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David Blomstrom

"This is our flag."

In terms of design (and sometimes symbolism), most U.S. state flags stink. People have been trying to have their respective state flags improved or replaced for decades, but they are almost always shot down.

One argument legislators sometimes use is this:

"THIS is OUR flag!"

In other words, whatever design is currently official - even if it is a state's fifth flag - is "our" flag, even though citizens weren't allowed to vote for it.

It seems to brief to qualify as an argument, but is there an implied fallacy in  there? ( This is our flag, therefore we should not change it. )

One  possibility is equivocation (I think that's the term), with "our" meaning different things to different people. Another possibility is the suggestion that flags can't or shouldn't be changed, even though they have been changed many times over the years. What fallacy would that be?

asked on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022 08:15:21 AM by David Blomstrom

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
3

Right away I am thinking of appeal to tradition . The implied argument is that this is how it has always been therefore this is how it should always be.

answered on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022 08:18:47 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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David Blomstrom writes:

Ah, I never thought about that. It's ironic, because I'm a big fan of tradition, but some traditions aren't so cool. The other irony is Maine, where some people want to readopt their original state flag - which is more traditional than the current flag. ;)

posted on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022 08:21:18 AM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:

[To David Blomstrom]

Traditions are fine, and people can choose to honor them or not. A common problem with traditions is the piece of history one chooses to use as "traditional." A good example of this is marriage. At one point in U.S. history, interracial couple not being allowed to marry was "traditional". In Biblical times, a rapist was required to marry his victim (meaning the victim was required to marry her rapist) [Deuteronomy 22:28-29]. This was "traditional." People use "tradition" as a way to avoid rational debate, and simply accepting the tradition they prefer.

[ login to reply ] posted on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022 08:32:32 AM