§ 7.29 Prohibited practices.

“(d) Flags, seals, coats of arms, crests, and other insignia. Labels shall not contain, in the brand name or otherwise, any statement, design, device, or pictorial representation which the appropriate TTB officer finds relates to, or is capable of being construed as relating to, the armed forces of the United States, or the American flag, or any emblem, seal, insignia, or decoration associated with such flag or armed forces; nor shall any label contain any statement, design, device, or pictorial representation of or concerning any flag, seal, coat of arms, crest or other insignia, likely to mislead the consumer to believe that the product has been endorsed, made, or used by, or produced for, or under the supervision of, or in accordance with the specifications of the government, organization, family, or individual with whom such flag, seal, coat of arms, crest, or insignia is associated.”

As with many of the labeling rules, some “exceptions” often slip through. When a couple of New England breweries ran up against this regulation recently, the Stoudt’s APA label is the first I thought of. Apparently individual “appropriate TTB officers” often interpret the regulations differently.

At first glance, this particular regulation seems rather draconian (you know, “First Amendment” and all that)- OTOH, if “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”, just think of how those multinational scoundrels that own the macro brewers would run wild with flag waving.

And, is was often the case, these “prohibitions” that were written into the post-Repeal alcohol laws were often supported by the brewers themselves. In this case, here’s an example from the Brewing Industry Foundation, written during WWII (and, of course, just a decade or so after Repeal), titled “Don’t Leave Yourself Open to Charges of Flag-waving”.

http://jesskidden.googlepages.com/abc%27sofbeeradvertising