This is for our friend, Ishaan, who asked what he thought was a simple question over at Brother’s Campfire. He asked, “Who is the allegory of America? Do you have one? Is it lady liberty?” He is from India and said that the Indian allegory is “Mother India.” The entire conversation can be found in the comments section of the post: Tired Toiling Tumultuous.
The question intrigued me. I became even more interested when the question about Toby Mack’s song, Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue caused confusion about what the song was about. No, that was not an anthem about the French flag translated into English. I’m not trying to mock anyone, especially our friend, but if you listen to the words of the song it should be abundantly clear there’s nothing French about it. And, since I looked it up as part of the research for this post, I did find out that the French Flag is Blue, White, and Red and, to quote Encyclopedia Brittanica, “Like many early national flags, the Tricolor has no specific symbolism attached to the individual colours and shapes in its design.” Besides which, it didn’t really answer the question.
Who or what is the American Allegory? Uncle Sam? Nope. Lady Liberty? Nope. George M. Cohan? Nope. Some of the things that were in Wikipedia? Nope. (I would not accept Wikipedia as a source anyway. It can give you some places and things to start thinking about a subject, though.)
No, the real American Allegory is her flag. Unlike in the above-mentioned article, The flag of the United States of America Is rich in history and symbolism and is a true allegory of the country for which it stands. Officially adopted on June 14, 1777(which is also Ashley’s birthday), 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and 13 white stars on a field of blue. The stripes were to represent the original 13 colonies and the individual white stars on a blue field represent the individual states, united. Red is the color of the blood that has been shed for the country and also stands for hardiness and valor. The white stands for purity and innocence. The blue field stands for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
We fly our flag a lot. Special holidays and such but a lot of times, just because. Because we can and because of what it stands for. We even fly ours when we are camping. The guy over at the youtube channel “Lost In The Pond” says that he has never seen so many flags flying.
Americans love their flag and to most of us, the flag is not just a piece of cloth flying on a stick but symbolizes a lot of things. It stands for a lot of different things but most of all and more than anything else, it stands for freedom. The flag of the United States of America is the allegory of the nation.
I [still] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Comments
22 responses to “The American Allegory”
Thank you for this post!
It is interesting indeed.
I agree I was stupid to consider it a french song.
Also, have you always had 50 stars? Or was it 13 originally? I hear they represent states of america. That way, it must have been subject to continuous change?
Yes sir, there is a new star added each time a state is added. The 13 stripes stay the same to represent the original 13 colonies.
I never noticed there were 13 stripes…
And What is america’s national anthem? I know it is a search-on-net question, but I don’t trust the net anymore. 🙂
Do americans have the flag hoisted in their homes?
Outside our homes very often. Many people build permanent flagpoles in their front yard and raise the flag every day.
Wow!
I have never seen the Indian flag flying in a home.
I am not sure, but I think the protocol for flying it is quite strict.
Oh. Well, there are rules here about the proper way to display the flag, but there are no limits on it.
The national anthem is “The Star Spangled Banner”. Which is actually a song about the flag.
Nice 👍
Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome.
I’m not quite that old, but when I was very young we went downtown on my birthday and I truly thought they put the flags out for me. Lol my mom then taught me about Flag Day and what it meant I’ve been proud to share my birthday ever since.
Oh? I thought you said you felt 243 years old.
This was interesting, I would’ve said the flag too, I know it’s a big thing.
Thank you. You’re right, it is.
Brings to mind Johnny Cash’s “Ragged Old Flag.” So much good stuff about the American flag. You’re making me feel all patriotic now.
Oh man! Yeah, Ragged Old Flag is great. https://youtu.be/XfzJ8UBr-c0
interesting !
I love this post! Thank you for posting in the midst of an age where it seems that some are ashamed of our great flag and country! Thank you thank you!
Thanks for the kind remarks.
You’re very welcome, Herb!
Sadly, https://ishaansharma123home.wordpress.com/ (the URL linked on Ishaan Sharma’s name in the comments) is no longer available; ‘the authors have deleted that site’. And the first link in your post here, to https://ishaansharma123.home.blog/blog-feed/, redirects to https://home.blog/blog-feed/ , and that is ‘404 not found’ 🙁
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