Ceremonies honoring next Fourth of July’s Semiquincentennial are already gearing up. In early December, a traveling Stars and Stripes banner — the U.S. “Flag Sojourn 250” — was raised over Mississippi, having already covered 40,000 miles of its ongoing international tour of cemeteries, landmarks, governor’s mansions and courthouses. “For nearly 250 years,” Mississippi’s First Lady Elee Reeves announced, “the American flag has been a source of comfort in times of grief, unity in times of uncertainty, and pride during moments of great national joy.”
Wronger things have been uttered with less self-awareness. In fact, the American flag was not taken all that seriously as a national symbol until 1814. Congress didn’t even bother settling on its modern template until four years later. Until then, all kinds of designs were patched together from silk, linen, wool or “anything at hand.” During and after the Civil War, of course, the ensign was as much a symbol of tyranny to many Southerners as it was a source of unity. Sympathizers from Mississippi to Kentucky burned the flag, tore it down, ripped it and spit on it.
