Soooo…. Yes and no?
99.999% of the time in illustrations as well as real clothing, a bra or bikini style top in an “American flag pattern” is not an American flag. To include all the Stars and Stripes would be both visually cluttered or unappealing as well as complex, so usually there are both fewer Stars and Stripes than are required for it to be an American flag. Also, an American flag is a single rectangle, so something like a bra or bikini top would need to either be made of an actual flag and sewn into a top OR have an entire individual flag print on each breast. Printing the flag across the cups without the missing pieces wouldn’t be a flag under the flag code.
As mentioned, the flag code doesn’t explicitly ban American flag print clothing or items unless those items are made from a pre existing flag. Then that is a violation. So taking down a flag and cutting and sewing it into a shirt is a violation but having a shirt printed with a “flag design” or inmate of a flag is not.
Now- there is some debate as to whether or not printed items depicting an American flag accurately and within the bounds of what is identified as a flag by the flag code is a violation, and outside the flag code there is debate and individual opinion as to whether the symbol of a nation which man and women have fought and died for should be used as a beach blanket or to cover your private parts etc.
Most of the time those depicting or using the image of the flag avoid the issue but doing as said in the open- they just make sure the flag isn’t an American flag but looks enough like one to be perceived that way.
Having less than the proper number of stars or stripes for a current or past flag is one method.
This is done places like Disney parks for examples. The “American Flags” that are often seen in Disney parks in the states or on “Main Street” all have the wrong number of stars and/or stripes. This allows Disney to ignore the flag code, they don’t have to lower the flags in mourning or properly care, display, or dispose of them, but it creates an iconography or image that they want for the park. Films and other media commonly do this as well.
Of course the flag code is not binding. It does not specify that you must follow it nor does it prescribe or suggest penalties. The flag code is a guide on how to respect the United States flag, what it stands for, and those who stand or stood for it.
The United States and its people are not and have not always been perfect or lived up to the ideals of the nation, but the flag stands for those ideals, what we could be and should strive to be. One of those ideals is an ideal of freedom, so it is not mandatory that you respect the US flag
Or what it stands for. It would be a bit ironic if the symbol of American freedom did not allow you the freedom to disrespect it. Wether or not one believes that people should by default manners and ethics respect the symbol of the America the flag represents even when the country or its people fail to meet those ideals; the fact that people can choose to disrespect the flag is in it’s way a good thing. So long as someone is disrespecting the American flag it is a sign that America has not yet achieved its potential and the nation and its people are being called on to do better. Part of the ideal that underpins America is to set a bar we cannot achieve. No matter how free or secure or prosperous or at peace we are or no matter how much good we do- to set a bar that there is always more. Always a better America than the one we have, and to reach for that. America has failed to reach that bar at home and abroad by a great wide margin quite a few times in modern history and the past.
When you set goals and standards so high as to be unachievable, when you keep moving the goal post as you reach the end zone- there isn’t shame in failing because people who do that will always fail. They understand that setting a goal just to be able to achieve it isn’t a challenge worthy of anyone wanting to be the best, you need to stretch and grow and struggle and fail and keep reaching further so that no matter how good you get it is never good enough. The best do not settle for complacency. But America isn’t living up to being the best. We aren’t just missing the goal by a little bit in the end zone because we pushed the goal further away. If anything we have at times moved the goal back to places it had been before and yet someone still fell short.
We can do better. We have to do better. The America that flag stands for is an America that never believes it has done enough or reached the pinnacle. So to each their own when it comes to the flag. It means many things
to many people. We cannot make everyone respect the flag or the pure form of what it is supposed to stand for, we can’t force people to believe that all the “bad” that has stood under that flag doesn’t erase the “good” or force some equation of respect for the people who have done right under the flag and stood behind it vs. the people who have done wrong while waving the flag in front of them as a shield. That’s not what that flag stands for. If we behave in ways that people can respect then people will respect the symbol of what we stand for. If people don’t respect your symbol, you have to look at what you’ve done to reflect that symbol and what you might do to be a symbol of the flag instead of worrying about the flag being a symbol of you.
Allow me to assure and affirm @guest_ that NO person from whom that flag pattern represents would complain of its application to big, warm anime tiddies. THAT is what freedom is.
Terms and conditions apply. Discontinue use immediately if you are allergic to firearms or taking socialism. Sudden burning and unexpected coups may occur.
Pregnant women and certain individuals with chronic health conditions may experience difficulties.
Consult your doctor on wether America is right for you.
99.999% of the time in illustrations as well as real clothing, a bra or bikini style top in an “American flag pattern” is not an American flag. To include all the Stars and Stripes would be both visually cluttered or unappealing as well as complex, so usually there are both fewer Stars and Stripes than are required for it to be an American flag. Also, an American flag is a single rectangle, so something like a bra or bikini top would need to either be made of an actual flag and sewn into a top OR have an entire individual flag print on each breast. Printing the flag across the cups without the missing pieces wouldn’t be a flag under the flag code.
As mentioned, the flag code doesn’t explicitly ban American flag print clothing or items unless those items are made from a pre existing flag. Then that is a violation. So taking down a flag and cutting and sewing it into a shirt is a violation but having a shirt printed with a “flag design” or inmate of a flag is not.
Most of the time those depicting or using the image of the flag avoid the issue but doing as said in the open- they just make sure the flag isn’t an American flag but looks enough like one to be perceived that way.
Having less than the proper number of stars or stripes for a current or past flag is one method.
Of course the flag code is not binding. It does not specify that you must follow it nor does it prescribe or suggest penalties. The flag code is a guide on how to respect the United States flag, what it stands for, and those who stand or stood for it.
The United States and its people are not and have not always been perfect or lived up to the ideals of the nation, but the flag stands for those ideals, what we could be and should strive to be. One of those ideals is an ideal of freedom, so it is not mandatory that you respect the US flag
We can do better. We have to do better. The America that flag stands for is an America that never believes it has done enough or reached the pinnacle. So to each their own when it comes to the flag. It means many things
Aaaaameeerica…
Pregnant women and certain individuals with chronic health conditions may experience difficulties.
Consult your doctor on wether America is right for you.