Citizens Flag Alliance

The Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc., describes itself as a "coalition of organizations, most of which are national in scope, that have come together for one reason: to persuade the Congress of the United States to propose a constitutional amendment to protect the Flag of the United States from acts of physical desecration and send it to the states for ratification."

Members

Members of the Citizen Flag Alliance are listed on the CFA website. They include the American Legion, probably the largest single financial supporter of the CFA and its goal of changing the constitution to outlaw flag desecration.

Contact Information

The Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc.
P.O. Box 7197
Indianapolis, Indiana 46207-7197
Telephone: (317) 630-1384
Fax: (317) 630-1385
Web: http://citizensflagalliance.org/

CFA Was Founded by the American Legion

On page 12 of "Protecting the United States Flag: A Historical Overview," written by the Citizens Flag Alliance and revised 4/19/95 by Trent D. McNeeley, the CFA's founding by the American Legion is described:

"Following the 1989 Supreme Court decision, the American Legion declared the flag's protection to be a priority issue and embarked on a campaign to secure a constitutional amendment. It formed a Citizens' Flag Honor Guard -- which later become the Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc. -- enlisting support from across the nation. It conducted petition drives and secured more than a million signatures in only two months. The issue became partisan in Congress when President Bush embraced the amendment process and key Democrats spoke in opposition. ... Ultimately, the will of the people lost out to the political sparring taking place on Capitol Hill." As a result, "the Legion and others ... went to the state legislatures and sought their support in asking Congress to propose the amendment. Undertaking an aggressive campaign to secure memorializing resolutions from the various legislatures, the American Legion committed thousands of volunteer hours to reach its goal of at least 38 resolutions. ... By May 1994, 44 states had passed resolutions..."

CFA Lobby and Public Relations Consultants

• Burson-Marsteller, cited in Washington Representatives, 1995.
• Gold and Liebengood, represented by John F. Scruggs, Washington Representatives, 1995

CFA Publications

• "Protecting the United States Flag: A Historical Overview". 15 pages, revised 4/19/1995 by Trend D. McNeeley. "This publication was prepared by the Citizens Flag Alliance ... . Special thanks are due Mr. Ronald A Engel, Deputy Director, Americanism and Children & Youth Division, the American Legion. Any material contained herein may be reproduced without further permission." (A copy of this document is on file with Center for Media and Democracy.
• "Campaign Training Manual". Dated September, 1994, this 57 page campaign organizing guide was prepared for CFA by its consultants at the Burson-Marsteller firm in Washington, DC, according to a former B-M employee who provided a copy to the Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber. A copy of this manual is on file with Center for Media and Democracy. The table of contents include: "Grassroots Strategy; Grassroots Tips; Coalition Building Strategy; Coalition building Tools; Media Strategy; and, Media Tips."

Resources and Articles

References

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