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Patriotism, Beyond The Flags And Pins
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Published: May 23, 2008
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Some of us wear our patriotism on our sleeves.
Or our lapels.
Some stick it on the family car, in the shape of a yellow ribbon. It can be seen flying from the front porch or peeking out from under a sleeve, in an inky salute.
How Americans display their patriotism changes all the time.
It used to be a simple tenet, especially during wartime: Love your country. Fly your flag.
But in this time of an unpopular, protracted war, which is draining money from a struggling economy, the question of how to show patriotism is more complicated than ever.
The signs aren't as clear as they used to be. Some complain that the symbols we use to show loyalty to homeland have morphed into pro-war emblems. Stickers, flags, ribbons and pins carry new meaning, now that the war debate is politicized.
Those who show them resent that the display is taken as a political stance. To them, it is still a deeply meaningful demonstration of their love of country — whether or not they love its politics.
Memorial Day is a time to show support for American troops. Veterans advocates say we're doing that with fervor. From standing ovations in restaurants to handshakes with soldiers at the airport, we have learned since Vietnam how to support the warrior even if we don't support the war.
But what about showing support for a country? How we do that seems less clear.
What does it mean to be patriotic?
Shortcut Or Heartfelt Gesture?
What happened to Barack Obama this year showed how complex and charged the issue has become.
Obama supporters said he took off his flag lapel pin to shine light on the other ways he articulates his patriotism. Obama critics said he took off the pin as a political statement against the war.
When asked about the missing pin, Obama said he didn't want to use it as a cheap show of patriotism. He would show his love for country in other ways, by speaking out on issues that affect national security.
Now, the pin is back on his lapel.
"It's a free country, and you know, patriotism isn't wearing the flag pin, in my view," said Dave Braun, a Vietnam veteran who leads the Veterans Council of Hillsborough County.
Wearing the flag isn't — all by itself — patriotic, Braun said.
"I think patriotism is in your heart and in your support of our country, and that's where it should be," he said. "Flag pins are supportive but superficial."
That said, Braun adds that Obama "should be wearing it."
Braun wears his own flag pin. Even, he said, when he's lounging around the house.
His remarks may seem contradictory, but they show a debate that many Americans struggle with, said Richard Harwood, who founded the Bethesda, Md.,-based Harwood Institute to encourage communities to increase their participation in public life. He held civic forums across the country after Sept. 11.
Over and over, he heard people say they were concerned that flying the stars and stripes on their cars and putting a pin in their lapel was a shallow kind of patriotism.
"People felt it was patriotism on the cheap," Harwood said.
As one commenter on a national political blog put it, wearing a flag after Sept. 11 was like jumping on a bandwagon and compared it to an atheist saying the Lord's Prayer in church on Sunday, just because grandma is there.
Others felt that the flag and yellow ribbons are authentic emblems of something meaningful.
"Symbols and symbolism are at the heart of the country — of societies — as our rituals," Harwood said. "One can't underestimate the power of symbols and their meaning to people."
But it's not solely a debate with their neighbors or in their own households, he said.
Many Americans are struggling with the contradiction internally.
They hold both views at the same time — that waving a flag is a patriotic shortcut at the same time that it's a genuine, heartfelt gesture.
One Of Many Patriots
Barbara Mills counts patriotism in dollar bills.
Since July, she has raised $10,000 for gift baskets and to throw welcome-home dinners for troops coming back to Citrus County.
In that time, she's given 26 red baskets, woven with red, white and blue ribbons. They're full of cinnamon pastries, bottles of wine, gift certificates to Outback Steakhouse, coupons for free car washes and oil changes. Harley-Davidson puts a T-shirt in there, too.
She calls herself one of the most patriotic people she knows. She joined the American Legion and attributes some of her sensibility to her family's military service. Her husband served during Vietnam; she has a 27-year-old son in the Navy.
Her other son, 30, is considering re-enlisting in the Navy because construction jobs are so hard to find.
But Mills is convinced she's one of many patriots.
In restaurants, she sees strangers rise from their seats and applaud when service members come in for their homecoming dinner. Afterward, people approach the troops, tap them on the backs and ask to shake their hands.
She believes their hearts are in it. She sees their faces and the way they are moved by the sight of the soldiers.
She and other volunteers in her organization, Citrus County Heroes, show the same support and try hard to leave politics out of it.
"We don't discuss any of that, other than they did a good job and welcome home," Mills said.
The way she sees it, Obama should have done the same thing.
"For him not to wear that, it kills me," she said.
Others felt the same. After Obama's flag flap, people started handing him pins at rallies. The one he eventually assigned to his lapel was handed to him by a disabled veteran.
Politicizing patriotic symbols wasn't a process that happened suddenly, Harwood said. It evolved as public support for the war wavered.
But the presidential election has accelerated the metamorphosis, as the war on terrorism became the subject of campaign commercials and stump speeches.
Still, it isn't really about Obama's pin or bumper stickers or yellow ribbons, he said.
"This little lapel pin is bringing about this debate, and the debate is how we see patriotism today in this changing world," he said.
"The lapel pin is helping to crystallize that for people. And we don't have the answer."
Ceremony Goes On
Besides warm homecomings for Citrus County troops, there are other demonstrations that use symbols to embrace patriotism.
Since Sept. 11, 2005, volunteers with Braun's group have placed a miniature American flag for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Field of Honor at Veterans Memorial Park now holds 4,515 flags, six inches apart.
Braun has no idea when his group will be able to stop placing flags. Volunteers hold a ceremony every three months.
It's not about politics when they do it. And they do it whether or not anyone comes to witness the ritual.
Sometimes a couple dozen people show up; sometimes it's only a handful.
Either way, the ceremony goes on.
"We do it," Braun said, "religiously."
Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Gretchen Parker can be reached at gparker@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7562.
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