A few years ago, I remember a story about legislation somewhere in the
U.S. that prohibited using gigantic American flags as advertisements.
You know, those 20 x 30 foot ones at U.S.A. gas stations. Nothing
patriotic whatsoever. Any links to that story?

Hello.

You may have read about the controversy over a gigantic American flag
at a Bob Evans Restaurant in Durham, North Carolina.

See:
"Here's My Two Cents Worth on the Great Durham Flag Flap"
http://www.businessleader.com/bl/aug98/thetipoff.html
Also mentioned in AMERICAN LEGION POST v CITY OF DURHAM, from findlaw.com
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=4th&navby=case&no=001500P


It turns out, though, that the use of the American flag for
advertising purposes is illegal or restricted in a lot of places.

First of all, there's a federal law that states:
" The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner
whatsoever. "
source: US Code, Title 4
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/4/8.html

And numerous states have laws prohibiting the use of the U.S. flag for
"advertising," "publicity" or "promotion" purposes.  They are:

Arizona
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Iowa
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia

source: First Amendment Center: State Flag Protection Laws
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/flagburning/topic.aspx?topic=flag_statelaws

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such laws constitutional in the case of
HALTER v. NEBRASKA., 205 U.S. 34 (1907), see findlaw.com:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=205&invol=34

-----

Although such laws are often ignored, they are enforced from time to
time.  See also:

"Limit on flags suspended" in St Augustine, Florida:
http://www.staugustine.com/stories/100501/new_flagflap.shtml

"In midst of patriotic burst, remember to treat flag well", from sptimes.com
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/04/20/Pasco/In_midst_of_patriotic.shtml 

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search strategy:
"flags for advertising"
"flag for advertising"
"flag for commercial"
flag "used for" advertising
advertising, flag, illegal

I hope this helps.

Great search. I have much to learn, master juggler-ga