6
Monday, Sept. 21, 1970
University Daily Kansan
The Stars and Stripes— Respect, Rebellion or Reaction?
By JOHN RITTER
Kansan Staff Writer
Except for the addition of 37 stars, the American flag has not changed in 183 years. The Stars and Stripes caps polygoles across the nation just as it did when Francis Scott Key gazed across Chesapeake Bay at Old Glory flying above battered Ft. McHenry in 1814.
But in 1970 the flag stirs new emotions and reactions.
ONE GROUP BURNS the flag, spits on it, blows their noses on it and wears it on the seat of their pants. The law labels that "disrespect."
Another group displays the flag differently—with pins, decals and paint. The law hasn't labeled that form of display yet, but most KU students sporting new versions of the red, white and blue say it's not disrespect—they're merely "doing their thing."
Small flag decals, 3 x 4 inches, are exhibited on car windows, briefcases and bumper all over campus. Some students wear small pins, with flag and tiny pole, on shirts and sweaters.
On technical grounds, some of the new flag displays could be considered unlawful according to Kansas statutes.
KANSAS LAW fixes a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $100 fine on persons convicted of placing "any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or any advertisement of any nature upon any flag of the United States."
"It boils down to a matter of discipline," he said. "Those who show disrespect to the flag haven't been brought up in the proper environment. They haven't learned to respect many of our sacred institutions."
Flag sales at Keeler's Book Store, 939 Mass., have also been steady this year. And buyers have represented all age groups—KU students and Lawrence residents alike.
She reports flag sales by her Legion girls have tripled in the last two years.
Small flags flutter from car antennas. Army fatigue jackets are plastered with flag decals, with "ban the bomb" insignias where the stars normally are. One car on campus is painted in a flag design with stars and stripes across the body.
Why the growing interest in the flag?
FLAG DEALERS in Lawrence, including the American Legion, report constant and increased flag sales. Novelty shops in town advertise a variety of flag symbols.
Mrs. Dale Kerr, sponsor of the American Legion Girls Auxiliary in Lawrence, says it's because people have become aware of protest in the nation and have chosen to display the flag in response.
The same penalty also applies to those who "publicly mutilate, deface, defile or defy, trample or cast contempt either by words or act" on the flag.
No cases involving disrespect to the flag have arisen in Douglas County.
The American Legion has taken a tolerant, if not supportive attitude toward the new appearances of the red, white and blue.
One Legionnaire, who refused to be identified, said the whole matter of displaying the flag depended on individual motive.
"RADICALS who deliberately mistreat the flag with a certain viciousness are the ones trying to disrupt the country in the first place," he said.
"Others who display the flag with pride and as the proper symbol of our country are just doing their thing."
John Purcell, Commander of Legion Post No. 14 in Lawrence, agreed.