This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
PROVO - Wearing an American-flag T-shirt and a floppy felt hat with red stripes and blue stars, Cory Fredenburg stood atop his seat at Saturday's "Stadium of Fire" show and exhorted 40,000 fans to do the wave.
"I do it to be patriotic. I love our country!" said the excitable Reno, Nev., 17-year-old about his red, white and blue outfit. Fredenburg lifted his shirt to reveal the Stars and Stripes peeking from above his shorts. "See? I've got the boxers and everything."
What Fredenburg didn't realize, however, is that his attire violated a little-known federal law prohibiting the American flag from being worn as clothing. So consider this as you dress for a parade or a fireworks show today: Waving Old Glory means one thing. Wearing it means something else.
The statute, passed by Congress in 1942 during World War II, states that the American flag "should never be used as . . . apparel." But its vague language creates a legal gray area. The law seems to apply mostly to those who would cut up a flag into a hat, shirt or jacket. Wearing a likeness of the flag, such as on a T-shirt, appears to be a lesser offense - if an offense at all.
The U.S. Flag Code does not impose penalties for misuse of the flag. That is left to the states, each of which has its own flag law. Utah's law states that "a person is guilty of abuse of a flag if he knowingly casts contempt upon the flag of the United States . . . by publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon it." It makes no mention of wearing the flag.
"The flag is something I dearly love. I fought for it. A lot of us have," said Mike Parkin, of Salt Lake City, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam. "But if it's worn with disrespect, or to make a mockery of the flag . . . I despise that with a passion."
That question - what constitutes disrespect? - is central to any discussion of the flag-wearing issue. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt spent six months in a federal prison for desecrating the flag after wearing a Stars-and-Stripes diaper to court in 1983. A Virginia student caused a ruckus in 2000 when he wore a T-shirt with an upside-down flag to his high school on Veterans Day. And rocker Kid Rock was criticized for wearing an American-flag poncho during a 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
But in recent years Wal-Mart caused little fuss when it sold a "Little Patriots" line of red-white-and-blue starred disposable diapers. Nobody objected to the post-Sept. 11 wave of flag-themed T-shirts emblazoned with jingoistic slogans like, "These Colors Don't Run." And a Web site, http://www.flagclothes.com, sells a line of Old Glory-themed apparel with the slogan, "Remember, the Flag never goes out of style."
Federal law also prohibits the American flag being used for any advertising purpose. But that hasn't stopped merchants from co-opting it, notably Gap Inc., which has sold countless numbers of T-shirts with an image of the flag over the words, "Old Navy."
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch has long pushed for a constitutional amendment to protect the flag from burning and other "egregious, offensive acts of flag desecration." But even Hatch, one of the flag's staunchest defenders, believes Americans should be free to display an image of the flag on their clothes.
"Wearing our nation's greatest symbol is a fine act of patriotism. On Independence Day we see it everywhere: on a T-shirt, tie, hat, lapel pin, the list could go on forever," Hatch said in a statement. "I think people have a misconception of my push to protect the flag. It wouldn't impact those wearing the symbol of a flag."
Ultimately, observers say the propriety of displaying the flag on clothing comes down to the wearer's intent. Paul Swenson, owner of Colonial Flag in Sandy, believes the federal flag code was drafted to combat intentional desecration of the flag, not casual disrespect.
"I don't like the idea of someone taking an actual flag that flew . . . and cutting it up to make a hat or coveralls or something," said Swenson, whose store is one of Utah's biggest sellers of American flags. "On the other hand, I love patriotism and showing the flag. Because the [flag code] has no teeth in it . . . people kind of do what they want. In my opinion, it's more disgraceful to see a tattered flag flying out there than to have a flag on your shirt."
Many attending Saturday's "Stadium of Fire" extravaganza wore flag-themed designs on their shirts and hats. None of the half-dozen revelers interviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune were aware of the federal prohibition on flag clothing, although Korean War veteran Arnold Orton looked a little sheepish when asked about his red, white and blue "United We Stand" cap.
"I never wear this thing," said the Provo man, 72, who doesn't like to see Old Glory on T-shirts and other clothes. "Only on the Fourth of July."