The American Flag has been around for about 240 years and has been used to show victory and pride. On the flag there are 50 stars to represent all the states in the United States and there are 13 red and white stripes which represent the original 13 colonies. The red symbolizes hardiness and valor, the white symbolizes purity and innocence and the blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance and justice. The flag is considered a cultural artifact to American which can say a lot about the culture that the people hold in this country.
The culture in American is extremely diverse and has taken different aspect from all over the world into one country. We as a nation value things such as liberty, equality, individualism and diversity. All of these things are tied around the central idea of the American flag which is featured in the first photo. With this symbol of our nation comes into play the second picture. It seems that whenever a victory is set into play, the United States raises its flag on the grounds of that place. Even when lose and travesty come with the certain event, if the flag is raised in the end then it is considered high honor and victory. Examples are after 9/11, when we landed on the moon and when we win a war or conquer land. People consider this to be intertextuality because we have the comparison of the two cultural artifacts in a similar setting and for the same purpose. This photo along with other similar situations in which the flag was used, show how we in America handle certain emotions and values. We crave to raise that flag up for a sense of victory and valor. It really represents how our culture worships this perception of patriotism. Although, America is considered this extremely diverse nation, we never raise other flags from other countries even though a large percent of the population isn’t originally from America. Which doesn’t seem to out of the norm since this is the United States but one of the things we value is equality, yet we shove patriotism and Americanism to everyone in this country instead of their origins views. In the article, Culture and Politic Series, it talks about how we take an anthological approach to culture which I find to be true due to the way we study the constitute of America as a whole, yet we can’t identify a specific culture. (Nealon,Giroux’s 52).
One of the more interesting social norms represented on the American flag is the third image. This really speaks volume in the way society idolizes large marketing brands. Some labels that have taken over the USA are Nike, Apple and McDonald’s. This has also spread to other countries but is more popularized in America. I believe this photo was created to grabs people’s attention and direct them to the issue of us overpraising these large brand names to the point where they consume our life without us even knowing. This country is centered around our national symbol of the flag and never question anything about it, but when it is used for other purposes, such as the third image, people somehow start to get offended and defensive. People say it’s disrespectful to use the flag as a way to show social norms or to address an issue. This topic really depends on the amount of patriotism you have for this country which can also lead to respect for the nation. People will always act out when someone tries to break the social norm that has never been changed. In the end, everyone has their own views and opinions on the topic but that doesn’t mean we should disregard the opposing views just because they aren’t yours.
Overall, the United States flag can be interpreted to portray multiple different things. This can range from the values we hold to the overall culture we live in. These three photos can simply not be dismissed but analyzed to show what America really stands for. To render our thoughts on the cultural artifact that correlates with our social norms.
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