Democrats: Don’t retreat from the flag, march with it
Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, I was pleased to see homes and businesses unfurl their American flags.
The sight of those flags reminded me of something that caught my eye when I first started working at the Pentagon — the American flag patch on an Air Force officer’s flight suit looked “backward.” The stars appeared on the right side of the flag, with the horizontal stripes on the left.
After spotting this same orientation on other military uniforms, I asked her about it. Without missing a beat, she explained, “It’s because in battle, the standard bearer led the formation holding the flag flying, always moving forward. The flag is supposed to fly in the direction we’re heading. America leads.”
America leads. Within that simple explanation lay a deeper truth: For the men and women who wear the uniform, the American flag is directional, not decorative. It represents motion, purpose and conviction. And for them, and for our nation, that direction is forward.
As someone who never served but spent the Biden administration trying to improve the quality of service and quality of life for those who do, I came to understand that for members of the military, the flag stands for the Constitution and the oath they take to defend it — not an individual president, and certainly not a political movement.
As I traveled to military installations around the world, I saw in action the powerful symbolism of the American flag. It means something when people see it on the shoulders of U.S. troops in conflict zones and to allies who fight alongside them. It means something when it arrives with humanitarian aid.
And it means everything to those men and women in uniform who proudly display it — not because they agree with every administration or policy, but because they believe in the enduring promise of this country.
That’s why it pains me to see some Democrats, progressives and young Americans who oppose President Trump’s authoritarianism turn away from the flag.
At protests opposing the militarization of our cities, some burn it in anger or let other nations’ flags stand in for our own. The impulse is understandable — especially for those who feel marginalized, betrayed or worse, targeted, by his dark vision.
However, Democrats cannot let frustration with what he’s doing to the country drive them to disown its foundational symbols. The Trump era will end, and when it does, the party needs a positive agenda to build back from the charred, hollow husk of a democracy Trump and henchmen intend to leave us.
That’s why Democrats can’t abandon the flag. Instead, the party has to reclaim it.
The American flag doesn’t belong to Trump. His appointees use it as a prop, his fans desecrate it as a costume, and, when his followers are unhappy with the direction of the country, as a warning: flying it upside down or swapping it out entirely for symbols of defeat and division.
When Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, they did it wrapped in the Confederate flag, the Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, even Trump’s campaign flag. These are not expressions of patriotism; they’re declarations of resentment, conspiracy and insurrection.
Meanwhile, progressives have always fought for what the flag is supposed to mean: equal justice under law, the dignity of all people and opportunity regardless of background. Members of the Democratic Party have led the battles for civil rights, voting rights, reproductive freedom, worker protections and gay and transgender equality.
These are not fringe causes; they are deeply American causes.
And that’s why Democrats and progressives should fly the flag. They should be proud to carry the American flag at every march, every campaign rally, every protest for justice and equality.
I still have the American flags I and other progressives waved in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night 2008. We should make it clear that this flag represents our values: the belief that our democracy must be defended against all threats foreign and domestic, and that the Constitution means what it says — all of it, not just the parts that are politically convenient.
Let Trump wrap himself in symbols of grievance. Let his allies turn upside-down flags into a twisted badge of resistance.
For too long, Democrats and progressives have allowed ourselves to be painted as somehow less patriotic because we dare to criticize America’s shortcomings. We should be the ones raising the flag upright and forward, just as that Air Force officer explained to me years ago — because we still believe in leading, in progressing, in moving forward.
It’s time to remind Americans that the flag belongs not to those trying to dismantle our democracy, but to those determined to protect it.
This first year of Trump’s nightmarish sequel, next year during America’s 250th birthday celebration, and then into the midterm elections, Democrats, regardless of whether they are veterans, should raise it proudly.
They should not do this as a symbol of blind nationalism, but as a declaration of fidelity to democratic principles and as a symbol of our commitment to make the values that underpin it real once again.
Alex Wagner is an adjunct professor at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University and was the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs during the Biden administration.