Star Spangled

Webster’s says “spangled” means glittered or gleaming. But the word still sounds as though something got mangled in the process. Francis Scott Key did write the National Anthem after a British attack during the War of 1812. “Shining through adversity” produced an uplifting song and is the hope now, as the news reflects strife.

Amidst the protests, one subject keeps grabbing headlines – the flag. It’s been stealing headlines forever –definitely since Black Lives Matter became more than words. But it’s back – and perhaps one should say flags.

In the ‘60s, the stars and stripes were burned for effect – to scold or taunt. The image became uncensored, winding up as to-go cups, wrapping paper and bikinis. Blown up for car dealerships, it stayed up after dark. The Boy and Girl Scouts have never gotten over any of this.

The United States flag used to be one size, folded one way, put up at dawn, and taken down at dusk. It never touched the ground. In wartime or not, it was the sacred shroud – not to wear but to protect. It represented every dream called America. The Marines at Iwo Jima during WWII, hoisting the flag, remains powerful today. True, even while the flag is printed on napkins at picnics. More sensationally, the flag remains powerful even when parading the flag has become the inflammatory grounds for taking a knee.

The focus has also hovered over another flag – not Betsy Ross’s flag of 13 colonies, but the flag of the Confederacy. Several flags were used from 1861 to 1865, but it was the last one, called the battle flag, that commands allegiance. Very familiar, it has a blue saltire cross with white stars over a solid red ground.  

This flag has come to represent unacceptable racism and white supremacy. It earned its definition, both by the Confederacy’s blatant endorsement of slavery and by Southern resentment that sparks verbal or real fireworks now. Dramatically, NASCAR banned the Confederate flag, long a symbol of its tracks, from its races on June 10. The times, they are a-changin.’

Some defend the Confederate flag by crying heritage, an argument aired in Mississippi as it grappled with deciding whether to adopt a new flag. The canton of its 1894 flag had that same diagonal cross, which they voted to retire last Sunday. The NCAA had announced on June 19 that no championship events will be held in states where the Confederate flag is sanctioned. Pressure bore down, hitting home with collegiate athletics.  

Given the current justice issues batted about, the Confederate flag holds its own as a target to either ban or unfurl. For some, it’s personal. It represents ancestors who fought for the South. While today’s great-great-grandchildren have accepted the Union, the pain of lost family members, property and prestige, lingers.

Some modern-day Scarletts and Rhetts have trouble reconciling sound people with unsound ideas. Sometimes a sense of guilt haunts. After all, there are albums whose genes flow. Those dignified daguerreotypes, it must be said, were not just.

Some current views are also not fair, carried over like coin silver spoons. Recognition is needed. Forgiveness is, too. Forgiveness can occur backwards, sideways and inward. What’s one antiquated flag, when humanity is at stake.

Besides, there’s a great flag to fly this week. It’s all-American, boasting magnificent stars.