I’ve always loved our flag. It goes back to the fifth grade, when my flag-loving teacher Betty Baltz (sounds sort of like Betsy Ross?) had us do a project on the evolution of our current flag -- the one that had 48 stars back in the late 1950s.

I was going for extra credit (some things never change), so I did paintings of all the prior flags. I got the credit, but I also still have the paintings and one of them is framed and hanging on my wall of flag art right now.

My interest in our flag got tragically renewed on 9/11, when we were hiking out West and took several days to drive home because all air travel had been suspended.  On the way back, we witnessed an outpouring of national solidarity, as every overpass, farmhouse and construction crane along the way, and every trucker we passed, had flags flying. I took a lot of blurry photos of those, and I still take photos of our flag when we travel to other countries and see it waving over our embassies, like the one in Havana a couple of years ago. It's always inspiring.  

Also, when we're in the car with our grandchildren, we often give them each a side and see who can spot the most flags during our trip. I always wonder about the reason each of the folks we pass decided to put out a flag, and sometimes that has made me concerned that our flag is in trouble.

That's because I see the flag being adopted by people who don’t intend it as a symbol of our democracy and its freedom for all. They've realized they can't be quite as flagrant about their white supremacy and populism as flying the Confederate flag would reveal, so they're increasingly using our flag as their dog whistle for the same un-American views. They cover every inch of themselves with flag paraphernalia at political rallies, or they drive up and down our streets with flags flapping everywhere. And they're certainly not doing this to show their patriotism in the “Star Spangled Banner” sense. I know that because their flags are coupled with signs or their bumpers are plastered with stickers, all claiming that if you weren't born here or don't look and think like them, you ought to keep your mouth shut or go back where you came from.

It has gotten so bad that I fear we're almost at a tipping point, the point where if you fly a flag outside your house, as we've done for 40-plus years, you're seen as endorsing those same hateful views that others are intending when they appropriate the flag to signal their messages. That's not what I'm intending, and if you've continued reading this far, I doubt it's what you intend either. 

So, while we still have the chance to save our flag from its dangerous precipice, we need to launch a serious rescue mission. We need to be proud to show the flag when we're protesting for sensible immigration policies, when we're campaigning for meaningful firearms legislation that will really save lives and when we want our legislators to work with each other for the common good rather than doing whatever will get them re-elected.  Those messages would be worthy of our flag and it needs us to make that clear more than ever. 

L. Phillips Runyon III practices law in Peterborough and was the presiding justice of the 8th Circuit Court.

]]>