In a nation that can’t agree on whether it likes the president, universal health care or immigration, there are still images of patriotism that remind people of what they agree on.
This sense of pride in the the country is shown through iconic figures that have evolved over the years just as America and its people have. But with each new image one thing remains the same: When people see the flag, Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, all clad in red white and blue, it says America is still a place where people have rights, a place where people are free and, for whatever flaws, it is still a place that stands for justice.
Our icons say America is still a place people are proud of.
“They were made to create an image of patriotism,” said historian and owner of the Marietta branch of U.S. Flag Makers, Steve Ehlrich. “They were selling patriotism.”
The flag has grown with the country from 13 to 50 stars, but, as it did when “The Star Spangled Banner” was written in 1814, it denotes the land of the free and the home of the brave.
“That symbol is enduring,” said Allan Kulikoff, a history professor at the University of Georgia, in an email. And sales show it.
Ehlrich, holder of a master’s degree in history from Case Western Reserve University, said even his small company sold more than 6 million flags last year, only a small percentage of the tens of millions sold nation-wide. He said the peak selling time spans from Easter to July 4, with spikes in sales around Veterans Day and 9/11 — times when Americans come together.
Atlantans this year bought the fourth most flags off of Amazon of any city in the country. Though the flag’s symbolic meaning is constant, Kulikoff said the way people choose to display the flag has changed.
“Yippies were arrested for wearing the flag draped around their bodies – today flag t-shirts are very popular, as are flag blankets and the like,” he said.
And it is not the only all-American icon to evolve.
“Uncle Sam started out as a country bumpkin smart aleck,” Ehlrich said.
The first time Sam is actually seen was in the early 1800s, he said, and didn’t really become the Uncle Sam known today – the old, strong man with a white beard and a star-spangled top hat –until the second half of the 19th century when caricaturist Thomas Nast began drawing him.
“He got older, wiser, more political. He has aged quite a bit in that picture,” Ehlrich said of the famous 1916 James Montgomery Flagg image of Sam pointing a finger at the viewer, boldly declaring “I Want You” on the cover of Leslie’s Weekly.
Lady Liberty in the World War I years was not a tall green tourist attraction in New York, but a fair-skinned blonde woman donning the American flag as a dress. The bald eagle, symbol of strength and longevity and native to the U.S., was established as a national symbol as the 18th century was drawing to a close and it was not until around the mid 19th century that the Republican elephant and Democrat donkey appeared.
They have all been drawn time and time again – to recruit soldiers, to protest wars, to convince people to spend money or not to, to say the country is amazing or that it isn’t; there are almost as many depictions of each of these symbolic figures as there are political ideologies in the country, but they all say people want America to be the best country possible.
The point is, regardless of one’s political ideology, these symbols still inspire faith in America’s greatness, or at least its potential for greatness, especially on patriotic holidays.
Even when people may not like what the country is doing, they are still proud of it.
About the Author
