The Power of Symbols

The power and meaningfulness of symbols in any culture, country or ethnicity is often palpable, always prevalent.  For America, the Liberty Bell, the Pentagon, our various national monuments to presidents, the bald Eagle, Pearl Harbor, all represent something important to each and every American. 

And then there is the flag - Old Glory.

As important a symbol of our country and our freedom as any other.  Steeped in history, from its creation at the hands of Betsy Ross, to the inspiration it provided Francis Scott Key, to the struggling, brave men who hoisted it on Iwo Jima, to the proud display of our enduring strength depicted in pictures of the flag on heaps of concrete and steel in the aftermath of 9/11, the Stars and Stripes is perhaps our most iconic of national symbols, and most controversial.

The most recent controversy centers around well paid athletes, predominately African American, who chose to kneel during the playing of the national anthem, rather than standing and facing the flag.  Many people who do not follow professional sports, and American football in particular, may not be aware that the first athlete to "take a knee" did so during last year's season.  But when President Trump chose to enter the fray in the past two weeks, it suddenly became the biggest topic in town, discussed on everything from day time to late night entertainment shows, to talk shows of all types, and even to business shows. 

And, as is true of so much of today's discourse, passion on both sides often exceeded compassion for other viewpoints, and thinking before opining.

A quick question here.  How many verses are there in the Star Spangled Banner?  If you said one, that is because we generally only here the first stanza.  If you said two or three, you may be guessing, or perhaps you heard someone sing more verses at some point in your life.  If you said four, you would be correct, and, I would bet in the minority, small minority, of Americans.

Click here for complete version --  https://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/pdf/ssb_lyrics.pdf

An easier question might be, how many stars and stripes are on the flag?  I would like to think that a majority of Americans might say 50, but all?  And, if 50 is your answer, why 50?  Hopefully, one for each state in the union, is your answer. 

And, assuming one has scored 3 out of 3 so far, do we know when the playing of the national anthem while presenting the flag before sporting events began?  Which sport was the first?  Was is always before the game started or did it perhaps first occur during a game at the time when people stood up for a different reason.  (Yes, there is a hint at the origin there).

So, one last question then, are we any less patriotic if we don't know what each star and stripe represents, or if we don't know all the verses of the Star Spangled Banner?  Or if we stand and face the flag but mouth the wrong words?

Conversely, are we more patriotic because we perform the ritual of standing at sporting events and removing our hats when the anthem is played and the flag displayed even if we don't know the origin of the action? 

The flag and the anthem are symbols of everything we have overcome to this point in our nation's history.  Symbols of our victory over England, twice, our ability to recover when attacked by foreign enemies.  And perhaps most importantly, they represent our unique form of government, and those most extraordinary documents, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

But even more incredibly, more powerfully, the flag and anthem evoke different memories, different experiences for the citizens of our country.  One thing to a veteran who can still remember the horrific sights and sounds of his fellow combatants as they sacrificed their lives on the battlefield.  Another to the immigrant who is grateful each and every morning as he prepares for work, and his children for school, in a country that judges him and his family, not by his native origins or fluency in English, but by his work ethic and character. 

When we see various politicians and pundits rail for or against those athletes, does it matter if, when asked to defend the flag in Korea or Vietnam or the middle East, they choose to hide behind their family's name or money?  Does the fact that they wear a flag pin on their lapel over ride their avoidance of service, or lessen the harshness of their tone in judging someone else's patriotism?

While being respectful of our national symbols is certainly important, is it also important to understand what those symbols really mean, and that our country is great precisely because freedom is a tough act, requiring us to, if not understand, at least permit other citizens to voice their concern when they see freedom diminished, even if it conflicts with our version of respect and patriotism.

Finally, is it more patriotic to stand and face the flag, or to pass legislation that improves the ability to access and afford health care?  More patriotic to remove one's hat when the anthem is played, or to draft tax reform that elevates the take home pay of the millions of hard working poor and middle class Americans rather than those already in the top 5%?  More patriotic to worry and fret and argue over the interpretations of other people born in the land of the free, or to label and then demonize groups of Americans that look, love and worship in a different way?

If we don't fully understand the profound meaning of our national symbols, then it certainly doesn't matter if stand, kneel or lay prostrate on the ground when we hear a song for which we don't know all the words, or why it is being played at that moment in the first place.