A line in the sand on patriotic flip-flops
When does flag-themed clothing go from celebrating to being disrespectful?
With Canada Day around the corner, and the maple leaf on display everywhere, some are questioning whether it is appropriate for the Canadian flag to be sat on in a bikini bottom or stepped on in flip-flops.
Canadian flag bikinis are available on various websites from $29.99, and flip-flops from $27.50. A flag towel can be purchased online for $24.95.
“I personally take it very offensively,” says Paul LeBlanc, who served in the Canadian military for 32 years and retired as Chief Warrant Officer.
“I buried some of my very good friends and draped their caskets with the flag, so I personally take offence to that. But I do understand that when I signed on the dotted line and spent 32 years as a soldier going overseas and protecting and fighting for freedom . . . that is their right. So I can live with that. I don’t like it but that’s what democracy and freedom is.”
The flag is a symbol of a country and all its people, and should be treated with the utmost respect, he said.
Federal guidelines for displaying the flag say it shouldn’t be used to cover tables or seats, and nothing should be pinned or sewn on our flag.
Flag etiquette is an adaptation of usage and customs that evolved over time, Justine Lafond, a spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage, says in an email.
LeBlanc knows there are no laws governing the commercial use of the flag. Regardless of that, seeing the flag print on a bikini or flip-flops irks him. He believes the flag must fly free and aloft.
Wearing the flag on a T-shirt or on one’s breast pocket is absolutely fine, in his view.
“It’s like a Catch-22, eh?” he says.
Michelle Myers, co-owner of Calhoun Sportswear has a different outlook. The St. Catharines, Ont., store sells a wide variety of clothes, including swimwear displaying the maple leaf.
“It’s rah-rah Canada,” she says. “It’s nationalism, the name of our country, the image of the flag — the more it is evident, the better (for Canada) . . . This has been true for eons in the U.S.A. Why can’t it be true here?”
According to the U.S. Flag Code, the Stars and Stripes shouldn’t be used as apparel, bedding or drapery, and shouldn’t be used on cushions, paper napkins or handkerchiefs, which are designed to be discarded.
Myers says those who desecrate the flag should be arrested, but display- ing it tastefully is a matter of personal choice. One can’t decide whether someone should, or shouldn’t, wear a bikini imprinted with the flag, she says.
Allison Holtz, marketing manager for Cafepress, a website that sells the Canadian flag design on various products including onesies, T-shirts and flip-flops, says she doesn’t believe it’s her place to tell people the right way to express their patriotism.
“To date, our community of Canadian patriots have only expressed enthusiasm for wrapping themselves in the maple leaf head to toe, but we value ongoing dialogue on topics like this and invite comments and conversation,” Holtz wrote in an email.
Anthony Wilson-Smith, president and CEO of Historica Canada, an organization dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canadian history and citizenship, says he prefers not to see people in a Canadian flag bathing suit or flip-flops.
“I don’t think anyone means bad,” he says. “I just don’t think it’s respectful.”
Wilson-Smith adds that he also doesn’t like seeing the maple leaf on a doormat.
“In sports teams you never walk over the logo of the sports team,” he says. “To me, if you feel that way about the logo or symbol of the team then you should feel the same way about the Canadian flag.”
What counts at the end of the day is whether the individual is displaying the flag out of national pride, Wilson-Smith says.
“If you are, that’s what really counts.”