How is saluting a flag idolatry?

Answer 1

An idol becomes such by the attitude people have about it. How often have we heard of people giving their life for the flag? An idol is also an image of something else. In the United States, when one pledges allegiance to the flag, one is pledging "allegiance to flag ... AND to the republic for which it stands." So the flag is an image of the US. Note what others have said about the religious nature of flags: "[Historian] Carlton Hayes pointed out long ago that the ritual of flag-worship and oath-taking in an American school is a religious observance. . . . And that these daily rituals are religious has been at last affirmed by the Supreme Court in a series of cases."-The AmericanCharacter (New York, 1956), D. W. Brogan, pp. 163, 164. "Early flags were almost purely of a religious character. . . . The national banner of England for centuries-the red cross of St. George-was a religious one; in fact the aid of religion seems ever to have been sought to give sanctity to national flags, and the origin of many can be traced to a sacred banner."-Encyclopædia Britannica (1946), Vol. 9, p. 343. "In a public ceremony presided over by the vice president of the [Military Supreme] Court, on the 19th of November, honors were shown to the Brazilian flag. . . . After the flag was hoisted, Minister General of the Army Tristao de Alencar Araripe expressed himself concerning the commemoration in this manner: ' . . . flags have become a divinity of patriotic religion which imposes worship . . . The flag is venerated and worshiped . . . The flag is worshiped, just as the Fatherland is worshiped.'"-Diarioda Justiça (Federal Capital, Brazil), February 16, 1956, p. 1906.