I served in the US Army for eight years. I was on active duty on 9/11.
I have more respect for those who would burn the US flag in protest than I do for those who fly it incorrectly or, worse, combine it with the (incorrect) flag of traitors. {1}
Yes, I am talking about you, people in our neighborhoods who are currently doing both.
Those who burn the flag do not claim to honor it. They are genuine and sincere in their belief. I can respect that.
Those who cannot be bothered to bring in (or at least illuminate) the flag at night and during inclement weather, those who fly flags tattered into shreds from their porches and pickups, and those who honor slave-owning traitors equally with our country disrespect the flag they claim to honor.
You have the right to dishonor the flag by flying it inappropriately and by not caring for it. You have the right to fly something that looks like — but emphatically is NOT — the American flag.
But let us not pretend that you are a patriot, or "respect the flag."
If you genuinely wish to be patriotic, put forth the minimal effort to respect the flag, or do not fly it at all.
{1} The "Stars and Bars" is not the flag of the Confederacy, nor was it the "battle flag," also exposing the hypocrisy of those who claim that it honors that explicitly racist heritage. And before anyone says it, yes, preserving slavery was explicitly written into the constitution of the Confederacy.