The peaceful flag

Civil war or not civil war, that is the question of whether there are regular flags that promise peace or just one of them...

Once again I'm sitting at the head of my table, where you sit as a wheelchair user. I was thinking to myself and almost boredom set in when a friend pushed an article over to me on the virtual table and it sort of flopped out of the monitor in front of my wheels.

The report was short and sweet, but the pictures were real eye-catchers. The well-known stars and stripes of the USA on the right side below it is written "USA war flag". To the left of it is a rather idiosyncratic interpretation (or so I thought) of the stars and stripes, the 13 stripes vertically and the stars black (or blue ?) on a white background, underneath it is written “USA Regular Flag (“civil flag”).

Stars and stripes

The meaning and origins of the Stars and Stripes are probably well known; as part of the Declaration of Independence, the American revolutionaries gave themselves their own flag. 13 horizontal stripes alternating red and white. At the top left of the Gösch, a very important word, a real word that you have to know, in flags it is used to describe the mast-side upper corner of a flag, but also the bow flag, mostly on warships it is called Gösch and to complete the confusion and probably because they If you are too lazy to come up with your own word, this is also what badges in the form of a couleur band on student association hats are called. But we only need the goose for the mast flag. Since the Stars and Stripes is always depicted with the goose at the top left, we can clearly conclude that the mast is on the left and as soon as the flag is depicted on the medium on which the flag is shown, there is immediately a west wind. So in the Gösch the Stars and Stripes shows the well-known stars, originally the 13 founding states were supposed to be shown there and each newly joined state was lined up in the horizontal stripes, which resulted in there being a 15-striped flag with 13 stars. But then, following a flash of inspiration, it was changed and each state got a star in the goose and the 13 stripes represent the 13 founding states. There is a law for the flag in which it is described, so you should actually find the “regular flag” on it, unless the rag dogs have doctored the law so that the war flag is the flag that is always shown, i.e. the war is over Permanent status is a flag decree, but then the invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. is declared, there was no need for a congressional resolution or marching orders from the president, it was enough that the flag waved in that direction. But once again we were lucky that the wind wasn't blowing in our direction, oh no, we're still occupied anyway. Why don't we have our own star yet, or is it on the back? More questions, it's terrible. “The German Star” is somehow a nice title about a star on the US flag that can only be seen in a certain light from a certain angle, but that’s for another time, for now it’s about the “regular flag” of the USA.

Confusing things

If there weren't vertical red and white stripes, you could almost think someone had just reversed the colors, but so? What do the vertical stripes symbolize? Cotton bushes? Corn? Grain? So any crops and thus the secret victory of the South in the Civil War? The stars above represent what exactly? A homage to midsummer in Alaska, when the design for the flag was created? Are the vertical bars launching pads for fireworks and the stars the fireworks? Is it a party flag? Make love not war? Don't pop Kloppe?

That's no use

We're not getting anywhere like this, let's take a look at what kind of flags there were in US history and we actually find what we're looking for early on in history when it comes to the vertical stripes in red and white. The Sons of Liberty once had a barrier flag, red and white, even vertical. However, around 1765 and not for long, because it is assumed that they switched to horizontal red and white stripes shortly afterwards, also around 1765. So before the Declaration of Independence there was already a red and white vertical flag, interesting. One could now come up with the idea that this flag would be predestined to serve as the basis for a “regular flag” simply because of its origins from the Sons of Freedom. It's just surprising that it was rejected so quickly and that the USA only gave itself its own flag in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, and back then they were still more focused on "let us be in peace"; there was no need for separate war and... Regular flag.

Customs border district

If we leaf a little further through the flag history book, we come across the US Customs and Border Protections - in other words, the US Customs Service. This was reorganized and structured in 2003. Previously there were parts of it as US Customs Services and as this it had a flag made up of 16 alternating red and white vertical stripes and the US in the goose (well who remembers what the goose is?). It fits quite well, now remove the eagle and paint the stars on the white background and you can create a wonderful urban legend that from the “Peace Flag” the “Civil Flag” was born. Humbug, but there are definitely people who believe that and buy the rag.

But that wasn't enough, the text went even further.

It is explained to us that the American Civil War was not a civil war at all, but that the southern states had correctly founded a new confederation of states under international law and that it was therefore a normal war since the southern states were clearly foreign countries under international law.

There would have to have been a regulation as to how a federal state could simply leave the confederation. Currently the Säxit is the exit of Saxony from the Federal Republic.

Opinions differ here

The USA already had a constitution back then - who would have guessed it now - in which the most important government tasks were clearly divided between the central government in Washington and the individual states. A constitutional clause also states that all tasks not explicitly assigned to the Union fall within the decision-making authority of the states. Slavery, the means on which the South's wealth and economy rested, was not mentioned in the Constitution, which is why the Southern states claimed the right to decide about it.

The northern states saw it differently, perhaps also recognized the need for action and tried to fill the gap within the framework of new federal laws that were necessary to admit new states while at the same time including slavery and other social issues. This, in turn, did not meet with the South's favor and they gritted their teeth.

If the question arose under what circumstances a state was allowed to leave the Union, there was a regulation for the dissolution of the Union if the Union government grossly violated its duties or was no longer able to govern constitutionally.

This made it possible to argue perfectly that the government was violating the rights of the individual states with its attitude and influence on slavery, that this was unconstitutional and that a state could therefore bring about the dissolution of the Union, i.e. also leave the Union.

This could definitely be used to justify secession, but only for economic reasons, well why else? In fact, to this day, constitutional lawyers still don't really agree on whether it was legal or not.

dead end

We won't get anywhere like this, but when brothers, relatives and neighbors shoot at each other, it is definitely a civil war and not an ordinary war. One could perhaps agree that it was a war of independence for the South, a civil war for the North, or something like that.

Who was the aggressor?

Then the thesis that the USA had waged war on the CSA (Confederate States of America), now the first aggression came from the CSA, who opened fire on Fort Sumter. The northern states had more money, more soldiers, were better equipped and yet it took 4 years until the civil war was over.

So something like that, the regular flag is an urban legend and the South started the war, yet the USA is the bad guy in this story - unbelievable.

Of course, you can and should critically question many things that are going on in world politics and just as naturally the USA has not covered itself with glory, but to put up some wild theories in the hope that no one notices is a little naive, after all The theorists want to ask us to think, but if we then think and say, but I come to a different conclusion, we are not enlightenable and influenced by the media just because we do not allow ourselves to be influenced by the educational media without thinking about it for a moment , wow.

All because of a flag and its urban legend.

Well, I'm excited to see what happens next. Klaus Störtebeker wasn't a man at all and was actually called Dörte Becher?

Sources:

Civil War:

http://www.verfassungen.net/us/verf87-i.htm

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-secession-legal/

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._White

Flags:

http://www.loeser.us/flags/american_note_2.html

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagge_der_United_States