Since Google refused to honor Flag Day, I figured I'd make a little post about it. I've worn this flag on my shoulder. I've saluted it, took my hat off to it, sang to it, prayed in front of it, and reverently folded it. The flag means something beyond the military, being patriotic, or as merely a symbol of a nation. It is an icon of who and what Americans are. We did something over two and a quarter centuries ago that had never been done, and is still to be equaled. We told the world that we didn't accept our lot in life, that we would not settle for what someone else told us we were. We declared our independence from those notions, and we made a flag to symbolize it. It isn't about nationalism or patriotism at its core. It is about freedom of choice and personal responsibility. That is what the flag is about. Pledging allegiance to it, is pledging allegiance to those ideas. It is acknowledging all of the people that made this nation what it is, and the ideas that drove those people. The idea that we will not let someone, or some nation dictate to us who we are or what we are allowed to become.
When you see this flag, do not think just about sacrifices or a specific nation; remember the idea behind it. Remember who and what we are, and why we came to be. Remember that no matter what your beliefs are, or your politics, or your philosophy, that they can all be freely expressed under this banner. This is not just the American flag. This is the flag of freedom.
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