Letter: It’s just a flag; no law is needed

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 | 9:36 a.m.

The flag is a symbol; nothing more, nothing less. It symbolizes different things for different people. I do not see any laws protecting other symbols, such as insignias of sports teams or foreign flags.

I personally think the United States is the best country in the world. To me the flag represents all the good things about our country. I would never think about burning one. However, if we make flag-burning illegal it is in part just giving in to a larger trend in the country in which everything we disapprove of must be illegal. Many people seem to believe that unless we outlaw something, we are actively encouraging it.

We ought to be honoring the flag as individuals; a law-enforcing honor would be meaningless, since everyone will only do it out of fear of punishment.

JULIE CARLSON-BABCOCK

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