Midlothian in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Can We Wave the Flag Too Much?

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, May 31, 2025

1. Can We Wave the Flag Too Much? Marker

Inscription.

Can We Wave the Flag Too Much?. . , Is it possible to wave the flag too much? Provided, of course, that you wave it with integrity? Is it possible to study Lincoln or Shakespeare too much? Is it possible to read the Bible too much ★ The great, the good, the true, are inexhaustible for inspiration, example and strength. I believe that we are not waving our flag enough, not nearly enough ★ It seems to me that we are developing a tendency to be timid or even apologetic about waving the stars and stripes. Walk up and down the streets on July 4th and count the flags. It is our nation's birthday, a sacred day in world history, the most important day of America. Why is the flag flying on every rooftop and from every home and building? This complacent attitude is strong evidence of cancerous patriotic decay. The flag is a symbol of our national unity. It is the spirit of our undying devotion to our country. It stands for the best that is in us for loyalty, character, and faith in democracy ★ Isn't our flag a synonym of the United States of America? Does it not represent man's greatest, noblest, most sublime dream? Is it not the zenith of achievement, the goal to which generations have aspired? Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for us... for the mad, rushing Twentieth Century American... to stop for a moment and think. Let us arrest our near reverential admiration of material success and return to the spiritual and ethical values. Let us imbue and rekindle in ourselves and our children the so-called old-fashioned way of patriotism, a burning devotion to the principles and ideals upon which our country was founded ★ Should not every home own and proudly display the colors on holidays and other such occasions? Isn't the flag Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Nathan Hale, Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Paul Revere, Jackson and other great men and women who have given us our heritage. When you look at the flag can't you see the Alamo, Corregidor, Pearl Harbor, The Monitor, The Merrimac, Wake Island, and Korea? Lest we forget, isn't the flag Flanders Field, Bataan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Babe Ruth and Davy Crockett? The great events of our past and present are wrapped up in our flag ★ It is a symbol of this blessed nation, a giant in industry, education and commerce. Millions of fertile square miles, wheatlands, coal mines, steel plants. Our great republic, the chosen infant destined to be man's last and remaining hope for suffering humanity, a shining beacon of light, noble and glorious, the haven for the oppressed and persecuted and truly God's gift to mankind ★ That is what the flag means to me. Can we wave it too much? I don't think so. ,

Replay of S.L. DeLove on the Know Your History Hour, December 30th, 1956, to a listener who wrote as follows: "Your programs are wonderful , especially the no commercials , but you are waving the flag too much." , The above has been represented annually in many national magazines, newspapers and radio stations, and is part of the Congressional Record. , Dr. DeLove is the author of The Quiet Betrayal and president of Independence Hall of Chicago.

Is it possible to wave the flag too much? Provided, of course, that you wave it with integrity? Is it possible to study Lincoln or Shakespeare too much? Is it possible to read the Bible too much ★ The great, the good, the true, are inexhaustible for inspiration, example and strength. I believe that we are not waving our flag enough, not nearly enough ★ It seems to me that we are developing a tendency to be timid or even apologetic about waving the stars and stripes. Walk up and down the streets on July 4th and count the flags. It is our nation's birthday, a sacred day in world history, the most important day of America. Why is the flag flying on every rooftop and from every home and building? This complacent attitude is strong evidence of cancerous patriotic decay. The flag is a symbol of our national unity. It is the spirit of our undying devotion to our country. It stands for the best that is in us for loyalty, character, and faith in democracy ★ Isn't our flag a synonym of the United States of America? Does it not represent man's greatest, noblest, most sublime dream? Is it not the zenith of achievement,

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the goal to which generations have aspired? Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for us... for the mad, rushing Twentieth Century American... to stop for a moment and think. Let us arrest our near reverential admiration of material success and return to the spiritual and ethical values. Let us imbue and rekindle in ourselves and our children the so-called old-fashioned way of patriotism, a burning devotion to the principles and ideals upon which our country was founded ★ Should not every home own and proudly display the colors on holidays and other such occasions? Isn't the flag Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Nathan Hale, Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Paul Revere, Jackson and other great men and women who have given us our heritage. When you look at the flag can't you see the Alamo, Corregidor, Pearl Harbor, The Monitor, The Merrimac, Wake Island, and Korea? Lest we forget, isn't the flag Flanders Field, Bataan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Babe Ruth and Davy Crockett? The great events of our past and present are wrapped up in our flag ★ It is a symbol of this blessed nation, a giant in industry, education and

Midlothian Village Hall image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, May 31, 2025

2. Midlothian Village Hall

The marker is to the left of the door; the lighter tablet below it is an essay by Independence Hall about the meaning of the flag.

commerce. Millions of fertile square miles, wheatlands, coal mines, steel plants. Our great republic, the chosen infant destined to be man's last and remaining hope for suffering humanity, a shining beacon of light, noble and glorious, the haven for the oppressed and persecuted and truly God's gift to mankind ★ That is what the flag means to me. Can we wave it too much? I don't think so.

Replay of S.L. DeLove on the Know Your History Hour, December 30th, 1956, to a listener who wrote as follows: "Your programs are wonderful — especially the no commercials — but you are waving the flag too much."
The above has been represented annually in many national magazines, newspapers and radio stations, and is part of the Congressional Record.
Dr. DeLove is the author of The Quiet Betrayal and president of Independence Hall of Chicago.

Erected by Independence Hall of Chicago.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Military • Patriots & Patriotism. In addition, it is included in the Baseball Hall of Famers, the Former U.S. Presidents: #01 George Washington, the Former U.S. Presidents: #03 Thomas Jefferson,

“Independence Hall” on Chicago’s north side image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, May 23, 2026

3. “Independence Hall” on Chicago’s north side

S.L. DeLove was the president of a savings and loan in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood; the bank’s building was designed to resemble Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and included a patriotic museum. A war memorial erected in 1958 still stands in front of the building, which is now a branch of Republic Bank.

the Former U.S. Presidents: #07 Andrew Jackson, the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, the In Flanders Fields, the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the Vexillology series lists. A significant historical date for this entry is July 4, 1956.

Location. 41° 37.414′ N, 87° 43.043′ W. Marker is in Midlothian, Illinois, in Cook County. It is on Pulaski Road 0.1 miles south of 147th Street (Illinois Route 83), on the right when traveling north. The marker is affixed to Midlothian Village Hall, to the left of the main entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14801 Pulaski Road, Midlothian IL 60445, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Chicago.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow

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flies: The Original Village of Lighted Flags (here, next to this marker); Century Time Capsule (here, next to this marker); September 11, 2001 (approx. 0.2 miles away); Midlothian Veterans Memorial (approx. one mile away); Robbins, IL (approx. 1.2 miles away); Spc. Nathaniel Jefferson (approx. 1.2 miles away); Corporal Michael D. Marino (approx. 1.2 miles away); Spc. Willie D. Green (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Midlothian.

More about this marker. The plaque is time-worn and hard to read in some spots.

Regarding Can We Wave the Flag Too Much?. In the late 1960s, the village of Midlothian, located about 12 miles south of downtown Chicago, made headlines as the "Village of Lighted Flags," an effort by its mayor, Harry Raday, to promote and encourage the use of lighted flags, keeping in line with regulations that only allow flags to flight during darkness if there is proper lighting on them. A plaque immediately above this one, presented to the village by Independence Hall, references the lighted flags distinction, and it is presumed, but cannot be confirmed, that this plaque was erected in honor of that.

The inscription on this plaque is a reprint of a 1956 essay by DeLove about the meaning of the American flag. DeLove was the president of the Cook County Federal Savings & Loan Association at 2720 W. Devon on Chicago's far north side, and he created the Independence Hall museum in a wing of that building. (The building, a replica of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, still stands today as a branch of Republic Bank. A 1958 war memorial called “The Spirit of the Fighting Yank” still stands there.)

Born in France, DeLove emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and became a passionate devotee of his adopted home country. He was honored throughout his life for patriotic endeavors, which included, among other things, the museum, passionate speeches in defense of America, and the leading of tours of schoolchildren to important sites in American history. In 1971, DeLove resigned his role at the savings and loan after federal investigators began looking into potential financial improprieties. Reportedly depressed about the investigation while maintaining his innocence, DeLove died on October 29, 1971, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the second floor of Independence Hall.

Also see . . .
1. The Quiet Betrayal (Amazon.com).

Description: "For those who have been puzzled to understand how in a little more than a generation the rights of the individual citizen could have been usurped by a galloping socialistic statism, here is a book that should be given close reading by every thoughtful citizen. Dr. DeLove has presented here a clear analysis of the underlying causes for this tragic decline in responsible citizenship. He exposes the [fallacious] philosophies and theories which have dominated our educational scene for many decades, and sharply brings into focus this trend with its inevitable disaster."

(Submitted on June 2, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.) This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com.

2. United States Flag Code. The American Legion website includes the code for proper display of the American flag.

Excerpt: "§ 6. Time and occasions for display
(a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness."

(Submitted on September 15, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 23, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 2, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 197 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 2, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 3. submitted on May 23, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.