Flags of our fathers

Flags have been around for 4,000 years, but were primarily used as a personal banner. National flags only became important in the 17th century to identify merchant ships; in the 18th century, these were adopted as national symbols. In fact, the United States has the third-oldest national flag, following Denmark (1625) and Russia (adopted 1705 and restored after the fall of the Soviet union).

The Union Flag (or "British Jack") was designed in 1801 from England's St George's cross, Scotland's St Andrew's cross, and Ireland's St Patrick's cross. (The Welsh flag was not incorporated, and is still a matter of some debate.) However, it was never adopted as a national flag, and today it still technically a banner of the monarchy, not the country.

More interesting, however, is how national flags are interpreted. In most countries, they are symbols, used as either a sign of respect, dissention, or celebration. In many countries, loyalty oaths are often required to the country or the monarch, but I don't know of any country besides America that pledges allegiance to the flag.

In 1892, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day, The Youth's Companion magazine published the Pledge of Allegiance, accompanied by a "salute" that was later removed due to its similarity with the Nazi salute. It was quickly adopted by public schools, and has been the subject of several lawsuits, most famously by Jehovah's Witnesses, who considered it idolatry. Ironically, it was President Eisenhower--who was raised a Jehovah's Witness--who added the words "under God" in 1954. Today it is not considered compulsory, but is nevertheless expected of most schoolchildren to pledge allegiance every day.

The US is also one of the few countries that has a "flag code" indicating how the flag should be displayed, cared for, and disposed of. The Supreme Court has routinely overruled this as a prohibition on free speech; however, many Americans believe the flag code should be a constitutional amendment, enshrined in law.

By contrast, most countries do not take their flag so seriously. They incorporate it into clothing, advertisements, and logos. They wrap it around themselves to celebrate a national achievement, and more importantly, they burn it to display national outrage. It is an important--and I would argue healthy--way to express anger and frustration. The flag is simply a symbol, not something to be worshipped in its own right. Of course, it took me moving to another country to even question something that has been drilled into me from an early age.

P.S. in Denmark you can burn the national flag, but not the flag of any other country, as that is considered a matter of foreign policy.

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