Old Glory Over Olympic

By David Kennedy
Published: Wednesday, August 09, 2006, at 01:46PM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The other day I was driving west on Olympic, when my eye caught flags flying in the distance. Atop the Petroleum and Standard Oil buildings, I saw their flagpoles were flying the American flag. The wind was from the south and just right. They all flew magnificiently in the late afternoon sky.

I've always noticed as you go up and down Hill, Broadway and Spring, there are a startling number of flagpoles on the roofs of the old buildings. Most are abandoned. Only the L.A. Times building seems to use theirs with some regularity. Obviously, this architetural detail when out of style decades ago. But, it always seemed a little sad to see these flagpoles go unused. In days gone by, it must have been an impressive sight to see flags flying from all these locations.

If I had plenty of time, I'd start a volunteer organization called Flags Over Downtown. The purpose of this organization would be to contact building owners and encourage them to put these flagpoles to good use. It is a little detail, but I think a telling one. My understanding is many of downtown's older buildings have foreign ownership, so this sorry state of affairs is hardly surprising.

Regardless, kudos to the owners of the Petroleum and Standard Oil buildings. Let's hope others are inspired by their fine example.

Comments

jim writes:

it is nice that the flags on top of the times building are actually lit at night. the flag on top of the farmers and merchants bank (4th and main) is not, nor is the one on the roof of the hotel barclay.

and the flags above the west entrance of city hall always seem to be getting tangled up on their poles. at one point at least one of the flags was pretty badly ripped, but i think they've been replaced since i took a picture of that situation.

# on Aug.10.2006 AT 10:02 AM

David Kennedy writes:

I believe one reason why most flagpoles are not used is because proper treatment of flags dictates you take them down at night. Obviously, someone has to do this on a regular basis. That takes time and money which adds up.

My understanding is it is okay to fly a flag at night, but only if the flag is illuminated. The L.A. Times building does a good job on this count.

As for the sad state of flags at City Hall, I'd assume that reflects the values of the place. One would think a civic institution would be an expert in the handling of flags and be determined to set a fine example for others to follow.

# on Aug.10.2006 AT 11:13 AM

Karen Willis writes:

David Kennedy, please allow me to say how much I've appreciated your blog entries about Grand Hope Park, about raising a family in downtown, about matters like the flying of flags atop grand old buildings in LA. I hope you'll continue to be an active contributor to Eric's web site even now that he's returned from his honeymoon (which I hope means all the spam will once again be deleted as quickly as possible!).

And allow me to add: Congratulations to Eric and Kathy!

# on Aug.10.2006 AT 05:12 PM

ed writes:

Having done a photo essay on empty flagpoles a few years back, what's interesting to notice is what was selected the most prominent spot visible to foot or trolley traffic. Also, something thing that keeps flags from flying are missing chains, painted up gears, etc. It may not be cost effective to fly them everyday, but maybe there can be some sort of volunteer group to encourage flags to be flown on the US Holidays. Can you imagine flags up and down the historic core lit for 4th of July Weekend? I can.

# on Aug.11.2006 AT 09:17 AM

Old Glory Over Olympic

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