The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, a city that has a municipal flag, recently hosted an unusual art installation by the oddly named William Pope.L. It was a gigantic American flag with elongated red-and-white stripes that were torn into individual strips. The artist told The New York Times that his work represented “one… continue
Two centuries ago, British, Prussian and other armies, led the Duke of Wellington, united to defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. As a result, a college in Canada is named after the conflict. And both Waterloos have flags. The mammoth number of troops deployed in 1815 needed flags to know where to… continue
June 14 is Flag Day and June 17 marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, one of America’s early steps toward independence from Great Britain. So this is an appropriate time to link the two. Or maybe not. Some scholars think that the American forces had no flag to wave… continue
Picture a fireman. You see a helmet and hose, right? But do you also see an American flag? Based on these stories from the past, you should. The examples come from 150, 100 and 70 years ago. 1865 William Hoover, a Philadelphia fireman, left his job in 1862 to sign up with the 99th Pennsylvania… continue
There are few symbols of patriotism and American government that are as widely-known as Uncle Sam. As legend goes, “Uncle Sam” is the nickname of Samuel Wilson, a meatpacker who lived in Troy, New York during the War of 1812. Wilson would supply barrels of beef to the army during the war that were marked… continue