The Power Of The Flag

  I 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. That is the pledge of allegiance, written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, more than 100 years after the first US flag. Because of its ability to bring groups of people together and provide a title that we can uniformly identify with, the American flag plays an important role in nationalistic beliefs of US citizens.

  The American flag was designed by Francis Hopkin and knitted by Betsy Ross in the year of 1777, shortly after the American Revolution. Although it can be referenced using only two words, the American Revolution consisted of massacre after massacre, and was a war that the colonists fought until they won in order to gain independence from Great Britain. This was the war that gave birth to America, and the flag was created as a symbol of America. The flag is now in the same room as the one that I am writing this in. It is not the exact same flag, of course, but it is one of the hundreds of thousands made to symbol of our home country America. That flag is a reminder for me and everyone else of the people who laid down their lives so that I could have mine. The flag forces us to remember our history, which is one of the things that brings us together as a nation. We all have that in common. Regardless of our views of our country and what our flag stands for, we all know that there were warriors who fought and died for us. The flag does more than that to bring us together, though. The flag reminds us of who we are. I am an American. If I ever somehow forget that, there’s always a flag not far away. The flag links us with the nation that we serve and demonstrates the ideals on which it was built on. The flag is a part of who I am, and I would be less without it. All throughout history, war has been a consistently present force. Why? Some wars were over land or resources, but many battles were fought purely because the two sides were different. They had different names, different flags, and sometimes different languages. Here in America, we all have the same name: American. We have the same flag: the American flag. There may be different languages here, but everyone either speaks English or is exposed to it. Because of this, when the inevitable next war breaks out, America won’t be fighting against itself. Our flag doesn’t just bring us together, it unifies us. There’s one more thing that our flag does. It creates respect. The world we live in is one that strives toward equality, but it isn’t there yet. Getting respect as a person isn’t always possible for everyone. But respect as an American is a different story. We share a collective nationalistic love for our country, and that love extends to our fellow countrymen. Anyone who loves America and the American flag is loved by those who love them as well. We respect each other as Americans, and we have the flag to thank for it.

  The American flag is everything to America. It brings us together and it prevents us from breaking apart. It is because of that that I proudly say: I 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.