Nice tones Paul. I too feel sad. If you're proud enough to fly the flag, its a sad sight to see it in rags. Over here flags are by law not allowed flown after sundown, and only on occassion. You can be prosecuted for flying a tattered flag.
thanks, Eirik.
people mean well when they buy flags and put them up new, but a flag this tattered might as well be a plastic garbage sack flapping in the wind.
i'm not a flag-flyer by nature (i don't like to wear shirts, for example, sporting the brand name on front and/or back), but i do know the rules of courtesy on how to handle, fly and dispose of the national flag ...