My, how things have changed these past few years.
The United States may break tradition and dip the US flag to British leaders at the Opening Ceremony today.
The tradition goes back a century.
This is a July 29, 1948 file photo of Ralph Craig, center, of Albany, N.Y., who won the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm. He didn’t dip the flag. / Associated Press
According to popular legend, shot putter Ralph Rose set the tone at the 1908 Summer Games — also held in London — when he supposedly proclaimed: “This flag dips for no earthly king.”
Throw tradition and respect out the door – The US may dip the flag today in London to British leaders.
Yahoo reported, via Free Republic:
The United States may break with a controversial tradition and dip its flag to Britain’s leaders at the opening ceremony for the London Olympics, U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Scott Blackmun said on Thursday.
“We’ve talked about that a little bit and you never know what is going to happen,” said Blackmun.
“We have traditions, Britain has traditions, everybody has traditions but we’re still talking internally but it is not an issue we see as a big issue.”It may not be a big issue for the USOC but it is one that stirs the emotions of many Americans.
In respect to the host nation, most countries briefly dip their flag as the athletes march past the box where dignitaries sit. For more than a century, the United States has not done so.
Dipping the flag is no longer part of official International Olympic Committee protocol but most countries continue to observe the tradition.
Admit it. It really wouldn’t shock you.
Its the Obama way.
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