In the aftermath of the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, certain individuals from the world of sports, after serious reflection, decided not to stand for the playing of the national anthem. They did not like the “direction” in which the country was moving. 

Something had to be done. And not respecting the flag, a gesture that started with Colin Kaepernick, a former football player with the San Francisco 49ers, was, in their estimation, the best thing they could do to protest the violence that was occurring in their country.

Grieving over the murder of 19 children and two teachers, together with the conviction that something must be done about it, is, indeed, commendable. Also to one’s credit is the recognition that a crime against even one person is also a crime against humanity. 

Nonetheless, disparaging the flag is a grave mistake. At a time of national mourning after a jarring incident, it is easy to lose perspective. One fundamental but often-overlooked distinction can lead us to a proper perspective that honors both the dead as well as the flag. It is this: What the flag signifies is altogether distinguishable from what transpires in culture. Culture is one thing; what the flag represents is quite another.

President Ronald Reagan stated the matter beautifully in 1986, when he commented, “The colors of the flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish: red for courage and readiness to sacrifice; white for pure intentions and high ideals; and blue for vigilance and justice.”

History chronicles many memorable moments when the flag clearly symbolized the pride it stirred in the American people. Consider the flag that Francis Scott Key saw “by the dawn’s early light” and set to poetry; the flag that was hoisted on the island of Iwo Jima; the flag that draped the coffin of President John F. Kennedy; the flag implanted on the moon; and the myriad of flags that Americans proudly display on Memorial Day. Our national affection for the flag is manifested in its various nicknames: “Old Glory,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “The Red, White and Blue,” and “The Stars and Stripes.” 

At one time, elementary students would place their right hand over the heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance: 

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.” 

The flag is a symbol. It is not a chronicle. It represents an aim but not a realization. It is an ideal established by the Founding Fathers and codified in the Constitution. 

We all experience in our individual lives the gap between what we hope to achieve and what we achieve. But our hope encourages us to close the gap and to realize as much as we can. Our “reach,” as Robert Browning stated, should “exceed our grasp.” 

Culture is always lagging behind the aspirations that the flag signifies. But if we remove or disrespect the flag, we lose the incentive to improve. If we miss the target, we should not remove the target but continue practicing. Without a target, there is nothing to aim at. Without a goal, we have nothing to live for.  

To disregard what the flag represents is to invite chaos. The reason that every country has a flag is because every country has an ideal to which its citizens aspire. Take away aspiration, and the people have no reason to get up in the morning.

Pope John Paul II’s 1979 papal visit to Washington, D.C., concluded with a Mass on the National Mall for 200,000 attendants. He ended his pilgrimage to the United States where Thomas Jefferson began the Declaration of Independence with the inalienable right to life. 

“Nothing,” John Paul insisted, “surpasses the greatness or dignity of the human person,” and, therefore, the Church “will stand up every time that human life is threatened”: by abortion, by child abuse, by economic injustice, by any form of exploitation, by the abandonment of the sick, the elderly and the inconvenient. He added that, in so doing, the Catholic Church was serving the noblest values in the American tradition.

In writing and speaking about the culture of death, it never crossed the mind of the Holy Father to criticize the American flag or the flag of any nation. He understood that the flag represents the irremovable aspirations of a country and not how certain people in that country behave. Nonetheless, the expression “culture of death” very much applies to the United States. 

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1,095,000 unborn babies are aborted per year, 22% of all pregnancies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 92,000 persons died from drug-involved overdose in 2020. The same organization reported 48,000 suicides in 2018. 

According to the FBI, 16,214 murders and non-negligent homicides occurred in 2018. The Washington Post records 163 mass shootings (where at least four people are killed) in the United States from 1967 to June 2019 (This link was updated in 2021 to update the record to 189 mass shootings.) The United States has had more mass shootings than any other country.

Dishonoring the flag would naturally lead to more violence since the flag represents the inalienable value of each American citizen. 

What must be done is to honor everything that the flag signifies and is codified in the Declaration of Independence and in the U.S. Constitution. America needs the wisdom of a saint. The message of the culture of life that St. John Paul II has brought to America needs to be reconsidered and taken seriously.