Flag Faux Pas? A&M Says No
A Getty Images photo on ESPN.com from Texas A&M’s Oct. 1 football game versus Arkansas shows the A&M Corps of Cadets displaying a Chilean flag during the singing of the U. S. national anthem.
Eagle-eyed readers on Reddit are poking fun at A&M for the photo, arguing that the Aggies must have mixed up the Chilean and Texan flags. Some commenters suggested that the cadets may have displayed the flag in honor of Gregory Hall, a former cadet who assisted in the Chilean miner rescue about a year ago.
The two flags do look very similar, with one big difference: where Chile’s flag has a blue square in the top left, the Texas flag has a blue column from top to bottom.
So was it a mistake? A&M says it wasn’t.
“The cadet who displayed the flag is from Chile,” said Corps of Cadets media relations coordinator Annette Walker. She did not identify the cadet.
Internet pranksters have also switched the Texas flag out for the Chilean one on Texas’ Wikipedia page. We hope that there aren’t any schoolchildren writing reports on the flag of Texas at this moment.
Note: the Wikipedia flag has now been fixed.
Note: an astute reader has pointed out that the photo on ESPN.com is by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.
Chilean flag photo (top) from Flickr Creative Commons, dukepowers; Texas flag (right) from brianlromig
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8 Comments
There are actually a significant amount of students in the Corps from other countries!
It’s not an ESPN.com photograph. It is a Getty Images photograph, taken by Ronald Martinez. ESPN may have licensed its use for their gallery of photographs at the game, but proper credit should be given.
“The cadet who displayed the flag is from Chile,” said Corps of Cadets media relations coordinator Annette Walker
vs.
“The cadet who displayed the flag doesn’t know what the state flag of Texas looks like” said Corps of Cadets media relations coordinator Annette Walker.
That’s why they pay her.
Thats where you are wrong. I know the cadet who did it. His father is from Chile, he had the flag so that his parents could find him on tv while they watched the game. grow up. we know what our state flag looks like. if you really think that someone is stupid for being proud of their nationality, then you are truly an idiot.
The probability of a gaggie cadet hanging that flag there to honor Chile because he was from Chile is about the same as the probability that the gaggies win the SEC Championship next season. In other words zero. The majority of those who make up the corps of misfits are indeed misfits and they get into gaggieland under “relaxed” entrance requirements. The probabiility of that flag being flown because one of the corps of misfits didn’t know it wasn’t the Texas flag is the same probability that the gaggies will languish as a mediocre program in the SEC (unless meat judging and horse riding are sports)…100%.
you sir, are a moron. enough said
I find it very funny that people would actually make fun of men and women that fight and die for out country… time to grow up!
The corp of cadets doesn’t fight any battles outside of Kyle Field. Many of them may go on to serve in the military but so do folks from all sorts of organizations. The fact that many members of the corps go on to serve in the military does not make them above ridicule for stupidity. Further, it is worth repeating, the corps does not fight and die for any country unless you count A&M as a country.