The Symbols of the American Flag

1586 Words7 Pages
Flag Essay Final Draft The American flag is a major symbol of America. It flies high above the sky at every school, airport, sport stadium, and even at backwoods small country houses. It’s a well-known symbol, and a major part of history. The flag is a much respected decoration to fill homes, display to fill museums, found even on your mail and clothing. The modern meaning of the flag was forged in December 1860 when Major Robert Anderson, acting without orders, moved the US garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, in defiance of the power of the new Confederate States of America. Adam Goodheart argues this was the opening move of the Civil War, and the flag was used throughout the North to symbolize American nationalism and rejection of secessionism. Before that day, the flag had served mostly as a military ensign or a convenient marking of American territory, flown from forts, embassies, and ships, and displayed on special occasions like the Fourth of July. But in the weeks after Major Anderson's surprising stand, it became something different. Suddenly the Stars and Stripes flew – as it does today and especially as it did after the September 11 attacks in 2001 – from houses, from storefronts, from churches; above the village greens and college quads. For the first time American flags were mass-produced rather than individually stitched and even so, manufacturers could not keep up with demand. As the long winter of 1861 turned into spring, that old flag meant something new. The abstraction of the Union cause was transfigured into a physical thing: strips of cloth that millions of people would fight for, and many thousands die for. The flag of the United States is one of the nation's most widely recognized symbols. Within the United States, flags are frequently displayed not only on public buildings but on private residences.
Open Document