Photographer defends wrapping baby in US flag

A photographer is defending the picture she took of an active-duty sailor’s infant son being cradled in an American flag that has drawn some criticism online.

{mosads}Vanessa Hicks, a veteran herself, took the photo as part of a larger shoot of sailor Rodney Clevenger, his wife, Samantha, and their son. Another photo depicts the baby lying on the flag.

Hicks posted the pic to her Facebook page, which attracted the attention of a group called “You Call Yourself A Photographer?,” Fox News reported.

Some in the group took issue with the use of the flag, suggesting that it violated the flag code. Hicks said that they sent negative messages to her page and attacked her character online.

“I am very well aware of our U.S. Flag code,” she wrote on her page. “I also know exactly what desecration of a flag is. It’s when you pull into ports and you see protestors with our flag and have spray painted horrible things on it. It’s when you watch the news and you see other countries burning our flags, and you are a young Quartermaster scared because you know you are just a few nautical miles from that exact country.”

Hicks’ story is getting lots of attention in media.

She has posted several updates to her page since posting the photo on Sunday — including one saying a Vietnam veteran had reached out to her to say he appreciated the photo.