Do flags unite or divide us more?

As the Ukrainian flag gets waived in every country around the world in undeniable solidarity with the Ukrainian people, I found myself faced with this very perplexing question - do flags unite or divide us more? The more I tried to answer it, the more it felt like I was ding-donging on a pendulum going from 'unite more to divide more'... 'unite more, divide more'!

I started Googling.

Below, I quote ad verbatim, arguments and opinions that I found insightful in context of this head-scratcher of a question. Towards the end of this short piece, I share my own 2 cents.

Let’s roll.

Flags truly are one of the simplest, yet most powerful pieces of design EVER conceived.

Flags can make us swell with pride, burn with hatred, even inspire people to die or kill in their name.

Wars, revolutions, political unions, and public competitions have shaped the colours and content of these most evocative of symbols.

Interestingly, a flag is often called the most colourful 4-letter word in the dictionary.

But how can a country’s history, geography, culture, politics, its people, and religion be squeezed into one design? It must really be hard to represent an entire nation on a piece of cloth.

It is. Simplicity hence is key.

Canada’s red maple-leaf flag is a shining example of that - simple, striking and immediately recognisable. It has been hugely effective in reinforcing a ‘national identity’ internally, and globally.

Traditionally, flags have worked to unite us, because through their ritual use, they evoke a shared psychological state of solidarity with a group.

Though that’s also where the ability of a flag to unite us as people seems to end - with that affinity group.

Everyone else seems different or 'not part' of that group. Sometimes even worse, an enemy.

In this context, two words that are often used but rarely understood, rise above all others.

First, patriotism. It is described as a love of one’s own, AND a respect for others. The other, nationalism, which is a love of one’s own, BUT a contempt for others. You can of course fly the same flag either way.

So, if someone takes the Union Jack flag in a part of London with a very high proportion of Bangladeshi Muslims, it may be showing contempt for the other. It would be called nationalism. But if you fly the same flag at the Olympics, it is patriotism. Donald Trump’s America First would be nationalism, not patriotism.

Adolf Hitler is said to have used flags as highly effective ‘identity weapons’ aimed at uniting his army, while also dividing it from all the rest. This embedded dichotomy makes the humble flag a compelling research subject.

Would it be fair then to argue that flags are symbols to unite that divide? That’s kind of weird, and complex, but could it be true?

And there’s more. You can also feel divided within the same group!

Israel’s Arab minority of its own citizens has long felt disconnected from the national symbols of the Jewish state. China’s national anthem ‘March of Volunteers’, has occasionally been a flashpoint in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong. Germany bans any display of the Nazi red, black and white flag with the swastika, as well as any other symbols from the period.

Supporters of former President Trump have embraced the American flag so fervently — at his rallies, across conservative media and even during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — that many liberals worry that the left has all but ceded the national emblem to the right. And yes, they are all supposedly inside the same group, America.

So then how does one even decide whether flags unite or divide us more? Again, it’s not a simple answer.

And yet, flags are amongst the most ubiquitous parts of our everyday world.

They are everywhere. They are on our buildings. We use them to cover our dead. We write songs to flags. Put them on our airplanes, on our cars, as stickers on our computers, and wear them on our heads too.

All in, a flag’s true meaning seems to come from the myriad emotions it inspires.

Tom Franklin’s shot at the site of the Twin Towers post 9/11 of the three fire-fighters raising the American flag, captured a stirring mix of powerful emotions: sadness, courage, heroism, defiance, collective perseverance, and endeavour. It unified the country in horror and grief. Republicans and democrats alike.

Arguably, this image of raising the flag unified the world against a common enemy too.

In a positive sort of way, it got the world to celebrate our 'one humanity' over otherwise countless nationalities, or should I say, man-made divisions of which the humble flag is but its most visible symbol.

There’s this other strange symbolism of flags. The flags of Guatemala and Mozambique proudly display weapons of war! The flag of Cyprus flies the olive branch of peace. This is a topic too, but for another day.

Regardless, it is safe to say that flags yield tremendous power. They have come to be sacred items.

It is important to also note that we should never value the symbol over the thing it symbolises.

We should never value a piece of cloth over a human life.

If tomorrow there was a life-threatening meteor hurtling directly towards earth, I would bravely presume that as humans we will all unify under the same flag? One flag – the earth flag. Yes, there is one flag for our planet too, now. I bet you didn't know that! I didn't.

Coming to my own conclusions, albeit still quite rudimentary.

A flag represents an idea, or an ideal. It is neither a mere piece of decoration, nor an object to be honoured for itself. It is honoured for what it represents. Many flags are held in high esteem for their history; for the sacrifices made by the people; for the qualities for which the country and people stand.

Ultimately, a flag is a positive affirmation of loyalty and commitment.

Yet, I do wish to say that like in sports where flags singularly drive athletes to ever-improving performance, where winning is always a celebration of the human spirit and of what’s possible, of raising the bar, and where defeat often leads to a desire to train even better for a better result the next time,

if politics in all its murkiness could simply mimic what flags mean in sport!

That ... is beyond impossible.

Hence, at this time, I admit that my research is less than shallow on a topic that is deeper than the universe.

Suffice to conclude though with a 1999 story from The Japan Times editorial which argued that flags represent ‘Symbols to unite that divide'.