I do not know for sure

True, because either nobody knows, or nobody knows who's made it known to us.

I've read at least SIX different supposed meanings for the gold fringe on US flags, including "just decoration", which seems to be the most sensible among them.

The reason I say that is, I don't believe it passes the laugh test to assert that the meaning of it is a secret to President Trump, the most pro-flag president ever. So he's OK with the fringe, obviously doesn't think it means "admiralty law". So, nobody else should either, logically. He knows more about it than we do.

All the "admiralty law" stuff reads like made-up sovcit nonsense, like your car isn't a car or a vehicle, it's a "vessel"; and how they think EVERYTHING is about water and shipping, including—and I promise I am not making this up—the word "doc" (for the person who delivers a baby) referring to a boat "dock"; and the word "currency" coming from "current" + "sea". LOL that is just fanciful etymological pap.

I've never seen credible proof that the country is "really a corporation", that your name in all caps on your birth certificate really means you are "property of the British Crown", or that we are "really" under maritime law (every judge flatly contradicts this in every courtroom video I've ever seen on the topic; wouldn't they at least know what kind of law applies inside their own court?). As an open-minded skeptic, I'm ready to change my mind if I encounter what I consider credible proof.