Existing comment:
Stars and Stripes:
As American nationalism grew in 1800s and early 1900s, so did the use of the flag as a national icon.
The Stars and Stripes had not been so widely used in the early years of the Republic, but its association with "The Star-Spangled Banner" made it more popular. In 1848, the US Army began carrying the flag into battle, and during the Civil War the Stars and Stripes was a highly visible symbol of the hope for a reunified nation.
In the 1890s new patriotic organizations promoted flags for schools, the introduction of the Pledge of Allegiance and regulations against "misuse" of the flag. In their eyes, the flag was a bulwark against threats to American identify from mass immigration and organized labor.
By the 1960s, the American flag was seen by some to reflect a narrow and exclusive vision of American identify. In protest, they burned or defaced flags, prompting Congress to criminalize such behavior in 1968. This legislation was repeated after the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning was an expression of freedom of speech. These struggles over the flag's meaning are testaments to its enduring power as a national symbol. |