The United States Flag as a Cultural Item

Known lovingly as The Stars and Stripes, the flag of the United States of America is likely the most important cultural work that exists in America and the world today. It appears to us in many forms, a plastic decal, on currency, an ink impression, a mental image, a lyrical expression, even clothing, but mostly it is seen in the form of a cloth banner waving freely in the wind. It has been redesigned many times over its two-hundred-and-fifty-year history, but what it represents to us has not changed and has stood the test of time despite periodic troubles.

It began as a banner representing the American experiment in freedom. When colonies of continental Europeans had built new homes for several generations and finally rejected the oppression of the old world that was so remote to them, physically and culturally, they freed themselves by donating their blood and a new country was born. With a lot of work, this country, the United States of America, still exists and appears to be headed for a healthy future. The flag was created during the American Revolution to symbolize unification, blood, and freedom. Basically, it is the same now as then, each new territory adding a new star.

More than any other portion of the culture that this flag represents, those that died to preserve the experiment of American freedom hold it most dear. They are remembered and honored by us, the Americans extant, the ones they left behind. We are enjoying what they protected, freedom and the ability to shape it.

Worldwide, our flag is seen as a beacon of hope to those oppressed by authoritarian governments where individual rights have no place. To me, it appears that all people of the world, absent their oppressive governments, want to have our democratic form of government. To me, those that do not, have either been brain washed or fear to say it aloud. Our flag may represent our American culture, but it is something that many not of this country acknowledge as the cultural symbol of a place they envy.

The Stars and Stripes, by being ever present in our lives, displayed atop poles at government facilities and everywhere we look, we are reminded of our Constitution and the set of rules our forefathers established to preserve freedom, protect us and our way of life as best they could. They gave us the ability to change those rules peacefully to whatever our present-day culture desires. This has sometimes led to conflict and unrest, yet our basic form of freedom endures.

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