HGTV Suggests Using the American Flag as a Tablecloth

It’s Flag Day!  Fly your flag with Pride and go ahead and say the pledge while you are at it because it is Pause for the Pledge Day too.

236 years ago . . . in 1777 - The Continental Congress made the STARS AND STRIPES the FIRST NATIONAL FLAG.  No one knows who really designed the first American flag; historians say the whole BETSY ROSS legend is probably not true.

59 years ago . . . in 1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the order adding the words "UNDER GOD" to the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.

The flag of course is a symbol of National Pride and we have the U.S. Flag Code, which suggests some ways we should respect the Flag.  The Code is not law, just protocol.  Section 176 says: The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

So whose bright idea was it for The Home & Garden Television network to suggest viewers use American flags as tablecloths for their Fourth of July celebrations?

In the segment, titled “Classic Fourth of July Table Setting Ideas,” the network suggested viewers "drape a large American flag over the table as a bright and festive table runner."

The segment recommended using a "nylon flag so spills can be easily wiped off and the flag can later be hung with pride on a flag pole.”

Many viewers expressed outrage. “Using an American flag as a table cloth dishonors all Americans who love Old Glory—especially those who gave their lives defending it,” one viewer wrote on HGTV's Facebook page before the segment was pulled and HGTV apologized.

The ad is down and hopefully nobody is going to be eating off the Flag on July Fourth.