I would say that a flag is a symbol, and that it is a useful way to indicate your loyalty and devotion to whatever that flag represents. I’m a patriotic person yet I’ve never been too attached to the American flag. Like, I don’t believe that it needs to be treated with reverence as if it were some holy relic. Afterall people use flags in advertisements, wear flags as boxer shorts – how sacred can they be?
I appreciate our flag — the stars and the stripes and all, and I’ve pledged to it and I’ve covered my heart and sang national anthems since an early age. It’s fun and I like it. It represents my country and I feel at home here. But I never really got emotionally upset if a protester “desecrated” the flag, or even burned it, which was a hot topic when I was in high school. It was a big outrage to some, but I couldn’t understand what bothered them so much. To me, okay, I might not be that angry at the whole country, but I get that people can be upset, and burning the flag seemed to me like a reasonably peaceful way to express distress. It’s American, in fact, to be able to express dissent.
Recently, I attended a Hands Off rally that was organized due to the distress many people feel about the direction the country is going right now. Lots of issues – DOGE taking our data, defunding of science, public health at risk, a lashing out at education, and minority and LGBTQ+ rights, federal workers losing their jobs, the horrible cuts to benefits for needy people like SNAP and medicare in the big bill, and ICE raids leading to disappearing people with no due process. Some friends that attended were waiving their American flags and attesting to how important that is to them. They didn’t think it was fair that anti-democratic oligarchs could steal the U.S. flag away from us. The way some conservatives use flags it almost can feel like a message of oppression to people with progressive ideas. You know the coal roller that has giant TRUMP and U.S. Flags rigged up in the truck bed. I believe a person driving through the streets with those symbols means to intimidate others. But not just those adamant supporters of our current president. I mean why is that flag at Macey’s so enormous? It’s a bit ridiculous. What are people trying to prove? But I agree with my friends, it’s nice to see American flags at a protest rally. Not declaring American exceptionalism, but rather the American tradition of hope for democracy.
Flags in Utah are a big deal, and this year certain flags – actually, I believe most flags — were outlawed from schools and other official government places. If I understand the law correctly, now only official state, national, and city flags can be displayed. And why? All because pride flags, rainbows, were appearing in too many places and people felt genuinely upset by them. These symbols were simply too offensive to some people. So political that they had to be outlawed. Now that’s just weird. While I can understand some conservatives being rooted in traditional heterosexual ways, and uncomfortable about gay people and their gay celebrations. Get over it! It’s not okay to be so upset about people celebrating their identities and diversity. In my opinion, it’s okay for people to have gay pride! The flag is a symbol of acceptance and joy, and if you don’t love it, don’t waive it. But please don’t trample over others who wish to express their ideas. I work at Utah State University and we’re not allowed to put rainbow flags in outward facing windows. We can display them in our private areas if we like, but not facing out. Really?
There are many details that I don’t get about Utah’s new law. It’s okay for a history teacher to display a confederate flag or even a Nazi flag due to historical significance, but despite the fact that the rainbow flag has been around as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride since the 1970s, they are not considered historically significant? Perhaps I have this wrong. Please correct me.
Why am I thinking about flags? And Utah’s law about flags? As I drove north along the interstate highway 15 yesterday, we drove near a sheriff’s truck that looked nice and fancy. On the tailgate was a thin blue line U.S. flag. You know, the black and white American flag with a blue line through it that indicates sacrifices the police make in their line of work. My neighbor flies one of those, and though I’ve heard disparaging comments about them these flags don’t bother me too much. I mean, I felt like there was a bit of a back the blue over-reaction to the movement declaring that Black lives matter. But I believe that my neighbor doesn’t mean harm. He only means to share his love and value for the police when he raises that flag. But when I saw the flag on the Sheriff truck, I wondered – is this breaking Utah’s law? It’s not an official flag. I looked into it a bit, and learned that this flag was wielded by white supremacists that demonstrated in the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally of 2017. And that some police departments have banned it due to its association with racist, undemocratic ideologies.
I took a photo of the truck, which sadly came out all blurry so I can’t even call the appropriate sheriff’s department to question the legality of this flag displayed on a government vehicle. The militarization of police over my lifetime does worry me. I’ve witnessed an escalation of violence that I don’t feel has led to increased public safety. I would love to see a lot more investment in safety from a humanistic perspective, like interventions to care for people when tensions rise. Crime prevention over the policing, arresting, and prosecution of criminals – as if criminals are some lower breed of humans that don’t deserve to be treated humanely.
I am happy to see Mexican flags and Canadian flags used by people to challenge and oppose the current regime’s authoritarian obsessions. I’m bracing myself to endure the flags used in conjunction with imagery of intimidation for Trump’s military parade on June 14th, and I’m hopeful that protestors will waive the good old American flags at their own No Kings Day rallies. I’d like to know what others think about this. Please enjoy this song, that my dad quoted when I was a kid, the one and only time that I remember him giving a talk in church.
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine
While digesting Reader’s Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I’d tell her how good I feel.
Chorus:
But your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
They’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reason’s for,
And your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
“If you join the Christmas club
We’ll give you ten of them flags for free.”
Well, I didn’t mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife’s forehead.
Repeat Chorus:
Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn’t see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I’ll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said…
“But your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
We’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reason’s for,
And your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.”