WHY is the USA flag put VERTICALLY on the wall behind the SPEAKERS PODIUM at the annual STATE OF THE UNION speech?

UPDATE:

New York Times OpEd here on this topic:

http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2015/01/23/house-chamber-display-horizontal-flag/

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http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20090528/American-Flag-Background-Made-Cloth-1197329.jpg

vs

http://www.flagandbanner.com/images/flagetiquette_illus1.jpg

WHY is the USA flag put on the wall behind the SPEAKERS PODIUM at the annual STATE OF THE UNION address by our presidents in a VERTICAL hanging way against the wall and with the "union" -- the blue part -- on the left? According to the US Flag Code - ''When displayed vertically against a wall, the ''union'' should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left.'' SO FAR SO GOOD. but for viewers at home on TV and around the WORLD, i have an IDEA, for future SOTU speeches: namely, why not display the flag horitzontally like a normal USA flag view, the way we always see it, instead of vertically? Since the SOTU is on Tv and beamed around the world, showing the REAL USA flag in a horizontal way against the wall, WOULD THAT MAKE A BETTER OPTIC for the world to see and you and me too? I am planning to start a campaign to ask COngress to do this? NEXT TIME, anyone want to help me or can offer advice. I HATE THE VERTICAL FLAG display. It's stupid and dumb. LONG THE REAL USA FLAG DISPLAY. !!! if want to help me or rebuke me, email me at

danbloom@gmail.com

For the love of 'Old Glory'

by Dan Bloom

I was born in America and I love America. But

living overseas for over 20 years has shown me that America does not

always get it right, in terms of international PR.

I watched President Barack Obama's "State of the Union" address on TV

CNN Internatjonal here in Taiwan the other day, like millions of other

viewers worldwide, and I found the speech well-written and

well-orated. President Obama has not lost his touch with the spoken

word.

I was able to follow the speech along with the full text as printed

online, and it made the speech even more

intesting, using my iPhone screen for the text and looking up at the

TV screen as well.

But I have a small proposal to make and I hope someone somewhere is

listening. It's this: the State of the Union address is given every

four years with the American flag behind the president, in full view

of worldwide TV audience, which grows bigger each year with social

media and other platforms following the speech as well, including

"live" tweets as the speech unfolds in real time.

One problem for me, as an American living overseas for over 20 years:

the American flag is hung vertically behind the president -- yes,

vertically! -- in a way that viewers from foreign countries might not

understand. Why the flag is hung this way is a long story, and it's

partly due to the U.S. Flag Code and partly due to Congressional

regulations.

But I feel that the American flag, on such a globally momentous

occasion, should be hung against the wall behind the president in a

horizontal position. This would be an important and positive

international "optic'' as they say in the PR business. Viewers in

China, Japan, France and Italy, among the other 140 or so nations that

get the SOTU speech via satellite and cable TV worldwide would "see"

the American flag -- "Old Glory" -- as she was designed to be seen:

horitzontally.

So I am proposing with this quiet oped that in future years, the SOTU

address given inside the Congressional building position the American

flag horizontally on the wall behind the presidemt, whoever he or she

is after Obama's term is over.

I am proposing this mostly as a PR idea for the global viewership of

the SOTU address, with the thinking that a good optic of an easy to

see and easy to understand American flag for foreign viewers would end

up being a positive PR achievement for America on the international

scene.

Of course, to do this will take some doing, and it might take 20 years

to see this happen. But you read it here first.

Notice the Japan never hangs its national flag in its Diet in a

vertical way. Neither do Germany or Brazil or Sweden or India. So why

does America hang Old Glory vertically behind the president during the

SOTU address?

It's lousy PR and lousy optics, and it's an easy to fix issue. So I am

typing these words and sending them to my editor in San Diego in the

hope that they will land someday on the right ears in Washington.

Put the flag right! Enough with this vertical thing. It does not show

America at its best. and we do have a lot of PR work to do in regards

to how we are "seen" by people in far away countries. My proposal is

one way to correct a bad optic.

 

WHY is the USA flag put on the wall behind the SPEAKERS PODIUM at the annual STATE OF THE UNION address by our presidents in a VERTICAL hanging way against the wall and with the "union" -- the blue part -- on the left? According to the US Flag Code - ''When displayed vertically against a wall, the ''union'' should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left.'' SO FAR SO GOOD. but for viewers at home on TV and around the WORLD, i have an IDEA, for future SOTU speeches: namely, why not display the flag horitzontally like a normal USA flag view, the way we always see it, instead of vertically? Since the SOTU is on Tv and beamed around the world, showing the REAL USA flag in a horizontal way against the wall, WOULD THAT MAKE A BETTER OPTIC for the world to see and you and me too? I am planning to start a campaign to ask COngress to do this? NEXT TIME, anyone want to help me or can offer advice. I HATE THE VERTICAL FLAG display. It's stupid and dumb. LONG THE REAL USA FLAG DISPLAY. !!! if want to help me or rebuke me, email me at

danbloom@gmail.com

http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html#173