Wrapped in the Flag.

Browsing in Washington's Union Station the other day, I came across a set of golf balls painted in the Stars and Stripes of the American flag. What a temptation for the Qaeda golf team! Osama could spend an afternoon whacking Old Glory around.

This reflection was prompted by the fact that I had just come from a black-tie function where everyone stood proudly at attention, facing the flag with right hands over their hearts, eyes misting as the "The Star Spangled Banner" was sung. Few people on earth revere their flag like Americans, especially since 9/11. It's a symbol of freedom, the centerpiece of the national anthem, a patriotic accessory for houses, yards and motor vehicles across the country. It is so sacred that, in California, a protester trying to save an ancient tree from developers named it Old Glory to keep it from being cut down. President George W. Bush recently told the nation (on Flag Day, natch) that by showing respect for their flag, Americans "show reverence for the ideals that guide our nation."

Why, then, do Americans treat their flag so disrespectfully in everyday life? Teenagers wear them as T shirts. Bikers use them as bandanas. Beachgoers plop themselves onto red, white and blue chaises and dry themselves with Old Glory towels. At this year's U.S. Open Golf Championship, Woody Austin sported a Stars and Stripes polo shirt. Pekingese dogs on Manhattan's Upper West Side wear star-spangled waistcoats. You can even buy a Stars and Stripes doormat from Cooking.com as a "symbol of hospitality."

In other countries, the flag is flown only from government buildings. Here, the biggest flags--vast acres of cloth on soaring flagpoles--flap outside fast-food joints on interstate highways. Two flags are draped over the entrance of an Ob-Gyn clinic near me in New York, perhaps promising the delivery of patriotic babies. The flag even ...