The Lowering of the Flag
The United States, like a number of other countries, inculcates and demands a high level of patriotic conformity. This cultural characteristic is evident in, for example, the saying of a pledge of allegiance in many schools, the rendition of the national anthem at various, seemingly random events, and the veneration of the national flag. Certainly, the furor caused by Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem exemplifies the extraordinary insistence on patriotic (and cultural) obedience in America. Dissent, non-conformity, free-thinking and, more importantly, anything that undermines national mythologies and national delusions of grandeur are very much taboo, rejected, and resisted (sometimes violently).
Nevertheless, there are signs in America of a shift away from excessive patriotism, especially regarding flag-flying and flag veneration. Although the Black Lives Matter movement has aided this shift by challenging the longstanding distortions and fabrications of American history and provoking an important rethink of who and what the Stars and Stripes represents, the more significant impact on flag veneration has been caused by Trumpism.
The right-wing in American politics (and in most developed countries) has always tried to take ownership of national symbols, particularly the flag, in a rather obvious attempt to conflate patriotism with right-wing policy, but this has been taken to a new extreme by Trumpism. Never has the flag been so conspicuously hijacked and deployed as a tool of political identity than it has by Trump supporters and right-wing extremists (who are not mutually exclusive), whether at political rallies, demonstrations and counter-demonstrations or, most alarmingly, during acts of political violence. This has resulted in the American flag becoming profoundly associated with Trumpism, racism, bigotry, nationalism, violence, and neo-fascism. Ultimately, it now symbolizes a political and cultural position that most Americans find abhorrent.
A mere five years ago, someone adorning their house or car with the Stars and Strips or wearing a piece of flag-inspired clothing might simply have been dismissed as a redneck, white trash, or a harmless simpleton with a parochial and sad life (relying on symbols and nationalism to bolster themselves vicariously). Nowadays, however, in contemporary America, seeing someone flag-flying or flag-wearing immediately causes alarm bells to ring and for one to think “uh-oh, loony!”
This recent development in the United States echoes the situation in 1970s’ Britain when far-right groups, such as the National Front and the British Movement, and English football hooligans who terrorized domestic and international soccer, adopted the Union Flag as their rallying colors. This led, in Britain and abroad, to the widespread association of the national flag with skinheads, violence, and racism. Although, admittedly, flag-waving was already waning in the UK at this time — being seen as an anachronism and out of step with the modern world — the embrace of the Union Flag by neo-Nazi groups and football thugs undoubtedly hastened the flag’s humbler and more restrained role in contemporary Britain.
The extent to which the Stars and Stripes is undergoing a similar recalibration is unclear. With patriotic conformity so strong in the United States, it is hard to imagine a single presidential cycle (however nihilistic and damaging) causing the permanent demotion of the flag’s stature. However, rather than presaging an enduring downgrading of the flag, the recent conflation between right-wing extremism and the Stars and Stripes, coupled with the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, does suggest that, at the very least, there might be a change of attitude towards the flag. This change could include greater hesitancy and caution regarding flag glorification; an awareness of the inherent complexity, ambiguity, vulnerability, and vagueness of national symbols; more cynicism and resistance towards forced conformity; and an essential suspicion and critical eye turned towards those who claim patriotism and demand their version of it from others (are they demanding the love of place or merely the love of their politics?).
