(Updated Oct. 3, 2012)
According to Philip Rucker, National political reporter at The Washington Post covering Mitt Romney and the 2012 presidential campaign, the flag pin with the Secret Service logo was a gift to the candidate from his USSS agents.
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Not long after I wrote about Mitt Romney’s flag lapel pin and speculated about what might be on it, I came across a Daily Kos article talking about what was on Paul Ryan’s pin. Apparently, the night Ryan delivered his speech to the Republican National Convention, he was wearing a different flag pin, not the one with the elephant that he and Romney wore when they appeared together the next night.
The comments on the Daily Kos article indicate that just before he took the stage, Ryan was called out for not having a pin, so he borrowed one from his Secret Service detail. A link led to this image of a Secret Service pin:
Another individual said politicians wear this pin to show support of the Secret Service, although I don’t understand why they’d support the Secret Service over any other government agency:
And for sale on eBay, a “Secret Service (USSS) flag lapel pin”:
These pins are almost certainly what I’ve seen the candidates wearing. I saw Romney on TV today during a public appearance and this looks exactly like the pin he was wearing.
Can Romney and Ryan not remember to bring their own pins? Do they maintain pin collections and choose a “pin du jour” appropriate for that day’s audience? As I’ve asked before, since when is a simple, unadorned USA flag pin not good enough?
And yes, I object to the Secret Service pin, too. Wear the flag. Wear a Secret Service emblem. One or the other. Both or neither. But please don’t stick the SS emblem on the flag.
And don’t wear a Secret Service pin if you’re not in the Secret Service.
Ryan addresses the RNC. (Click twice for max size)
What do you think? Secret Service pin or something else?
(Image by Jim Young / Reuters)
See also:
What’s on Romney’s flag pin?
I feel the same way, PT, as we discussed before. But why do we feel that way, apart from the Flag Code? After musing on the question I have settled on this: The American flag is unique and to decorate it with any other symbol not only dilutes its meaning but seems aimed at promoting some second cause as extra patriotic. Affixed with an elephant, in other words, the pin might mean that the wearer equates Republicans with patriotism more than, say, a donkey. It seems to be a competition of organizations for most patriotic. Does that make sense?
Posted by Jim Wheeler | September 11, 2012, 4:34 pm MDTOh yes. Perfect sense. Stick anything on the flag — an elephant, a donkey, a Secret Service emblem — and that thing instantly becomes more patriotic. The flag gives it a credibility and gravitas it wouldn’t have otherwise. The reverse, however, is not true. Anything stuck on the flag diminishes the flag, IMO. Whether the Flag Code is applicable or not doesn’t matter to me. My personal sense of patriotism says the flag should not be diminished or embellished.
Posted by PiedType | September 11, 2012, 5:32 pm MDTAgree the flag should not be tarnished with other symbols. LOL,though, about Secret Service people wearing pins proclaiming who they are. Years back, I attended a training session in Washington, DC. It was held just a block down the street from the Russian embassy. One participant showed up every day wearing a name tag that said “SECRET SERVICE.” Asked about it during a break, he said, “Oh, they know who we are and we know who they are. It’s no secret around here.”
Posted by Gabbygeezer | September 11, 2012, 8:16 pm MDTI’d been thinking that a pin declaring you’re a member of the Secret Service kind of defeats the purpose. And if everybody knows who everybody is, what’s the point of pins at all? Ego?
Posted by PiedType | September 11, 2012, 8:49 pm MDTIf Romney, Ryan or secret service can not afford a regular flag pin, maybe the public can chip in and purchase
them one, As for the Secret Service They should be issued a miniature badge they can wear along with a
flag pin that has not been messed with, that goes for the elephant
Posted by Willard Cowan | September 14, 2012, 8:11 am MDTI couldn’t agree more. With all the millions being donated to their campaign, a few nice, clean, unadorned flag pins shouldn’t be a problem. After all, if they’re so superpatriotic, you’d expect them to be setting the example, wouldn’t you?
Posted by PiedType | September 14, 2012, 11:23 am MDTNo, this administration sets the example:
https://store.barackobama.com/obama-2012-store-collections/artists-for-obama/our-stripes-flag-print.html
>sigh<
Posted by ajsdaddie | September 20, 2012, 7:06 am MDTWho cares what’s on a silly lapel pin. Grow up!
Posted by Anonymous | October 2, 2012, 7:59 am MDTGrow up, indeed. Obviously, “Anonymous”, you or no one you know has been wounded or killed for wearing the US flag. Either that, or the empathic part of your brain is dead like your frontal lobe. In the meantime, shut the **** up.
You’re right, PT, no matter what the organization, even if it is the Secret Service, nothing should be added to the flag. A separate pin should be worn. In my time, I didn’t get shot at repeatedly for wearing a US flag with a USSS star stuck on it! The US flag itself and what it represents was motivation enough for all concerned parties.
Posted by Uncle Ivan | October 3, 2012, 11:01 pm MDTAnyone ever heard of the New American Revolution? Look it up, written in 1998. Pretty scary shit.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2012, 9:24 pm MDTBut — wait… Secret Service & Mitt Romney are violating Federal Code? US Code 36, Chapter 10, §176. (g): “The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.” Source: http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html#176
Posted by sfmcas | October 3, 2012, 10:53 pm MDTExactly. Thanks, SFMCAS, for looking that up and posting it.
And thanks, PT, for solving the “black dot” mystery for us!
Posted by Uncle Ivan | October 3, 2012, 11:06 pm MDTGlad I could help.
Posted by PiedType | October 3, 2012, 11:28 pm MDTSo, the proposed leader of the free world starts out by disrespecting the emblem that he wishes to represent. Luckily, the flag code is not enforceable. Bigger is not always better, just more room for more unnecessary emblems to try to share the glory of old glory!!
Posted by Ed Politsky | October 4, 2012, 8:25 am MDTObviously the disrespect wasn’t intentional. If anything, it’s clear the intention was to show respect to the flag and the Secret Service simultaneously. I would say he was let down by the Secret Service. They should know better, and more so than Mr. Romney. They shouldn’t have had this pin made in the first place.
I’ll take “the proposed leader of the free world” Mr. Romney and his enhanced and incorrect lapel pin over the Borrow-in-Chief Mr. 0bama any day, and not soon enough. Debt: $17 trillion and counting = Good-bye freedom.
Posted by Uncle Ivan | October 4, 2012, 11:44 am MDTCorrection: …”Borrower-in-Chief”…
Posted by Uncle Ivan | October 5, 2012, 11:16 pm MDTThe world is full of posers. I’m not up on American politicians (I have a low nausea threshold) but one should judge ‘em by what they do, not by what they say. Appearances can be deceptive.
Your ‘secret’ service wears badges declaring themselves SS agents? Cool~! (Totenkopf rings must be in vogue there too …)
Posted by Argus | January 26, 2013, 1:15 pm MDTI don’t know when or if they wear them, or why they would. You’re not exactly “secret” if you wear a pin announcing you are “secret.” Maybe they just give them to people they are guarding.
Posted by PiedType | January 26, 2013, 1:36 pm MDT