What’s Wrong with This Parade Picture?

DrillMasterHonor Guard, Instructional 2 Comments

I haven’t posted one of these in a while. So, what is wrong with this picture? The flag is being carried by some great US marines in a parade. And let’s be clear, everyone involved is well-intentioned and I am not pointing things out to put down any individual. However, there is a Flag Code and what I’m abut to point out is quite clear.

The “Wrongs” of this Picture

  1. A flag is never to be carried flat, always aloft and free. So, the other mistakes only compound this. Yes, I understand that America has presented her flag flat on football fields and elsewhere for years now, but that does not negate the fact the we are not supposed to do it. “Aloft and free” has meaning. Draped over a casket is an entirely different subject.
  2. The blue field or, canton, is supposed to be either:
    1. On the right side of the photo- think of the six Marines as pall bearers, the canton must be over the left shoulder of the deceased while the casket is carried feet first, or
    2. At the leading edge on the left of the picture.
  3. Technically, the flag should be held taught.

Like I said in number one, the flag is not carried flat. Period. The other mistakes are merely incidental.

Photo: A friend passed this along to me and I do not know the origin.

Comments 2

  1. A comment on #2a; You state on the left side of photo. If the Marines were pallbearers, the canton over the deceased left shoulder, casket carried feet first, then wouldn’t the canton be on right side of the photo?

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