Firefighters ordered to remove American flags from trucks

NY Post ^ | August 17, 2016 | Associated Press

[Redwood71]

I originally thought the same as you did. And I was a little surprised to find they were the real mc’coy also. You got me curious, I looked it up, and here’s what I stumbled over:

4 U.S.Code 7 – Position and manner of display:
(b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.

So they actually have a way to fly the flag when a motor vehicle is involved at the federal level. I couldn’t find any states that disallowed the flying of a flag on a vehicle. And besides this I found the feds have a way to fly it on a parade float. I guess they get real serious about this at some point. And as we don’t know if the NYFD people followed the rules, “what do we know?’ Just what the media is selling.

red

[faucetman]

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

“I like a big flag decal. IMHO”

[M Kehoe]

If you don’t like the Stars and Stripes, go back to where you came from.

Simple solution.

5.56mm

[EinNYC]

The flags at issue are 7’ x 4’. They fly from the back of the trucks where the firemen need unimpeded access to firefighting and other emergency equipment. In high winds, the flapping flags could easily interfere with access to the equipment in situations where seconds lost can mean the difference between life and death.

I listened this morning to a talk show discussing this situation. They pointed out that the flags were very large and actually could impede firefighters' activities. Armed with the additional information, which was missing in the news article (typical!), I could settle for large decals of the American flag on the fire trucks or a very small flag in a location which would not get in the way.