The Study Of The History Of The American Flag Controversy On A Comparative Basis

Usually, reverence for the national flag is generally accepted by the people. Over long time, the flag has become a sacred object which stems from legends, myths and mysticism. In another word, the national flag is a symbol of national unity and preventing breaches of the peace. In many sovereignty countries, any profane behaviors against the flag are considered as offensive from the legal and moral points of view. But the U.S. is an exception with regard to the national flag. The flag controversy as well as the movement to outlaw the unorthodox behaviors towards the flag in the U.S. reflects its uniqueness in the world.Before the Civil War, a skirmish of the flag had erupted between the nativists and Irish immigrants. But originally, the flag controversy was placed in a minor and unnoticed position. In the Civil War the American flag was awarded considerable values, confronting the flag of the Confederacy. Inevitably, flag-controversy incidents increased with corresponding severe punishment measures. After the Civil War, American states successively passed the flag protection laws although the passage of the flag law on a federal level made success only in the Vietnam War, over 100 years later. The original focus of the flag protection was directed to the flag use for commercial purposes and presidential campaign according to the State laws. In Halter case, the Supreme Court ruled that the commercial use was not protected by the Constitution. But the flag in the commercial use and in the presidential campaign was generally and quietly accepted by the public. Around the period of the World Wars, although the number of flag incidents increased, the flag as means to express political dissent was not given enough public attention. However, in this period the schools in some States required students to salute the flag, resulting in disagreement in some religious families. In a Minersville School case, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction on the ground that the flag was a symbol of a country. But in a Barnette case, the Supreme Court finally held that compulsory salute violated civil rights due to the Constitution. Up until the Vietnam War, the flag incidents led to a great amount of lawsuits by means of flag-desecration, flag-art and flag-decoration, in most of which the Supreme Court overturned the conviction based on the freedom of speech. The ruling of the Court resulted in the passage of the flag protection lawon a federal level. But the Supreme Court established the constitutionality of unorthodox behaviors against the flag on the basis of the First Amendment, announcing illegal the federal flag protection law in Johnson and Eichman cases. So flag incidents manifest the complexity in various social contexts and agents.The flag-controversy study is mainly from descriptive and prescriptive perspectives. From a descriptive perspective, the flag controversy is described on a chronological basis, marking the Civil War, World Wars and the Vietnam War. From a prescriptive perspective, the study centers on the legal study, discussing the constitutionality of flag desecration, flag salute and so on. Majority of legal experts hold that the conduct contained in the flag controversy does consist the elements of speech and therefore the conduct should be protected by the First Amendment. For example, one theory states that the conduct carries speech-interest and non-speech interest. When the former precedes the latter, the conduct should be considered in a boundary of speech, resulting in its protection based on the First Amendment.But the flag controversy spanned over 100 years, involving various social contexts and agents. Against this background, I introduce the comparative perspective to the analysis of the flag controversy. Flag incidents are categorized by flag desecration, flag salute, flag in the commercial and presidential campaign use, flag art and flag decoration. From a prescriptive perspective, I apply the elite theory and the modem theory of public opinion to the comparative account of the fl...