American Expression Through Flags
A controversial topic in modern day America actually follows trends in many places across the world. Much of American history involves this form of expression, which often alludes to the feeling of society. From war time symbols, governing systems, political affiliations, and now also to personality traits,many people see a flag and think of the symbol it represents, though truly the flag you choose to present to others is a look inside one's deepest fears or greatest joys. Much of this discussion will touch on the politics surrounding the use of flags to describe feelings, and also will delve deeper into people’s desire for belonging, identity and value.
As many know, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, proclaiming the independence of the American colonies from British authority. Making our democracy no older than 245 years andthe longest standing democratic state to exist today. Of course there are many countries that have gone through transformations in government that have had many more years to weed through political identity and historical understanding. To put this in perspective, a ranking of oldest sovereign countries from worldpopulationreview.com is listed below and reduced to more notable countries to America.
Via worldpopulationreview.com
This amount of time allows deeply rooted cultural ideals and traditions to develop, some good and bad, that still persist today. Past decisions of their people affect the choices made today. Point being, that many people’s opinions are the result of many years of teaching, thus causing insecurity over many issues, or fear of being misguided or wrong. Referring back to the list of oldest countries, half of the top ten has had direct military conflict over issues of politics with the United States. With the understanding that other countries' culture plays an important role in the actions made in the 21st century, it also allows us to dive into America’s history of decision making and division over many subjects today.
This brings us to the subject of flags. Many Americans would recognize our earliest flags to represent the U.S. like “Don't Tread on Me” but we are far behind many other societies when it comes to representation in the form of flags. Communism and fascism flags, revolutionary flags, race and religious flags all have, throughout history, caused division both emotionally and physically. Understanding that there will always be different opinions, and the radical acceptance of this uncontrollable fact, can be good for American society as a whole. With freedom of speech, comes disinformation and arguing, but also the good, such as protests, sexual fluidity, and the freedom to have opinions that differ from societal norms . Individuality and purpose give life to greater belief that we are on this earth to do something great. Though it is hard sometimes to listen to someone’s opinion, accepting that as their belief benefits everyone. Allowing BLM and Pride flags to represent someone’s identity, inversely brought about more Blue Live Matter flags and Confederate flags to represent others. While disagreeable in intent, giving everyone their feeling of belonging can allow conversations towards a better future to occur.
In this July 28, 2016, file photo, a flag with a blue and black stripes in support of law enforcement officers, flies at a protest by police and their supporters outside Somerville City Hall in Somerville, Mass. An Oregon county has agreed to pay $100,000 to a black employee who sued after a co-worker pinned up a "Blue Lives Matter" flag. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Saturday, April 20, 2019, that Karimah Guion-Pledgure alleged in her January lawsuit that the flag demeans the "Black Live Matter" movement. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
I will conclude with more knowledge. The word Buddha means “enlightened.” The path to enlightenment is attained by utilizing morality, meditation and wisdom. Having a deeper understanding of one’s culture, politics and feelings, can allow for more progress towards better days. Yes, people have made flags for hateful reasons, but we also have made so many for good! The freedom of choice, the understanding of others, and flags can change the world.
