Flags: An Appreciation

Let's Talk about Flags, and NOT That Other Thing Going On This Weekend

So this weekend is Flag Day, as unnecessary and as feeble excuse for a holiday as there ever was. And as always with Donald Trump, he is taking what was probably the lamest excuse for an occassion as could be and making a mountain out of a molehill. Because Flag Day coincides with Trump’s birthday, he is using the occasion to laud the event on himself by having a military parade in Washington D.C.. Nevermind that the city was designed with horses and buggies in mind (not tanks), it’s difficult to travel around, and the tanks will ruin the streets of our nation’s capital at great expense (for which he has no plan on paying), he’s going through with this anyway.

So rather than build up an event absolutely nobody wants to talk about at all, let’s focus instead on the entire purpose of the day to begin with; Flags. Granted, the holiday was to commemorate the American flag, but let’s talk about flags generally here. People seem to make a big deal about them and show off their allegiance to various groups and nationalities with them. In the protests this past week, we saw a lot of people waving Mexican flags and the U.S. flag upside down (a sign of distress). But I doubt a lot of people have really spent a lot of time understanding and comprehending exactly what flags do and mean, unless of course they are a vexillologist¹ (which is a person who studies flags). It’s a relatively new field of study dating back to only 1957, whereas prior to that it was seen as a study of heraldry and historical lineage.

The first thing to know is that flags are a form of communication. Yes, there is an entire form of communication using flags called semaphor, but that’s not what I am describing here. What I mean is that flags signal to others who controls a particular area or group, visible at a distance. This goes back to well before the Roman Empire and antiquity, where flags were used to signal where armies extended to and legions under a leader’s control. Ships flew flags to show where they were from and signal to harbors whether they were friendly or not. Eventually, various wealthy noble families were authorized to create their own flags and fly them as a form of allegiance to their king, particularly in battle. The more flags one saw on a battlefield, the more noble houses supported their cause. In 1066, one of the things that William I was able to do was secure a blessing from the Catholic Church in the Vatican to fly the papal banner at the Battle of Hastings, demonstrating to King Harald that Rome was on William’s side, which to Harald’s army was like saying GOD was on William’s side. William won and became “William the Conqueror.”

Which brings up another point about flags; they not only are symbols of an area, they use symbols to demonstrate values representative of who is flying them. Throughout history, noble houses have often used symbols demonstrative of some family story and heritage that showcase the values that family found important. The more iconic the symbol used, the more widespread people usually understood what it meant. Today, this has morphed a little more into representing one’s heritage; someone of Irish descent could wave an Irish flag as source of heritage pride, or someone from Mexican heritage waving the Mexican flag, and so forth. Waving a flag of another nation, particularly in the United States where we are an amalgam of many nationalities, is a means to demonstrate where one comes from.

America certainly has come a long way since Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag accepted by the newly formed United States in 1792. Originally, thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen stars in a circle on a blue field, each representing the 13 original colonies who fought for independence.

With the inclusion of Maine and Vermont as states, the circular pattern was changed to a more linear one with the two additional stars, but with the stripe pattern added two stripes as well. That was the flag Francis Scott Key was referring to when he penned “The Star Spangled Banner.” As more states were added to the union, the practice became to add stars for each new state, but to revert the stripe pattern to signify the original 13 colonies alone. Now, whenever a new state is added to the union, the flag officially adds the star on July 4th of the following year. The U.S. flag hasn’t changed since after Hawaii was admitted, July 4th 1960.

We have flags for every state, every cabinet office, all six branches of the armed services (yes, even the Space Force has it’s own flag) and a whole host of different levels and ranks within them. Cities often have their own flags, as do various other civic organizations such as the Peace Corps and the TVA. Flags are everywhere.

On top of that, flags represent various groups, often used as a form of virtue signaling. For instance, the LGBTQIA+ community have a whole host of various flags representing various groups within it. Here is a small taste of some of these flags.

Which is to say, flags are ubiquitous. They cover everything nowadays. They always did.

Earlier this week, CNN ran this headline in relation to the protests going on in Los Angeles:

When it comes to protests, at least in the United States, this is not the headline you want, especially when the argument going against these protesters are that they are representative of an immigrant invasion in California justifying ICE to conduct raids and the National Guard to be called up. Los Angelinos waving a Mexican flag leaves the impression that Mexico has indeed taken over; not the image you want. If you want the rest of America on your side, waving the US Flag shows you are one of them and allows viewers to empathize with you increasing the size of your support. Try and envision how this picture and these protests would look so different if they were waving “Old Glory” instead of the Mexican tricolor or the Guatemalan Flag or any of the many different Central American flags that popped up earlier this week.

So today, let’s give a little bit of respect to the Stars and Stripes and what it represents— all of us in the United States. Not just Trump, or Republicans, or Veterans, or Educators or [add whatever other group you want to here]. ALL OF US. It is the only symbol we have in America that actually represents all Americans. Whereas other symbols and flags show allegiance with a subset group or one where the Venn Diagram extends way beyond American citizens, everyone born in this country is represented by 13 red and white stripes with a blue field in the upper left corner, decorated with 50 stars on it. That demonstrates not just patriotism, it demonstrates unity. It belongs to all of us.

And there’s so little of that these days. We could use some more. So instead of watching some ridiculous parade in D.C. this weekend, fly the flag and own your piece of Americana too.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

The VFW has a great website on Flag Etiquette. Yes, there is a way you are supposed to handle the United States flag.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

The name "Old Glory" was first applied to the U.S. flag by a young sea captain who lived in Salem, Mass. On his 21st birthday, March 17, 1824, Capt. William Driver was presented a beautiful flag by his mother and a group of Salem girls. Driver was delighted with the gift and named the flag "Old Glory." Old Glory accompanied the captain on his many sea voyages. In 1837 he quit sailing and settled in Nashville. On patriotic days he displayed Old Glory proudly from a rope extending from his house to a tree across the street.

After Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Captain Driver hid Old Glory, sewing it inside a comforter. When the Union soldiers entered Nashville on February 25, 1862, Driver removed Old Glory from its hiding place. He carried the flag to the capitol building and raised it above the state capitol. Shortly before his death, the old sea captain placed a small bundle into the arms of his daughter. He said to her: "Mary Jane, this is my ship's flag, Old Glory. It has been my constant companion. I love it as a mother loves her child. Cherish it as I have cherished it."

The flag remained as a precious heirloom in the Driver family until 1922. It was then sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., where it is carefully preserved under glass.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

O say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?²

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. The word comes from the latin, “vexillum,” which was a particular emblem flown by Roman legions.

2. One of the things often forgotten is that the last line of the first verse of the song (the portion everyone knows) is actually a question. Francis Scott Key wrote the song while imprisoned by the Brits during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry near Baltimore in the War of 1812. He was unable to see the flag so he didn’t yet know if the British had taken the fort or not over the course of the night. The song is about him waiting until daylight when he can realize whether the Star Spangled Banner is still flying over the fort. Subsequent verses of the song reveal the answer, and repeat that last line but with a more definitive period or exclamation.