radicals, and new immigrants. The recent upsurge of the debate reflects not only a collective public insecurity about the state of the country, but also a preoccupation on the part of American political leadership with symbol rather than substance.