Yesterday was Flag Day, so I spent a little bit of the day thinking about the flag.

The flag—what is it?  It’s more than ‘Old glory,’ or the ‘Stars and Stripes.’  It represents who we are as a country, and where we have been.  It signals the freedoms we enjoy, and that so many have fought for and won for our collective benefit.   There has been a great amount of conversation in the media regarding the flag and the proper protocol for standing or kneeling.   

This is a very hard conversation to have with people.  It can really ignite some hard and raw feelings.  And this reaches across every generation that makes up our country.  I’ve seen old soldiers marching in parade saluting the flag, and I’ve seen young scouts presenting the colors.  I have even seen those in between with giant flags affixed to the beds of their pickup trucks.    

I was thinking, is the flag a symbol or a sign?  Clearly, people look up to the flag, and salute the flag, and there is a code and a protocol for all USAmericans with regard to how we treat the flag.   Is it law, etiquette, or good taste that makes us want to treat the flag with the utmost respect?  Is it because of our freedoms or for all the soldiers who were willing to sacrifice their lives for our country that we honor the flag?  A symbol is a thing that represents or stands for something else.  It is an object that represents something abstract.  A sign is any object that conveys a meaning.  Symbol and sign seem pretty similar. The difference between a symbol and a sign is that a symbol can convey a deeper and more complex meaning than a sign.  A sign is an indicator or is a marker for something very specific, very concrete and, and in general unambiguous in meaning. 

A ‘STOP’ sign is unambiguous.  When you see it you’re supposed to stop.  When you see a street sign, that would indicate that is the name of the street. An exit sign tells you where to leave the building.  A symbol represents something that is abstract is ambiguous.  Therein lies the issue with the flag.  The flag may represent freedom, but freedom is ambiguous.  The American Dream is ambiguous.  Even service to the country is ambiguous, until that flag is handed to a widow or it is draped over a coffin.  Then the flag is a sign, clearly indicating the death of a loved one in service to their country.

For many people the abstract is concrete.  ‘This is the American Dream.’  ‘This is the way it is.’  ‘Love it or leave it.’  For some America is great, for others America is not so great.  With its historical issues some wonder if America ever really was great, or for how long we were able to live up to its lofty ideals.     

For me (a reminder, this is an opinion piece), I know that the flag, the pledge of allegiance and the National Anthem are sacred to many Americans.  I honor and respect the rights, privileges and freedoms of all Americans.   Some are mad that people are flaunting their freedom with the right to kneel during the National Anthem and there are others upset that a person carrying a military style assault rifle at a state house is exercising their rights.  Each is a symbol representing something abstract.   But for those individuals, and others who interpret the meaning in their actions, there can very real, concrete, specific ideas of what they protesting.   For me, it may feel abstract—but for them, it is real.       

For others, faith may feel abstract.  God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit may feel like abstract ideas to some, but for many they are as real as the sun shining.  

The flag, what is it?  Well, that all depends….