![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.zocalopublicsquare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Flag-of-California.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![Wikimedia\/Public Domain<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re a Californian who wants to celebrate your independence this Fourth of July, put your American flags away.<\/p>\n\n\n\nInstead, fly a California flag<\/a>. Or, even better, run up the flag of your county, municipality, or community. It\u2019s at the local level that you have the best chance to hold onto liberty in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe attacks upon us by the current regime in Washington, D.C., are myriad. The occupier of the White House never stops declaring that he, not we Californians, should rule California.<\/p>\n\n\n\nViolating law and constitution, he maintains that he can send in soldiers to police Los Angeles, strip our schools<\/a> of billions<\/a>, tell our universities whom to hire and what to teach<\/a>, impose tariffs and taxes on our businesses at his whim<\/a>, overrule the environmental pollution laws that we have made with our votes<\/a>, deport our immigrant neighbors<\/a>\u2014even legal residents and U.S. citizens<\/a>, shut our service programs, take healthcare from our poor, claw back funds from our localities<\/a>, steal billions set aside for our high-speed rail,<\/a> and even decide who gets to compete<\/a> in high school track meets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nRefusing to fly the flag isn\u2019t enough to overthrow a tyranny, but it\u2019s an essential way to disobey, to show that you don\u2019t recognize the authority of the U.S. regime.<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nIt is altogether fitting and proper that Californians respond by pulling down the flag on the Fourth. Because in all his actions, Trump almost perfectly resembles the lawlessness and war-making by King George III that inspired the Declaration of Independence<\/a> 249 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCalifornians should read that document aloud to each other while removing their U.S. flags. \u201c[W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government,\u201d it reads. The abuses in the original declaration\u2019s list are familiar today\u2014\u201che has refused his Assent to Laws\u2026 he has obstructed the Administration of Justice\u2026 For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world\u2026 For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent\u2026For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences\u2026 He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nRefusing to fly the flag isn\u2019t enough to overthrow a tyranny, but it\u2019s an essential way to disobey, to show that you don\u2019t recognize the authority of the U.S. regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPulling down the U.S. flag would be even more powerful if California\u2019s governments did it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIndeed, it would be an act of defiance, and not just against an American republic that has died and is turning into a dictatorship. In refusing to fly the Stars and Stripes, the state government and some local governments would also be in glorious violation of 1953 state laws on flags that unjustly paint California as subservient to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThose flag laws, which you can find in Sections 430-439 of California\u2019s Government Code<\/a>, are a product of the McCarthy era, which in its repression of speech and truth resembles our own. The laws say that both American and Californian flags must be displayed \u201cin all rooms where any court or any state, county, or municipal commission holds any sessions,\u201d \u201cupon or in front of\u2026 each public building belonging to the State, a county, or a municipality,\u201d and \u201cat the entrance or upon the grounds or upon the administration\u201d of schools and colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen both flags are used together, they must be of the same size\u2014but with the American flag \u201cplaced in the position of first honor,\u201d according to Section 436. \u201cFirst honor\u201d can mean in front or above the California flag. \u201cIf only one flagpole is used, the National Flag shall be above the State Flag,\u201d says the code.<\/p>\n\n\n\nC.C. Marin, director of the Independent California Institute, has been publicly encouraging challenges to the custom of American flag supremacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cCalifornia\u2019s state flag is a powerful symbol of resistance and unity in the face of a cruel, lawless presidential administration,\u201d Marin wrote recently, adding: \u201cFlags remind us who\u2019s in charge. California is not and has never been a subsidiary of the federal government. We\u2019ve always had our own sovereignty\u2026 Voluntarily flying our own flag below the American flag is literally a symbol of inferiority and compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarin suggests that those communities who are shielded from flag rules take the lead. Charter cities\u2014which have their own constitutions and are said to have \u201csupreme authority\u201d over their own municipal affairs\u2014are exempt from flag laws. Every major California city, and dozens of smaller ones, including my Pasadena hometown, are charter cities. Special districts\u2014governments that carry out a special duty, like running a hospital or a utility\u2014also don\u2019t have to fly the American flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor other jurisdictions, where the flag laws apply, Marin has a couple suggestions. First, Californians could insist that state and local governments follow the flag law provisions that the American flag and California flag must be the same size when they are flown together. That rule is violated at office buildings in Sacramento, including the Capitol, where the American flag is bigger than the California flag. Perhaps a good, old-fashioned lawsuit could force compliance against those state agencies and local governments, which, like Trump, thinks it\u2019s OK to break the law as long as you\u2019re patriotic about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSecond, Californians and their governments should consider flying the American flag upside down\u2014which is legal. Doing so is \u201ca signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property,\u201d according to the U.S. Flag Code<\/a>, which is advisory (and not even binding on the federal government). The nascent American dictator\u2019s military invasion of California obviously qualifies as an instance of extreme danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOn a personal note, I love flying flags outside my home<\/a>, but I haven\u2019t decided what I\u2019m doing for the Fourth. Right now, the Canadian flag is up (I value the True North as an ally, even though Trumpists don\u2019t), but I may switch to the California flag or the L.A. County flag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOr I might raise the Earth Flag, a half-century-old flag showing a photo of Earth taken during the Apollo missions. The flag expresses our planetary commitment to all living things, though I\u2019d fly it in support of the democratically sovereign Humboldt County city of Arcata.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVoters there approved Measure M to raise the Earth Flag above the U.S. flag in 2022. That measure is being challenged in court. Meanwhile, the Trump regime just barred U.S. government institutions from flying \u201cactivist\u201d flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhich makes flying the Earth Flag, or other banners of your choice, the perfect holiday expression of independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoe Mathews<\/strong> writes the Connecting California column for Z\u00f3calo Public Square<\/a> and is founder-columnist of Democracy Local<\/a>, a planetary publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State and Local Banners Stand for Freedom in a Time of Federal Tyranny By\u00a0Joe Mathews\u00a0June 24, 2025 (ZocaloPublicSquare.org) If you\u2019re a Californian who wants to celebrate your independence this Fourth of July, put your American flags away. Instead, fly a California flag. Or, even better, run up the flag of your… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42383,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42382\/revisions\/42383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Flag-of-California.jpg\"){kind=link}
If you\u2019re a Californian who wants to celebrate your independence this Fourth of July, put your American flags away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, fly a California flag<\/a>. Or, even better, run up the flag of your county, municipality, or community. It\u2019s at the local level that you have the best chance to hold onto liberty in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The attacks upon us by the current regime in Washington, D.C., are myriad. The occupier of the White House never stops declaring that he, not we Californians, should rule California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Violating law and constitution, he maintains that he can send in soldiers to police Los Angeles, strip our schools<\/a> of billions<\/a>, tell our universities whom to hire and what to teach<\/a>, impose tariffs and taxes on our businesses at his whim<\/a>, overrule the environmental pollution laws that we have made with our votes<\/a>, deport our immigrant neighbors<\/a>\u2014even legal residents and U.S. citizens<\/a>, shut our service programs, take healthcare from our poor, claw back funds from our localities<\/a>, steal billions set aside for our high-speed rail,<\/a> and even decide who gets to compete<\/a> in high school track meets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is altogether fitting and proper that Californians respond by pulling down the flag on the Fourth. Because in all his actions, Trump almost perfectly resembles the lawlessness and war-making by King George III that inspired the Declaration of Independence<\/a> 249 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Californians should read that document aloud to each other while removing their U.S. flags. \u201c[W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government,\u201d it reads. The abuses in the original declaration\u2019s list are familiar today\u2014\u201che has refused his Assent to Laws\u2026 he has obstructed the Administration of Justice\u2026 For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world\u2026 For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent\u2026For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences\u2026 He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Refusing to fly the flag isn\u2019t enough to overthrow a tyranny, but it\u2019s an essential way to disobey, to show that you don\u2019t recognize the authority of the U.S. regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pulling down the U.S. flag would be even more powerful if California\u2019s governments did it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, it would be an act of defiance, and not just against an American republic that has died and is turning into a dictatorship. In refusing to fly the Stars and Stripes, the state government and some local governments would also be in glorious violation of 1953 state laws on flags that unjustly paint California as subservient to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those flag laws, which you can find in Sections 430-439 of California\u2019s Government Code<\/a>, are a product of the McCarthy era, which in its repression of speech and truth resembles our own. The laws say that both American and Californian flags must be displayed \u201cin all rooms where any court or any state, county, or municipal commission holds any sessions,\u201d \u201cupon or in front of\u2026 each public building belonging to the State, a county, or a municipality,\u201d and \u201cat the entrance or upon the grounds or upon the administration\u201d of schools and colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When both flags are used together, they must be of the same size\u2014but with the American flag \u201cplaced in the position of first honor,\u201d according to Section 436. \u201cFirst honor\u201d can mean in front or above the California flag. \u201cIf only one flagpole is used, the National Flag shall be above the State Flag,\u201d says the code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n C.C. Marin, director of the Independent California Institute, has been publicly encouraging challenges to the custom of American flag supremacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCalifornia\u2019s state flag is a powerful symbol of resistance and unity in the face of a cruel, lawless presidential administration,\u201d Marin wrote recently, adding: \u201cFlags remind us who\u2019s in charge. California is not and has never been a subsidiary of the federal government. We\u2019ve always had our own sovereignty\u2026 Voluntarily flying our own flag below the American flag is literally a symbol of inferiority and compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marin suggests that those communities who are shielded from flag rules take the lead. Charter cities\u2014which have their own constitutions and are said to have \u201csupreme authority\u201d over their own municipal affairs\u2014are exempt from flag laws. Every major California city, and dozens of smaller ones, including my Pasadena hometown, are charter cities. Special districts\u2014governments that carry out a special duty, like running a hospital or a utility\u2014also don\u2019t have to fly the American flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For other jurisdictions, where the flag laws apply, Marin has a couple suggestions. First, Californians could insist that state and local governments follow the flag law provisions that the American flag and California flag must be the same size when they are flown together. That rule is violated at office buildings in Sacramento, including the Capitol, where the American flag is bigger than the California flag. Perhaps a good, old-fashioned lawsuit could force compliance against those state agencies and local governments, which, like Trump, thinks it\u2019s OK to break the law as long as you\u2019re patriotic about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, Californians and their governments should consider flying the American flag upside down\u2014which is legal. Doing so is \u201ca signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property,\u201d according to the U.S. Flag Code<\/a>, which is advisory (and not even binding on the federal government). The nascent American dictator\u2019s military invasion of California obviously qualifies as an instance of extreme danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a personal note, I love flying flags outside my home<\/a>, but I haven\u2019t decided what I\u2019m doing for the Fourth. Right now, the Canadian flag is up (I value the True North as an ally, even though Trumpists don\u2019t), but I may switch to the California flag or the L.A. County flag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or I might raise the Earth Flag, a half-century-old flag showing a photo of Earth taken during the Apollo missions. The flag expresses our planetary commitment to all living things, though I\u2019d fly it in support of the democratically sovereign Humboldt County city of Arcata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Voters there approved Measure M to raise the Earth Flag above the U.S. flag in 2022. That measure is being challenged in court. Meanwhile, the Trump regime just barred U.S. government institutions from flying \u201cactivist\u201d flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which makes flying the Earth Flag, or other banners of your choice, the perfect holiday expression of independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe Mathews<\/strong> writes the Connecting California column for Z\u00f3calo Public Square<\/a> and is founder-columnist of Democracy Local<\/a>, a planetary publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" State and Local Banners Stand for Freedom in a Time of Federal Tyranny By\u00a0Joe Mathews\u00a0June 24, 2025 (ZocaloPublicSquare.org) If you\u2019re a Californian who wants to celebrate your independence this Fourth of July, put your American flags away. Instead, fly a California flag. Or, even better, run up the flag of your… Continue reading \n
Refusing to fly the flag isn\u2019t enough to overthrow a tyranny, but it\u2019s an essential way to disobey, to show that you don\u2019t recognize the authority of the U.S. regime.<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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