Some say the bill should be fixed when it comes up for vote Tuesday, but many supporters are afraid to change even a comma. If the bill is altered, it would have to return to the House with just two days left in the legislative session and black Democrats promising to filibuster to try and stop the bill.
The governor's floor leader, Rep. Glenn Richardson, R-Dallas, said "arguing over flag measurements is the latest stunt to try to dismiss the bill."
"At no point in the bill does it have a single dimension for the flag," he said. "On my own I've tried to figure out how they came to this conclusion: its a play on the words."
The bill doesn't list any specific measurements, but it does define proportions for the three stripes and the blue square that houses the state seal and 13 stars.
Historian Ed Jackson, of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in Athens, pointed out that if the proposed flag is created to fit the proportions in the bill, it would end up at 3 feet-by-6 feet, one foot longer than the standard American flag. The word square is the problem. If the blue field was rectangular instead of square, as in the 1920-1956 flag, the flag would be the traditional size.
Richardson said opponents of the new flag are reading too deeply into the bill.
"Trying to come up with a precise 24-by-24 square is plain silliness," he said. "It's a never-ending quest to stop a vote."
But Secretary of State Cathy Cox, who is in charge of distributing flags to government properties, has said her department will have to order flags that meet the bills exact proportions.
And that could look weird.
"With the proportions in the bill, Georgia flags for residences would be 3 feet-by-6 feet, while those for corporations and government agencies would be 4-by-8," Jackson said. "Either way, it would not balance appropriately with U.S. flags that hang in mainly 3-by-5 and 4-by-6 dimensions."
The only stumbling point really is, if this Georgia flag is approved at 3-by-6, it's going to hang longer than U.S. flag. "That is awkward," said Faryl Rosenthal, owner of Atlas Flags in Tucker.
Despite the irregularity, lawmakers said they expect to overlook the glitch in the bill, which has already passed in the Democrat-controlled House.
"I can even see in a couple of years coming back and fixing these problems," said Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, who is the Senate Rules chairman. "The thing is, the politics of it. ... You know we can't really make changes. Our fear is that, if any amendments are made at this time, it'll die."
That's because black lawmakers have vowed to derail the bill if it returns to the House. They are angry because the bill allows a referendum that could lead to the return of the post-1956 flag that sports a large rebel battle emblem.
"The bill's chances of survival shouldn't outweigh the appropriate shape of the state flag," Jackson said. "From my position as a Georgian, I'd still like to look at a flag that looks standard, than one than goes beyond the American flag."
"From some low-hanging poles, the flag could drag on the floor," Jackson said.
But Rosenthal, who owns one of the state's largest flag businesses, said not to freak out over flag orders just yet.
"Until they get all the specifications, there's no impact on anything," Rosenthal said. "It's still a work in progress, it's still not the official flag yet."
If the flag is approved, she doesn't expect any extra charges for the longer flag.
"I'll make whatever they say," she said.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/4/180128