American Independence Archives

New Colors for a New Nation: A Patriotic Display

Washington's PATRIOTIC crossing of the Deleware — *Washington Crossing the Delaware* by Emanuel Leutze, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC via Wikimedia Commons

[GUEST AUTHOR: Rachel Rodewald contributed this patriotic post as a special installment of Writing for the Public Square. Rachel holds a Master’s Degree in History from George Mason University.]

Flags and banners remain a tangible expression of the patriotism our Founding Fathers inspired generations ago.

Imagine you are a soldier in the Continental Army and you’ve just scored a victory on the battlefield. You want to rally with your peers to celebrate your success, but the confusion of the moment—the literal fog of war—has you turned around and lost. Then, in the distance, you spot it. Your regimental flag with its distinctive colors and symbols waves in the smoke-filled air—a patriotic beacon of hope and brotherhood.

Thankfully, today we associate our flags more with celebration and patriotism and less with the stress and anxiety of war. The American flag and some state and local flags are now ubiquitous and inspiring. They fly in public settings like post offices and banks, baseball games and parades, political rallies and memorial services. We even wear them on patriotic shirts and hats.

We display and maintain our flags with specific, respectful criteria. A familiarity with foreign flags even helps us better understand international sporting events and helps us connect current events to impressions we might have about those countries.

So why were flags and banners so important to an early American nation? And how did they become such a powerful part of the American story?

Revolutionary Summer: Lessons for America’s Semiquincentennial

In celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, Countdown America 250 has created a curated reading list on the American revolution and the story of America’s founding. Each month, we consider one of the books on this list to better understand our own history, rediscover our foundational values, and gaze with hope into our future. Click here for a complete reading list.

Countdown America 250 and the journey to America’s semiquincentennial begins with the explosive summer of 1776. In his book Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, Joseph J. Ellis zooms in on a critical stretch of time that shifted history and shaped a nation.

Unlike many sweeping Revolutionary War histories, the narrow scope of Revolutionary Summer creates a focused and tension-filled narrative. Ellis invites readers to step into a compressed time frame in which political and military leaders alike were “improvising on the edge of catastrophe.” They did not have the advantage history affords us. We know the outcome; they did not.

As Ellis tells the story, the summer of 1776 was the “crescendo moment in American history.” More than dry chronology, Revolutionary Summer explores a dual timeline rife with intensity and human emotion. Ellis unpacks the political maneuvering in Philadelphia alongside the harsh military realities unfolding in New York. Themes of fragile unity, political and military uncertainty, and character under pressure dominate the narrative.

Though written in 2013, Revolutionary Summer is a relevant read in the lead-up to America’s semiquincentennial. Ellis’ analysis invites comparison between the challenges encountered by America’s founders and the seemingly constant conflict of our current moment.

Following are a few highlights from Revolutionary Summer along with questions for further reflection.

America’s Money Problem

America’s money problems didn’t start with today’s $36 trillion national debt (though that’s a whopper of a problem). In fact, if George Washington were telling the story, he might say that money woes nearly cost America her independence from the start.

For eight long years, despite repeated pleas to Congress, Washington was forced to bootstrap a half-starved, rag-tag, and disease-ridden Continental Army. As Joseph J. Ellis writes in Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, “The Continental Army was kept on life support but was never provided the money and men Washington requested, even though the resources for a larger and better-equipped army were readily available.”

In part, the brick wall Washington repeatedly ran into centered on a reluctance among delegates to embrace the idea of a central army. A powerful military was one of their chief grievances against the British Crown after all.

America’s Countdown to 250!

It’s true. America’s countdown to 250 has begun. With the arrival of July 4th festivities this week, America steps into an important year of celebration and reflection. In 12 short months, we will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of our bold, beautiful, and often boisterous nation.

In the current climate, the lead-up to our semiquincentennial feels equal parts momentous and fractious. How do we prepare ourselves for this historic milestone? A short answer…crack open a book!