Main Street USA, Are the American flags "fake" or just accurate to the time period?

[Purduevian]

I have heard 2 stories regarding the flags on Main Street USA.

1) All the flags have the wrong count of Stars and/or Stripes so that Disney does not need to follow flag code. This way they can leave them up in the rain and don't have to light them up at night

2) All of the flags have 45 stars because that's how many stars flags had around the turn of the century. This has nothing to do with flag code.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Although, not ruled by the flag code, it was certainly influenced by the code.

 

[LittleBuford]

This video summarises the situation well:



In short: 1) the flags are accurate to their period, and 2) historical flags are still valid and therefore subject to the Flag Code.

 

[Purduevian]

This video summarises the situation well:



In short: 1) the flags are accurate to their period, and 2) historical flags are still valid and therefore subject to the Flag Code.

Thank you, its funny even in the voting for this... the majority voted for the "false" story.

 

[Disstevefan1]

The story heard is they are purposely wrong so they are not actually US flags so they need not comply to flag codes like having to light them at night, take them in when it rains, etc.

 

[lewisc]

I don't know why a fan video is more accurate then a bus driver.

 

[lewisc]

The correct answer may be both. The flag code provisions suggest the flag be illuminated at night. It also defines the flag; 13 stripes and 50 stars...

The flag code is not legally enforceable. It isn't clear that it applies to pendants which used to be flags.

It's clear Disney is taking the position they're not flags subject to the code. They don't come down and they're not illuminated all night.

I'll go with 2 was the main reason but 1 was a secondary reason

 

[LittleBuford]

Thank you, its funny even in the voting for this... the majority voted for the "false" story.

I think people like the idea because it’s a myth that’s fun to believe in (like the similarly apocryphal claim that the brown pavement through Liberty Square is meant to represent sewage) and because they’re uncomfortable with the idea that Disney may not be conforming to the Flag Code.

 

[LittleBuford]

The story heard is they are purposely wrong so they are not actually US flags so they need not comply to flag codes like having to light them at night, take them in when it rains, etc.

They’re not wrong, though. They’re the correct flags for the period being represented, each with 45 stars and 13 stripes (contrary to the claim you’ll often encounter that the number of stars and stripes is varied from flag to flag in order to make them inauthentic). Unless I’m mistaken, all historical versions of the US flag still count as official.

 

[Eric Graham]

The correct answer may be both. The flag code provisions suggest the flag be illuminated at night. It also defines the flag; 13 stripes and 50 stars...

The flag code is not legally enforceable. It isn't clear that it applies to pendants which used to be flags.

It's clear Disney is taking the position they're not flags subject to the code. They don't come down and they're not illuminated all night.

I'll go with 2 was the main reason but 1 was a secondary reason

Again, from a military veterans family that was at Oak Ridge and Nagasaki, you don't know what you're talking about yet again..maybe you should retire...and, further I had neighbors who lived right next to me that flew sorties of FA-18s in Bosnia (that was what it was called at the time)..the flag comes down on Main Street during 911 ceremonies. Perhaps, people shouldn't bully others here...this isn't high school! :

 

[LittleBuford]

Again, from a military veterans family that was at Oak Ridge and Nagasaki, you don't know what you're talking about yet again..maybe you should retire...and, further I had neighbors who lived right next to me that flew sorties of FA-18s in Bosnia (that was what it was called at the time)..the flag comes down on Main Street during 911 ceremonies:

I don’t think anyone is talking about the large flag in the main square (that comes down every day anyway), but rather the small flags (with only 45 stars) on top of the buildings.

 

[Eric Graham]

I don’t think anyone is talking about the large flag in the main square (that comes down every day anyway), but rather the small flags (with only 48 stars) on top of the buildings.

that OP of the article titled it Main Street USA...the flag I was referring to is in Main Street at Disney World...is it not???

 

[LittleBuford]

that OP of the article titled it Main Street USA...the flag I was referring to is in Main Street at Disney World...is it not???

“Flags”—plural—referring to the multiple flags on top of the buildings along Main Street.

 

[Purduevian]

that OP of the article titled it Main Street USA...the flag I was referring to is in Main Street at Disney World...is it not???

“Flags”—plural—referring to the multiple flags on top of the buildings along Main Street.

Correct, I am sure the main flag poll has a regular and probably very nice American flag. I'm referring to all the flags on top of the buildings that never come down

 

[Figments Friend]

I was always told they were purposely ‘falsified’ to avoid having to raise and lower them.
Once in place up on top of the Main Street buildings, they could stay perpetually for months or even years until they needed replacement.

Never heard the suggestion regarding the ‘missing stars’ being because since Main Street is thematically set at the turn of the century, we do not have all 50 States united yet.
Interesting take…..kinda like it…

-

 

[LittleBuford]

I was always told they were purposely ‘falsified’ to avoid having to raise and lower them.
Once in place up on top of the Main Street buildings, they could stay perpetually for months or even years until they needed replacement.

Never heard the suggestion regarding the ‘missing stars’ being because it is supposed to be the turn of the century, and we do not have all 50 States united yet.
Interesting take…..kinda like it.

I believe Disney itself pushes the “falsified” idea in their behind-the-scenes tours. The version I remember hearing is that all of the flags are off in some way or other—missing one stripe here, two stars there, etc. But when you actually look at them, you’ll see they all have 13 stripes and 45 stars. They are, in other words, all consistent in design, and the design they share is that of the official US flag as it existed between 1896 and 1908.

 

[Comped]

I believe Disney itself pushes the “falsified” idea in their behind-the-scenes tours. The version I remember hearing is that all of the flags are off in some way or other—missing one stripe here, two stars there, etc. But when you actually look at them, you’ll see they all have 13 stripes and 45 stars. They are, in other words, all consistent in design, and the design they share is that of the official US flag as it existed between 1896 and 1908.

I had a Keys to the Kingdom tour as a CM (through my location I worked at)... And this is the story we were told as well. I even tried to get our tour guide to admit it was untrue (it was very obvious if you looked hard enough), but she stuck to her story. Which is weird because Disney has no reason to lie about it.

 

[LittleBuford]

I had a Keys to the Kingdom tour as a CM (through my location I worked at)... And this is the story we were told as well. I even tried to get our tour guide to admit it was untrue (it was very obvious if you looked hard enough), but she stuck to her story. Which is weird because Disney has no reason to lie about it.

Exactly. The actual story behind the flags—that the Imagineers did their homework—is more impressive anyway. Part of me wonders whether the lie they tell isn’t a way to deflect potential criticism from those who insist on a strict interpretation of the Flag Code (one that applies to historical flags also), but that seems unlikely.

Whatever the reason, they shouldn’t be parroting myths and untruths during any official tour, let alone one that costs as much as Keys to the Kingdom.

 

[Comped]

Exactly. The actual story behind the flags—that the Imagineers did their homework—is more impressive anyway. Part of me wonders whether the lie they tell isn’t a way to deflect potential criticism from those who insist on a strict interpretation of the Flag Code (one that applies to historical flags also), but that seems unlikely.

Whatever the reason, they shouldn’t be parroting myths and untruths during any official tour, let alone one that costs as much as Keys to the Kingdom.

I got it for free (albeit the abridged version without the rides), and I'm still annoyed about how much she got wrong. Besides the flags, lots about the opening of MK (including misquoting Roy's opening speech while looking at the plaque), stuff about how people get chosen for windows on Main Street (more of a popularity contest than the official line), that Spectro wasn't only designed to go backwards through the parade route, that the tunnels don't flood... She even said that Roy was Walt's last sibling alive when the resort opened (Raymond died in 1989, and Ruth didn't die until 1995), but the weirdest one was insisting that Abigail Disney was Walt's granddaughter (she only mentioned her for some reason, and none of Walt's actual grandchildren - and Abigail's Roy's granddaughter not Walt's)! Meanwhile almost all my coworkers were oblivious to much of that.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some in my haze about how somebody could get so much wrong... Lots of missing context and incorrect info around the opening and early days too, but most of that would have never been trained on, and certainly she wouldn't know about it unless she talked to people who were there back then. Oh, and she flat out made up Frank Wells quote a few times too.

 

[easyrowrdw]

This is really interesting. I never noticed the flags were “off.” Thanks for all the info everyone