The ship of state is sinking. it's a distress signal.
He is absolutely right . This act was once used as a distress signal of a ship in trouble and there is
nothing unpatriotic or disrespectful about it . Country's like England never used it because their flag
looked the same either way. But it wasnt anything that was ever official by any maritime standards.
The confederate stars and bars was once a naval ensign but was adopted by the army of N. Virginia.
It eventually was placed in the top left corner of a white flag with a large red stripe running vertically
down the flags right side. Its said that was done for this same reason so that the CSA ships could
also communicate a distress call. It was also seen used by the land army's of both sides during the
American civil war. But was quickly dismissed as showing the enemy the fighting ability of the
troops that were using it for this . The red stripe on the confederate flag was only put there because
from a distance the white flag looked like one of surrender.
Typically an American idea stemming from the revolutionary war it is still seen today .One more
recent use of this was seen when the Soviet submarine the K19 had to surface because of a
damaged reactor. Another time was where ships were in trouble off the coast of Somalia because of
the attacks from pirates there. Some country's with flags that look the same either way now have
placed stripes along the bottom of their flags used on their ships at sea so to use this to their advantage. Japan was one of them but I don't know if they still do with the arrival of GPS technology.
There is nothing disrespectful about it. its an old way of saying we are in trouble and that's about it.
If Lakota feels this country is in trouble he is only stating the same sentiments that many here do
verbally all of the time .