Friday, January 26, 2007

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

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That there is an awewome summation of evrythin that i've ever felt er thought. Regardin' the flag, that is.

Anonymous said...

The Tennessee and Ohio flags can be flown wrong because of the stars.