The flags flying in front of the Nugget and Red Garter Casinos are a public disgrace, said whenever High School Teacher and Commander of the Junior Civil Air Patrol Squad .Alan Rowley.
Editors note :The flags have since been removed.
“If you haven’t seen the flag at the Nugget, please look at it. It is square. The stripes adjacent to the stars appear to be two feet long.” Rowley wrote in an email to the High Desert Advocate.
According to United States code governing flag appearance both flags may not be in compliance with proper display of the flag. However there may not be any penalty for mis-displaying the flag since that could be construed as a violation of the First Amendment.
“They (the casinos) make a half a million dollars a day,” Rowley said in a later interview with the High Desert Advocate. “They could afford new flags. Every time I go past them my blood boils. And the one in front of the Red Garter looks like it was pieced together from at least three separate flags.”
“If they are going to fly the flag, they should at least do it right,” Rowley added.
Rowley did not however take his concerns directly to the casinos.
If he had he may have received the same response as the Advocate did. Once informed of the problem the offending flags were immediately removed from public view and new flags were ordered.
“I really don’t know how this happened,” said Casino Marketing Director Kim Mendenhall. “My dad is a veteran and I personally feel terrible.
The Nugget and the Red Garter also issued this press release:
“We would like to offer our heartfelt apology in regards to the condition of our flags at the casinos. It is with great regret that we were unaware of their condition and apologize for unintentionally offending anyone. We have ordered a new flags and properly removed the old ones.
We do hold our servicemen and servicewomen in a very high regard and would like to pay the proper respects with the flag.”
Wendover Resorts Management
According to the Flags of the World homepage: United States flag law does not specify the proportions of the flag. The proportions of 10:19, so often quoted, are the product of an executive order of the president, and are actually binding only in certain military uses. The United States government buys and uses flags in several other proportions (2:3, 3:5, 5:8) for numerous civilian and military applications. Private citizens are free to use their own judgment.
The origin of the different sizes may also be of historical interest. The 36×48” dimensions were originally those of the standard (vs. color) used by mounted units–cavalry and later field artillery and mounted engineers. When the Army developed aviation units, they were also considered “mounted” [presumably accounting for the modern Air Force’s use of the 36×48” flag]. When the tank came along, armored units also seemed “mounted.” Then came mechanized infantry–”mounted” too. All these units carried standards rather than colors. Eventually, there came to be fewer and fewer “foot” units and the 52×66” flag was abandoned as an organizational color except for the 1st Bn 3rd Infantry (now simply referred to as the 3rd Infantry without a battalion designation–the regiment is divided directly into companies) and the U.S. Corps of Cadets. At the same time, the Army dropped the use of the term “standard,” even for regiments still officially designated as cavalry.
If I owned the Nugget or Garter I’d just get rid of the flags. Then there would be no more complaints.