9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In 1989,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
an artist by the name of Dread Scott,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who has also graced the TED stage,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
created a piece of art in Chicago

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where he simply placed[br]an American flag on the ground

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and then invited you the viewer[br]to go and stand on that flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and record how it felt in a journal.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And to me, one of the most powerful things[br]written in that journal in essence says,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
why are we so OK

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with homeless people,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with human beings laying on the ground,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but not flags?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And to some of you,[br]this piece of art is quite disturbing,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that's kind of the point of this talk,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not to upset you or to make you mad

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but to prove to you that flags[br]have an incredible power,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that even if you think[br]you don't care about flags, you do.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You know you do.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All right.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
By the end of it,[br]I hope that you're inspired

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to go out and harness this power of flags[br]and fight for a better world,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but before we get there,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we're going to start[br]on the opposite end of the spectrum,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and before I show you the next stuff,[br]I need to say that anything I show here

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is not an endorsement,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it's usually quite the opposite,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but more than anything,[br]what I want to do is create a space here

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where we can look[br]at these flags, these designs,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and examine how they make us feel.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We're going to talk about our emotions.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Is that OK with everybody?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
OK.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You ready for your first flag?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Cool, we'll start with an easy one.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That was a joke.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, some of you may be a little bit uneasy[br]sitting in a room with this.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm certainly feeling uneasy[br]standing in front of it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Some of you may be feeling[br]a little bit of pride.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's understandable. This is Texas.[br]This is not a rare sight, is it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But let's start with the facts.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So this is not the Confederate flag. OK?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is the battle flag[br]of the Army of Northern Virginia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
led by General Robert E. Lee,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so next time someone tells you[br]that this is their heritage,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
unless their family fought[br]for that very specific militia,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they're wrong. All right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And you have a flag expert's[br]permission to tell them so.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This flag rose into prominence[br]during the mid-1950s and '60s

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as a response to the growing[br]Civil Rights Movement.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And then, of course, today

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it has come to represent[br]the Confederacy to most of us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But I shouldn't have to remind you[br]what the Confederacy is.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was a rogue nation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that rose up against the United States,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
waged war on the US,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and at one point in time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
this was one of the most[br]un-American things you could have.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But yet, this flag is protected

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by the same laws that protect[br]the United States flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the states of Florida, Georgia,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But let's pick on Georgia[br]for a second, shall we?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So in 1956,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a few years after desegregation[br]was mandated in public schools,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Georgia changed their state flag to this.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I think everyone watching can agree

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that this was not meant to be a flag[br]that every Georgian was proud to fly

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
outside of their home, was it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Just like all of the Confederate statues[br]erected in the mid-1950s and '60s,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
this was meant to be a symbol[br]of who was in charge

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and who was not.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This remained the flag of Georgia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
until the year 2001,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and in that year they changed their flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to this.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, as a flag expert, I can tell you[br]this is officially ugly.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
OK? It's OK to laugh at this flag.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's ugly, and because it's so ugly,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that's one of the reasons[br]they changed it just two years later.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They had a referendum

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where they got to choose[br]between that thing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and then what is now[br]the current flag of Georgia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now some of you might be wondering,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
wait a second, Michael,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if that before wasn't[br]the Confederate flag,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what was the Confederate flag?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Georgia flies the first flag[br]of the Confederate States of America

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to this day.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They just slapped their state seal on it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well let's go back[br]to our emotions for a second.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That didn't punch you in the gut[br]as much as the other one did, did it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's why I love flags.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They are the simplest pieces of design,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
usually just two or three colors,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
just some bars or stripes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but yet they can invoke[br]the deepest emotions within us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They'll make us swell with pride[br]or burn with hatred.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We will die for a flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or even kill for one.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
One of my favorite designers,[br]his name is Wally Olins,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they call him the father[br]of nation branding,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and he's quotes as saying

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that everyone wants to belong,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and then they want to display[br]symbols of belonging.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And it's crazy that these pieces of cloth[br]that are just sewn together or dyed

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
come to be such a sacred item,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and that's because they become[br]parts of our identity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They are powerful tools to unify

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but equally powerful tools to divide.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You ready for the next flag?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Right.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Take a moment.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Really examine how you felt[br]when this hit the screen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm going to change[br]the slide pretty quickly

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so you don't take pictures of me[br]in front of this one.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
All right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So Germany after World War I,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it was in a pretty bad state,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and a young Adolf Hitler had a lot of,[br]let's call them ideas,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of how Germany got to where they'd gotten

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and how to get them out.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He spent entire chapters[br]in his book "Mein Kampf,"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
which I don't recommend reading,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about how Germany lost World War I

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
partially because the British[br]had better graphic design

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and better propaganda.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, as the Nazi Party rose,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Hitler created one of the thickest[br]brand guides I've ever seen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's thicker than most[br]company brand guides today,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and in it he details titles and uniforms

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and lots and lots of flags.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Hitler knew the power of flags.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He says in "Mein Kampf,"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"The new flag... should prove[br]effective as a large poster,"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because "in hundreds of thousands of cases

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a really striking emblem

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
may be the first cause[br]of awakening interest in a movement."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He was an artist, after all.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He knew the power[br]of visual identity and uniforms

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
could reignite the German identity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And to millions of Germans[br]this was a welcome sign.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But of course this was[br]a mark of death to others.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We don't often think of flags as weapons,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but like the Confederate battle flag,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the Germans used their flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to make an outgroup feel unwelcome

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and less than.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You see, when you create a flag,[br]you immediately do two things.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You create an ingroup,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a group that's meant[br]to be represented by the symbol,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but then inevitably[br]you create an outgroup.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And usually that's subtle.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a byproduct.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's usually not the intent.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But the Germans were very clear[br]as to who was represented by the swastika

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and who was not.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In 1935, Jewish people were banned[br]from flying German flags.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And in this way,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the Germans, maybe more than[br]any other time in history,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
used the dual power of flags

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to unite but also to divide.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Flags were used as identity weapons.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And now, in 2019, the Nazi flag[br]is banned from being flown

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by anyone in Germany,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and anyone in Austria, in Hungary,[br]in Russia and in Ukraine.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Think about that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a piece of cloth, but it's banned.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
On its face, that sounds crazy,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I don't think anyone[br]in this room would disagree

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that it's probably good.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Sounds a lot like a weapon.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As a vexillologist,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
sometimes the most interesting[br]thing about a flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is not so much its design,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but it's those laws around the flag.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For instance,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in India, to create an Indian flag,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you must use a hand-spun[br]cloth named Khadi.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you make a flag out of anything else,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you could go to jail[br]for up to three years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's crazy.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Here in Texas,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we've all heard

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that the Texas flag is the only state flag[br]that can fly at the same height

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as the US, flag, right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because we were a nation[br]before we were a state.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Who here has heard that?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yeah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well, I'm here to tell you[br]that is completely false. OK?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
First of all, we were not the only state[br]that was a nation before joining up,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and secondly, all state flags can fly[br]at the same height as the US flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
according to the US flag code.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I don't have to ask you[br]how you feel about this one, right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Most of us grew up pledging allegiance[br]to this every morning,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
knowing we should never[br]let it touch the ground, etc.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We take our flag code very seriously[br]here in the United States.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You remember, recently some NFL players[br]kneeling during the national anthem.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was a big controversy.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They were breaking the flag code.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It states during the national anthem,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
stand at attention,[br]hand at the heart, etc.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But what was fascinating to me[br]as a vexillologist is that I didn't see

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
anyone getting upset

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
when something like this happens.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The flag code says the flag should never[br]be carried flat or horizontally,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but always aloft and free.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So sometimes during[br]the exact same national anthem,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
this was being done and no one's upset.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Or this. This happens all the time.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The flag code is clear.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
No part of the flag should ever be used[br]as a costume or on an athletic uniform.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is Texas A&M baseball,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not to get them in trouble,[br]but this happens all the time,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
especially in November.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm sure, I can almost guarantee[br]when you leave here tonight,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you will see on the back[br]of someone's car or truck

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a black and white American flag[br]with a blue stripe,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a thin blue line, right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Blue Lives Matter.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That breaks the flag code[br]in multiple ways,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but all of these things are done[br]with the best intent.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
No one's here to argue that.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But of course they break[br]a section of the flag code

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
titled "Respect for the Flag,"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so by putting this on your uniform,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you are legally disrespecting the flag.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And what I find interesting

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is that those NFL players[br]kneeling during the anthem

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the people who would put[br]Blue Lives Matters stickers on their car

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
are both on the opposite end[br]of a very big issue,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but they're both breaking[br]the exact same law,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a law that is 100 percent unenforceable.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In fact, it was Dread Scott's[br]piece of art in 1989

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that led the Supreme Court to rule[br]that the flag code is just a guideline.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You cannot be prosecuted[br]for breaking the flag code.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You cannot be forced to be patriotic.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So why, then, have all of these[br]little laws around how we use our flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if you can't enforce them?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's because a nation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a fragile collective idea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It only exists in our minds.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
See this? Thank you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Sometimes a flag is the only[br]tangible symbol of that idea.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Right? Our unity is sometimes[br]only held together by literal threads.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's powerful.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The flag code is meant to preserve[br]and protect that fragile idea,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
while also protecting[br]your right to break it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's what's special[br]about the United States, right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that's what's unique about our flag.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Our flag is amazing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It has changed more than[br]any other flag in the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's the flag code that says[br]when a new state is created,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a star shall be added[br]to the union of the flag,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and such addition shall take place[br]on the fourth day of July.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Our flag is unique because[br]it is meant to grow as we grow.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
By design and by law,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it is meant to change with us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a living symbol of our individuality,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
our diversity in the stars,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and our unity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have a gift in the United States[br]to have a flag that is inclusive.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If the Nazi flag was an identity weapon,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the United States flag, by design alone,[br]stands in direct contrast.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I have to say,[br]as a vexillologist in 2019,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
using this flag

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as an identity weapon against anyone

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disrespects it far more[br]than letting it touch the ground

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or any one of the other little laws[br]that we break every day.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Right?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This flag is a symbol of our union.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We should never use this as a weapon[br]against someone else.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I resonate so deeply with the person[br]who wrote in Dread Scott's journal,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"We should never value the symbol[br]over the thing that it symbolizes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We should never value a piece of cloth[br]over a human life."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And if you're ever going to use[br]a piece of cloth as a weapon,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you should never use this one,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not when it has always[br]had room for more stars.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Hopefully by now, you've felt[br]the power of flags

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and you can see what they can do.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So what if we harnessed that power

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we used it to fight[br]for something greater?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is the flag of Earth,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
designed by Oskar Pernefeldt of Sweden.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Just imagine with me for a second,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what if we celebrated our humanity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as much if not more

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
than we celebrate our nationalities?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As we become a spacefaring civilization[br]and we go off into the stars,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what do our nations mean anyway[br]when you're standing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on the surface of Mars[br]or any other planet?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And then of course, back here on Earth,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as our planet is facing a climate crisis,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as our climate could be unlivable in[br]our children or grandchildren's lifetime,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I believe we need a strong symbol, a flag,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to unite us to fight,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not just as nations,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but as a species.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Thank you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause)