American Flag
Taos Plaza has the distinction of being the first place in the United States, by tradition, to fly the United States Flag both day and night. In 1861, Southern sympathizers repeatedly tore down the flag flying over the Plaza. Captain Smith Simpson with the help of Kit Carson, Ceran St. Vrain, and others nailed the flag to a tall cottonwood pole and raised it over the Plaza, with the threat that anyone who molested the flag would be shot. To assure it was not torn down, the group went to St. Vrain's nearby store and took turns standing guard over the flag day and night. Since the flag was nailed to the cottonwood, it could not be lowered at dark. When military officials in Santa Fe learned of the incident, they permitted Taos to fly the flag twenty-four hours a day.
Further information: United States Flag CodeRead more about this topic: Taos Plaza
Famous quotes containing the words american and/or flag:
“Success is somebody else’s failure. Success is the American Dream we can keep dreaming because most people in most places, including thirty million of ourselves, live wide awake in the terrible reality of poverty.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)
“There’s an enduring American compulsion to be on the side of the angels. Expediency alone has never been an adequate American reason for doing anything. When actions are judged, they go before the bar of God, where Mom and the Flag closely flank His presence.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)