The Culture Beat

If anyone wants to know about the power of symbols, ask Barack Obama about American flag lapel pins. As an Illinois state senator, he stopped pinning on the stars and stripes after the 2001 terrorist attacks – he wore flag pins before then – complaining that such displays could be little more than cheap imitations of true patriotism.

But a few months ago bloggers and pundits started pasting Obama, now a U.S. senator and the Democratic presidential nominee-to-be, for not wearing a pin, questioning his devotion. The Constitution doesn’t require jewelry for the presidency, but no matter: Obama’s choice took on a symbolic life of its own. The candidate soon relented and started sporting a flag pin again.

The flag isn’t just decoration. In the way people do with any symbol, Americans fill the flag with meaning – to represent the nation and its ideals, history and strengths. We say it even represents us. It’s more than a piece of fabric because we make it so.

We see it everywhere – flying on poles, pinned on suits, printed on shirts, emblazoned on cars, tattooed on bodies. If affection is measured by the square inch, then Americans really, really love their flag.

Sometimes, though, I can’t help wondering if with all our flag-waving fervor, we unintentionally miss the meaning. Don’t we risk cheapening anything, no matter how precious, if we get too loose with it?

For example: If the flag is so important, how did it get to be a marketing gimmick? There’s only one reason someone prints a flag on, say, a travel mug: to tap into some emotional vein that will get me to buy it.

For that matter, why do proud, patriotic Americans use the flag on everything from beer glasses to bikinis? I have trouble seeing how cutting up Old Glory and using it to cover some anatomy is a patriotic act.

Here’s another question. This weekend we’re celebrating the founding of a nation that first shook off the tyranny of a coercive government and then wrote freedom of thought, belief and speech into its foundational law. So why do we criticize people when they don’t use the flag the way we think they should? Doesn’t that contradict one of the values the flag represents – the freedom not to display it?

Of course, questions like these aren’t reserved for patriotic symbols. I’ve seen Christians and churches do some strange things with their central symbol, the cross. Some churches, for example, remove it altogether. Why is that?

And why do other churches trivialize it? Recently I visited a conservative church that featured a recurring cartoon character on its announcements page. This little guy sported bulging eyes, oversized hands, feet that looked like they were transplanted from a duck, and a big grin – all attached to a cross. Instead of the “old rugged cross,” I was staring at a second cousin of SpongeBob SquarePants. Why is that?

By contrast, a few years ago Muslims in Europe and the Middle East protested and even rioted when a Danish newspaper published cartoons that, they said, demeaned Muhammad. I’m for a free press and I’m against riots – and certainly against political opportunists who fuel violence – but who could doubt that Muslims took their beliefs seriously?

But how seriously do people take their faith if they can turn its central symbol into a cartoon?

Here’s another question: What happens when these two powerful symbols – the flag and the cross – are combined? We can spot them everywhere – Web sites, book covers, neck ties and, yes, travel mugs.

Symbols carry meaning – they aren’t just decoration. So what does it mean when a Christian cross and an American flag get so cozy? Are Americans implying that Christianity is the one acceptable religion? That would be news to the founding fathers, who knew people of different faiths (or no faith) were fellow citizens.

Are Christians saying their faith exists to support an earthly state? That would be news to Jesus and the apostles, who would probably call that arrangement “blasphemy.”

As people flourish flags (or lift crosses or display other symbols, for that matter) – it’s hard to imagine that we can devalue the ideas we think we’re honoring, but it can happen. Symbols are powerful and precious. Handle with care.

First published in the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press, 5 July 2008.