Flyin' It Wrong

The Trails Apartments on Metric Boulevard in Austin uses flags to attract the attention of potential tenants to their complex. Seems they got a little over exuberant with their Texas Flag and managed to hoist it upside down. This attracted the attention our Central Texas Director who happened on the scene and informed an embarrassed manager of their transgression. We are sure that The Trails will “Fly It Right” from now on.

Rocky Mountain High

Seems that many of the hotels and lodges in Colorado display various state and national flags. This, no doubt, is done to send a message to tourists that their establishment welcomes visitors from all places.

Our Western Regional Director got called out on a report that The Lofts of Estes in Estes Park, Colorado had gone a little too far. These folks were flying several state flags, but they had The Lone Star Flag flying upside down. We don't know if the Lofts were doing this to attract Texans to their place or not. It is quite possible that they did this intentionally to discourage Texans from staying there. (This wouldn't be the first time this was done in Colorado.)

None the less, our director dutifully went all the way to Estes Park to document this violation and has since notified the Lofts of Estes of their error. We trust they will fly The Lone Star properly in the future. At least he enjoyed the trip!

Galveston Offender

One cannot think of Texas History without thinking about Galveston. This grand city was once one of the largest and most important ports on the Gulf of Mexico. Galveston has a colorful history of pirates, hurricanes, immigrants, gangsters and Mardi Gras. Galvestonians are proud of their state flag and, as you drive the streets of the historic district looking at the beautiful old victorian homes, it is hard to find one without the Lone Star flying from the front porch.

Today there is an invasion going on in Galveston. An invasion of Houstonians trying to escape the hustle and bustle of living in the 4th largest city in the country. These part-time Galvestonians have filled the western end of the island with weekend retreats. Unfortunately, they have brought some of their big city habits with them -- such as not knowing which end is up on the Texas Flag. This flag was tucked away on a canal, but it did not escape the eagle eye of SPPDFT. Once again, caught in the act!

West University Place Offender

The community of West University Place lies in serene, suburban southwest Houston. West University is known for it's tree-lined streets and beautiful homes. Appropriately named, the community lies just west of Rice University. It is home to physicians, college professors, oil barons, and a few Houston Astros.

The grand boulevard of West University Place is University Boulevard. Along this oak-lined street, families proudly fly their flags; many on flag poles in their front yard. Well, it appears that one West University Place family needs to study up on their civic lessons because they can't seem to get their Texas Flag flying the right way (see photo). Our southeast Texas agent found this violator on April 28, 2007. We hope they took the citation that we left in the good spirit in which it was intended!

Two Time Offender

On April 26, 2007, our Central Texas Agent was called out on a reported flag flying upside down. When he arrived at the location, he noticed familiar surroundings and found our first two-time offender. It seems the good folks at Cedar Valley Middle School in Round Rock managed to get things topsy-turvy again (see photo).

Readers will recall that we caught the folks at Cedar Valley flying the Lone Star bottoms up on Groundhogs Day (see: Quality Without Compromise). Well, looks like they are at it again -- our first 2nd time offender!

Tarnished Silver Screen

Normally, our field agents have to keep a sharp eye out for upside down flags, remaining alert and diligent with camera at the ready. Sometimes, though, we don't even have to get up off of the couch.

Our recent mystery flag quiz puzzled our readers with a flag that wasn't necessarily upside down, it just wasn't right. With the star sewn on upside down, there was no way to fly it properly. At the time, it was a novelty, a real head scratcher.

Until now, that is. About a week ago, I was preparing for the SPPDFT convention in the Big Bend by watching the epic 1956 Texas-themed film Giant. The movie was filmed largely in Marfa, a quaint little town whose mysterious lights and minimalist art have put it on the map like James Dean never could.

And then it happened:






No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is Rock Hudson appearing before an improperly manufactured Texas flag. The Warner Brothers set design people must have been too busy building a big, fake ranch house to take the time to look at an actual Texas flag.

Take them away.

Then, as if to reinforce their blatantly anti-Texas message, the filmmakers got a reaction shot of the lovely Elizabeth Taylor in the same spot. She looks genuinely shocked by the disregard for cinematic accuracy.

We feel your pain, Liz.
I was understandably excited to find this scene, as it makes great blog fodder. I couldn't believe my luck.

This next one really got me.





















There it is, big as the Texas sky. It is probably the same flag, doing double duty. This scene makes it absolutely clear that there is something wrong with the flag in the foreground by helpfully providing a line of real Texas flags in the background. I can't believe this made it past the editors. Were they asleep or just drunk?

Apparently, Giant has been called out for its flag abuses before. According to the Internet Movie Database, not only is the star upside down (I promise that I found it on my own) on the Texas flag, but the array of flags in the Benedict's ranch house is backwards, with the U.S. flag on its own left (the observer's right). Also, the U.S. flag on the casket is displayed improperly in the train station scene but appears correctly in the funeral scenes. Hollywood.

Quality Without Compromise

"Quality Without Compromise"
is the motto of Cedar Valley
Middle School in Round Rock.













Unfortunately, this principle of behavior does not appear to apply to the Cedar Valley M. S. flagpole. This flag was discovered by our Central Texas operative on February 2, 2007 and had been flying upside down all day without notice.

At least the good folks at Cedar Valley chose Groundhog's day to commit their offense and didn't wait a month later for Texas Independence Day!

SPPDFT

A Major Award!

We've gotten a few of responses to our recent Flag Quiz, and the winner has been decided.

Our first runner up, Paul Zeis, suggested in his subject line that the U.S. flag should be flying on top. While that would be the case if the flags were flying on the same pole, it does not apply in this case:

From the Texas Flag Code:

§ 3100.055. DISPLAY ON FLAGPOLE OR FLAGSTAFF WITH FLAG OF UNITED STATES.
(a) If it is necessary for the state flag and the
flag of the United States to be displayed on the same flagpole or
flagstaff, the United States flag should be above the state flag.
(b) If the state flag and the flag of the United States are
displayed on flagpoles or flagstaffs at the same location:
(1) the flags should be displayed on flagpoles or
flagstaffs of the same height;
(2) the flags should be of approximately equal size;
(3) the flag of the United States should be, from the
perspective of an observer, to the left of the state flag;
(4) the flag of the United States should be hoisted
before the state flag is hoisted; and
(5) the state flag should be lowered before the flag of
the United States is lowered.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 7.001, eff. Sept. 1,
2001.

The angle of the photograph must have been misleading, because "anonymous" chimed into our comments section with a similar hypothesis, "Is the Texas flag taller than the US flag?"

And now, the envelope please...

Tom Gaden, the winner of our Mystery Flag Quiz, discerned correctly that the Texas Flag in the photo was manufactured incorrectly.

With the red stripe on bottom and the white one on top, the star points to hell.
That ain't no good.

If you point the star heavenwards, you end up with the stripes reversed.
It's a fools errand; that flag cannot be flown correctly!

Good job, sir Tom!
Your prize, the very first SPPDFT T-shirt, featuring the striking graphics below, is forthcoming.

Where's Waldo?

Okeh, eagle eyes. . .
What's wrong with this picture?


It was taken on Cambridge Street in Houston, mere blocks from the famed "eighth wonder of the world," the Astrodome.

---

The first person to spot what's wrong with the photo and email the correct answer to texasflagsociety@gmail.com will win.....

Something, probably pretty good.

The winner will be annonced once they win. (No Cheatin'!)

Cheesy T-Shirts

One of our operatives stopped at a truck stop outside of Waco and found these cheesy t-shirts for sale. Not only is the flag upside down, but they took the liberty to change from dark blue to 'powder-puff' blue. Shame, shame!

J.R. Ewing wouldn't be caught dead in one of these!

How SPPDFT Got Started

The Society for the Preservation of the Proper Display of the Flag of Texas


The Society for the Preservation of the Proper Display of the Flag of Texas (SPPDFT) got started in the early 1980s. Back then, most of the nation was going through tough economic times, but the Texas economy was doing pretty good due to the oil boom. As a result, a lot of folks were leaving their homes in the East and Midwest and heading for Texas. Sort of a second ‘G.T.T.’

With this influx of folks from other states, an unusual phenomenon started to occur. We started seeing the Texas flag being displayed upside down. At first we thought this was due to so many people moving in from other states, but, under closer examination, we realized that lifelong Texans were equally at fault. Some of the more blatant and embarrassing examples from this period were:
-- The Texas Flag in front of Foley’s Department Store in Houston for the Foley’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (this one was on TV).
-- The Texas Flag in front of the District Office of The Department of Public Safety in Temple Texas. When called to his attention, the trooper in charge actually apologized.

The more we looked for misuses of the flag, the more we saw. It became obvious that there was a pressing need to organize and start informing people to fly the flag properly.

Texas is a proud state and we Texans are very proud of our flag. There are only five states that have a flag that does not differentiate between top and bottom (Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, and Tennessee) and Texas is not one of them. You never see the California Bear or the Louisiana Pelican flying upside down, but, for some reason, people tend to turn the Lone Star upside down.

To right this wrong, our representatives are out driving the highways and byways of our grand state, looking for culprits who, through negligence or stupidity, choose to fly our flag upside down.

SPPDFT

Low Flat Ranch-Type-Style Tract Housing

In the suburban wastelands of North Austin, people love to display their Texas pride.
These Round Rock homeowners were shamed, however, when an SPPDFT operative caught them with an upside down Texas flag on 7/17/2006.

A photo was taken, and a citation was left on their porch.


Our reeducation efforts were not in vain. Later in the year, the very same house was seen with a Christmas light display featuring a huge outline of the Lone Star State.

Chile Cookoff

In order to clear up some confusion, the SPPDFT offers this short lesson:

1. Texans eat chili and have a flag:

2. Chile is a South American country.
They also have a flag:


Although the two banners have the same color scheme and both stars point to heaven, I've never seen a Chilean flag flying upside-down.

It's probably because they have better public education in Chile.

The City of Love

This store in Paris, Texas sells rustic ranch-style furniture.
They were caught in the act of mis-flying the Texas flag on 6/10/2006.


Since the French tricolor can't really be flown upside down, I guess these Parisians don't pay attention to that sort of thing.

A "Texas Friendly" note was slipped under their door asking them to display their Texas flag properly in the future.

Is Upside-Down the New Rightside-Up?

Spotted on Highway 67 between Fort Stockton and Alpine on 7/8/2006:

Flag History

Most folks know that six flags have flown over Texas.
That's just the tip of the iceberg, pardner.

Over at Texas A&M (Farmers Fight!), Wallace L. McKeehan has a fabulous rundown of the lesser known banners throughout Texas history.
DeWitt Colony Flags 1700-1836
Flags of Independence 1835-1836

I guess it used to be easier to figure out which way to fly the flag when it had words printed on it.

Howdy!

Greetings, weary internet traveler. You have located the official blog of the SPPDFT, an organization dedicated to spreading awareness of proper Texas flag etiquette.

Toward this aim, our diligent operatives ceaselessly search for improperly displayed flags. The evidence is recorded photographically, and where it is possible, a citation is issued.

For our inaugural post, here is a photo I took on 04/08/2005 in Alpine, Texas.


Yesiree, cowpoke. That flag is improperly displayed.

That week, I called them on improper display twice. The University DPS has not, as far as I know, made the same mistake since I lodged my complaints.

Some will say, "The red goes on bottom and the white goes on top."

Here at the SPPDFT, we say, "The star always points to heaven."

Either way, the photographic evidence is damning. The Texas State University System, of which Sul Ross State University is a member, should know better.

Check back here for more shocking violations of the Texas Flag Code; only at the SPPDFT.

Also, if you have any photos or anecdotes to contribute to the cause, we can be contacted at: texasflagsociety@gmail.com