Flags and freedom: Are Democrats co-opting Republican themes?

As Democrats waved flags and championed freedom in Chicago this week, they looked a lot like, well, Republicans.
Not that one party has a monopoly on patriotism; the flag belongs to us all. But it was abundantly clear that Vice President Kamala Harris and her party are seeking the favor of Americans who have been historically aligned with the GOP but are disenchanted with Donald Trump. It was smart politics to dust off the GOP’s big tent and festoon it with red, white and blue streamers.
In fact, when the delegates at the United Center — its very name inviting Republicans to the party — began chanting “USA! USA! USA!” on Thursday night, you could close your eyes and imagine you were listening to a Trump rally. All that was missing were the MAGA hats and Lee Greenwood.
American flags are part of almost every political event, but even The Washington Post noted that the DNC’s emphasis on patriotism this week seemed pronounced, a calculated play to regain valuable territory lost to Trump, known for hugging and kissing the flag. The Post interviewed two delegates from Washington state who were wearing red, white and blue sashes and cowboy hats. One, Ted Jones, said, “We’re taking back rural. We’re taking back country. They can’t claim it. Just ‘cause a truck goes by with an American flag, we’ve got to stop going: ‘There goes a Trumper.’”
And that is definitely happening. In a column in The Washington Post, Rick Reilly described what it’s like to ride his bike with a 2×3-foot American flag attached to it — one person yelled “Yeah! Go Trump!” when they passed, another said something about the former president that was much less positive.
The flag was a natural symbol to accompany the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” and presidents other than Trump have worn a flag lapel pin. (Richard Nixon started the custom.) But the media has repeatedly characterized Trump’s association with the flag as appropriation, or even something more sinister — “Trump weaponized the American flag” (Fast Company), “The changing meaning of the American flag under Trump” (The New Yorker) and “Since when does Donald Trump own the American flag?” (The Washington Post).
And while it’s true that the flag does not belong to either political party, people on the left who have burned and ripped down the American flag at various anti-war protests — including those in Chicago this week — have contributed to the thinking that the flag is most beloved on the right. So have polls, which show that more Republicans than Democrats express pride in being an American and have a favorable opinion of the American flag.
And for some conservatives, it’s hard to forget that Michelle Obama once controversially said that “for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country” and that Barack Obama made headlines in 2007 when he stopped wearing a flag lapel pin. Neither Obama nor Bill Clinton wore lapel pins at their speeches this week; in contrast, Trump wore one every night at the RNC in Milwaukee.
It wasn’t just the abundance of flags that had people talking, but also the Democrats’ overarching theme of “freedom,” which Matt Welch wrote for Reason was risible given that Democrats were more likely than Republicans to support lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in particular, has been under renewed scrutiny for his COVID-19 policies since Harris selected him as her running mate. Video is circulating on social media and conservative talk shows of angry Minneapolis officers shooting paintballs at people sitting on their porch in violation of a curfew put into place after the murder of George Floyd, causing many conservatives online to scoff at the Democrats’ celebration of freedom.
This is not the first time that Republicans and Democrats have sparred over elements of patriotism at their conventions. In 2020, the Pledge of Allegiance became a point of controversy during the DNC because of misleading reports on social media that said Democrats dropped the words “under God” from the pledge during the convention.
According to fact-checkers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the Pledge was recited in full each night of the convention, although there were at least three times during daytime caucus meetings that the words “under God” were omitted. Social media posts by Donald Trump and others unfairly equated the actions of a radical few with all Democrats.
And people are ready to believe such things when they are frequently told “The Democrat Party Hates America,” the title of a book by Mark Levin and a claim I hear often on conservative talk shows.
That said, polling confirms that Republicans are, in fact, more proud of America than Democrats. According to a HarrisX poll conducted for the Deseret News earlier this year, 78% of Republicans said they were “very proud” of their country, compared to 64% of Democrats and 56% of independents.
And of course people who are proud of America are more likely to fly the flag, regardless of their political affiliation. As such, Republicans should appreciate the show of patriotism at the DNC, and Democrats who think Trump appropriated the flag have all the more reason to fly it.