Broadway looking west. Blogfinger photo 5/28/21 Click to enlarge
Broadway looking east. 5/28/21 Blogfinger photo.
From Grover PBenjay on 5/27/21:
The flags are back and this time they REALLY are hung the way a few others and myself thought would be correct. I was about to write and retract my statement about the disrespect of improper display, when lo and behold, the banners were gone!
I researched flag etiquette and it turns out that according to the U.S. Flag Code: American Flag Etiquette, Rules, and Guidelines published in The Old Farmers Almanac, the following guidelines are set forth; “When displayed over a street, the flag should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street, or to the east in a north and south street.”
Therefore as weird as it looked, the flags were hung correctly and I was wrong.
However, I still find this display of Neptune-logo banners gracing (or disgracing ) our street- those of us who live on Broadway endure the traffic, the speeders, the beach-day parkers in front of of our homes, and yet, we consider it to be a residential street.
Are there flags on Main Ave which is at least 1/3 commercial? Finally, I drove all around Shark River Hills and nary a flag, maybe they don’t pay as much taxes as we do, so we win!
Is there a parade coming up Broadway?
Editor’s note: 5/28/21. This subject was first raised as a Letter to the Editor on May 13 2021 by another writer. There were 14 interesting comments. A link is above.
You can see that the orientation of the star field (union) today (5/28/21) is still debatable if one were to implement the rule for a vertical flag hanging on an east west street (see above)
Broadway is an east west street no matter where you stand, so how can it be north on both sides the way it is currently hung by the Neptuners? Perhaps somebody else can sort this out for us.
In addition, we are not done. Two other offenses are present: particularly obnoxious on this Memorial Day weekend is the dirt on the flag. (click on the flag to see clearly)
And finally, where have you ever seen an American flag with a town’s or planet’s name displayed on it? Even when we dropped off two astronauts on the Moon, the flag they showed was not dirty and did not say “The Moon” on it.
Now “Play ball.”
Paul Goldfinger Editor Blogfinger.net
WEST POINT BAND “Service Medley”
You are right when there is only one side displayed, but our situation has both sides displayed. The Neptune union is wrong on one side and right on the other.
The rule that is more to the point is that relating to the flag hung flat as against a wall:
“When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.”
Neptune had the banners reprinted as the union was on the wrong side.