You didn’t see any flags for sports teams or NASCAR banners back then or flags with icons or pithy sayings.

People just had their flag hung from a metal post on their front porch or they raised it on a small flag pole in their yard. They did it out of pride or recognizing military service of relatives — my Dad was a World War II veteran and several of my uncles served in that war, too. Putting out the flag was considered a simple duty as an American citizen.

During the last few Flag Days I and only a few folks along Main Street fly the colors in my adopted town. Sure, this village hangs flags on utility poles on Main but why can’t homeowners do the same on their property?

Immediately after 9/11, the American flag was everywhere. You’d see it in windows, on lawns or attached to car windows. There were people waving flags from highway overpasses, too. The country had been attacked by terrorists and we came together back then. All those flags served as a symbol of our unity at the time.

But that sense of unity didn’t last long. Politics stepped in and we were soon divided. And all those highly visible displays of the flag slowly ended.

I hate to think that all the hate and division present nowadays in this country has caused people to forget about flying the flag on patriotic holidays, including June 14. That date is when the original design of a circle of 13 stars within a square blue field and 13 red and white stripes was adopted in 1777.

A later version of that flag with rows of more stars representing more states inspired the words of today’s National Anthem. Francis Scott Key saw it still waving after the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore.

Many Union soldiers gave their lives carrying the American flag during battles of the Civil War. Old Glory was welcomed with cheers and tears when cities and villages across Europe were liberated from the Nazis during World War II.

I once interviewed a couple who lost a son in the Vietnam War. They said one of the hardest things they had to endure after his death was watching war protestors burning the American flag on television. As they said it I noticed the folded memorial flag in their living room handed to them during their son’s funeral.

Ironically, those protestors were only reinforcing what the flag means to Americans when they burned Old Glory.

Why is that flag now being shunned by many Americans on days it should be displayed with pride? Is it that much a headache to drape it over the window or front door if you don’t have a flag pole or a flag post?

If you have a flag, large or small, then fly it anyway you can today. And for God’s sake don’t fly it upside down. Flag Day should be a day for patriotism, not petty political protest.