[wordup] The United States Civil Flag

[Adam Shand]

I had a really interesting conversation about this with a friend from  
work.  Then repeated what I had learned to a different friend ("Hi  
Royce!") who actually did some research and sent me the link.   
Interesting reading, but not as interesting as if it had actually  
been true ;-)

Adam.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Civil_Flag
United States Civil Flag

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The US Civil Flag
The United States Civil Flag is reputed by some to be the true flag  
of the United States. According to its proponents, the current flag  
of the United States is actually intended to be the flag of the US  
Military and military posts, while the flag for civilian use has been  
dispensed with, lost, suppressed, etc.

This flag is a reverse of the regular United States flag in many  
ways. While still consisting of thirteen alternating red and white  
stripes and a number of stars equal to the number of states in the  
Union, the Civil Flag's stripes are vertical and the canton is white  
with blue stars.

The Story of the Flag

According to those who promote it, the US Civil Flag was designed in  
1799 to be flown at civilian posts and ports. They based this  
partially upon a passage from the introduction to The Scarlet Letter  
(viz., "The Custom House") by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The passage of  
note reads, From the loftiest point of its roof, during precisely  
three and a half hours of each forenoon, floats or droops, in breeze  
or calm, the banner of the republic; but with the thirteen stripes  
turned vertically, instead of horizontally, and thus indicating that  
a civil, and not a military, post of Uncle Sam's government is here  
established.

Advocates of the Civil Flag also claim that the flag started losing  
its use around the time of the Civil War, and especially after World  
War I. Many teach that this is indicative of the US being essentially  
ruled by the military (or at least very militaristic) and oppressive  
of the people, and those who promote this flag say they do so to push  
for a restoration of a peaceful Constitutional government.

Evidence for and against the Civil Flag

A political cartoon with a Customs Service flag flying to the  
immediate right of the official United States flag.
Most vexillologists consider the Civil Flag a hoax. First of all,  
they note that all pictures and paintings of the "American Flag" show  
it to have the standard horizontal stripes and blue canton with white  
stars. They also note that past "peace" movements used the current  
flag rather than any "Civil Flag."

It is believed that the Civil Flag idea is a misunderstanding of  
Hawthorne's text and the flag behind it, which is nothing more than  
the flag of the United States Customs Service, which is very similar  
to that of the U.S. Coast Guard. This flag, which was introduced in  
1799, actually has sixteen stripes (as the U.S. had sixteen states at  
the time) and the number of stars did not change. The old pictures of  
the supposed Civil Flag have the sixteen stripes and logo of the  
Customs service. Since Hawthorne was writing about a "custom house",  
it would only be natural that they would fly this flag.

Critics also point out that no major flag company sells this flag and  
it appears in no other sources besides Hawthorne's writing. They  
maintain that the Civil Flag is either an intentional hoax to make  
money or promote a cause, or a result of muddled research.

Modern-day US Civil Flag usage

The Flag is seen as a marketing tool to get people to buy products  
representing the flag. While it may or may not be dishonest of them  
to mislead consumers into purchasing memorabilia, it still has its  
market demands. Those who have chosen to protest their views on  
wartimes have used this flag to demonstrate their feelings on world  
politics. The meaning of the Civil Flag, accurate or false,  
potentially could represent an official view of the American People  
under an official/unsupported design.