0:00:01.063,0:00:02.841
In 1989,

0:00:02.865,0:00:05.095
an artist by the name of Dread Scott,

0:00:05.119,0:00:08.030
who has also graced the TED stage,

0:00:08.054,0:00:10.453
created a piece of art in Chicago,

0:00:10.477,0:00:14.109
where he simply placed[br]an American flag on the ground

0:00:14.133,0:00:18.498
and then invited you the viewer[br]to go and stand on that flag

0:00:18.522,0:00:21.227
and record how it felt in a journal.

0:00:22.232,0:00:26.756
And to me, one of the most powerful things[br]written in that journal, in essence, says,

0:00:26.780,0:00:28.967
"Why are we so OK

0:00:28.991,0:00:30.600
with homeless people,

0:00:30.624,0:00:33.377
with human beings laying on the ground,

0:00:33.401,0:00:35.241
but not flags?"

0:00:36.994,0:00:40.119
And to some of you,[br]this piece of art is quite disturbing.

0:00:40.844,0:00:43.322
And that's kind of the point[br]of this talk --

0:00:43.346,0:00:46.107
not to upset you or to make you mad

0:00:46.131,0:00:51.255
but to prove to you that flags[br]have an incredible power,

0:00:51.279,0:00:54.237
and that even if you think[br]you don't care about flags, you do.

0:00:54.261,0:00:55.555
You know you do.

0:00:56.111,0:00:57.262
Alright.

0:00:57.286,0:00:59.588
By the end of it,[br]I hope that you're inspired

0:00:59.612,0:01:03.090
to go out and harness this power of flags[br]and fight for a better world.

0:01:03.114,0:01:04.954
But before we get there,

0:01:04.978,0:01:07.688
we're going to start[br]on the opposite end of the spectrum.

0:01:08.254,0:01:12.153
And before I show you the next stuff,[br]I need to say that anything I show here

0:01:12.177,0:01:13.780
is not an endorsement,

0:01:13.804,0:01:15.734
it's usually quite the opposite.

0:01:15.758,0:01:19.735
But more than anything,[br]what I want to do is create a space here

0:01:19.759,0:01:22.850
where we can look[br]at these flags, these designs,

0:01:22.874,0:01:25.500
and examine how they make us feel.

0:01:26.004,0:01:27.915
We're going to talk about our emotions.

0:01:27.939,0:01:29.567
Is that OK with everybody?

0:01:29.591,0:01:30.896
OK.

0:01:30.920,0:01:32.650
Are you ready for your first flag?

0:01:34.698,0:01:36.476
Cool, we'll start with an easy one.

0:01:36.910,0:01:39.358
That was a joke. (Laughs)

0:01:39.382,0:01:44.121
So, some of you may be a little bit uneasy[br]sitting in a room with this.

0:01:44.145,0:01:46.817
I'm certainly feeling uneasy[br]standing in front of it.

0:01:47.495,0:01:50.303
Some of you may be feeling[br]a little bit of pride.

0:01:50.677,0:01:55.006
And that's understandable. This is Texas.[br]This is not a rare sight, is it?

0:01:55.832,0:01:57.395
But let's start with the facts.

0:01:57.735,0:02:01.441
So this is not the Confederate flag. OK?

0:02:01.465,0:02:04.661
This is the battle flag[br]of the Army of Northern Virginia

0:02:04.685,0:02:06.665
led by General Robert E. Lee.

0:02:07.244,0:02:10.263
So next time someone tells you[br]that this is their heritage,

0:02:10.287,0:02:13.247
unless their family fought[br]for that very specific militia,

0:02:13.271,0:02:14.522
they're wrong, alright?

0:02:14.546,0:02:17.414
And you have a flag expert's[br]permission to tell them so.

0:02:18.360,0:02:22.937
This flag rose into prominence[br]during the mid-1950s and '60s

0:02:22.961,0:02:25.758
as a response to the growing[br]Civil Rights Movement.

0:02:26.266,0:02:27.926
And then of course today,

0:02:27.950,0:02:32.222
it has come to represent[br]the Confederacy to most of us.

0:02:33.841,0:02:36.674
But I shouldn't have to remind you[br]what the Confederacy is.

0:02:36.698,0:02:38.150
It was a rogue nation

0:02:38.174,0:02:40.961
that rose up against the United States,

0:02:40.985,0:02:43.045
waged war on the US,

0:02:43.069,0:02:44.293
and at one point in time,

0:02:44.317,0:02:47.687
this was one of the most[br]un-American things you could have.

0:02:48.248,0:02:51.318
But yet, this flag is protected

0:02:51.342,0:02:54.918
by the same laws that protect[br]the United States flag

0:02:54.942,0:02:56.996
in the states of Florida, Georgia,

0:02:57.020,0:03:00.495
South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana.

0:03:01.573,0:03:04.130
But let's pick on Georgia[br]for a second, shall we?

0:03:04.831,0:03:06.474
So in 1956,

0:03:06.498,0:03:10.211
a few years after desegregation[br]was mandated in public schools,

0:03:10.235,0:03:12.620
Georgia changed their state flag to this.

0:03:14.636,0:03:17.537
I think everyone watching can agree

0:03:17.561,0:03:21.425
that this was not meant to be a flag[br]that every Georgian was proud to fly

0:03:21.449,0:03:23.000
outside of their home, was it?

0:03:23.643,0:03:24.991
No.

0:03:25.015,0:03:29.620
Just like all of the Confederate statues[br]erected in the mid-1950s and '60s,

0:03:29.644,0:03:33.278
this was meant to be a symbol[br]of who was in charge

0:03:33.302,0:03:34.792
and who was not.

0:03:35.916,0:03:37.649
This remained the flag of Georgia

0:03:37.673,0:03:39.892
until the year 2001,

0:03:40.870,0:03:43.294
and in that year, they changed their flag

0:03:43.318,0:03:44.476
to this.

0:03:45.051,0:03:49.011
Now, as a flag expert, I can tell you:[br]this is officially ugly.

0:03:49.416,0:03:51.226
OK? It's OK to laugh at this flag.

0:03:51.250,0:03:53.945
It's ugly, and because it's so ugly,

0:03:53.969,0:03:56.936
that's one of the reasons[br]they changed it just two years later.

0:03:56.960,0:03:58.120
They had a referendum

0:03:58.144,0:04:00.299
where they got to choose[br]between that thing

0:04:00.323,0:04:03.128
and then what is now[br]the current flag of Georgia.

0:04:04.194,0:04:05.886
Now some of you might be wondering,

0:04:05.910,0:04:07.199
"Wait a second, Michael --

0:04:07.223,0:04:09.740
if that before wasn't[br]the Confederate flag,

0:04:09.764,0:04:12.134
what was the Confederate flag?

0:04:14.174,0:04:18.482
Georgia flies the first flag[br]of the Confederate States of America

0:04:18.506,0:04:19.731
to this day.

0:04:20.094,0:04:22.484
They just slapped their state seal on it.

0:04:23.345,0:04:25.663
Well, let's go back[br]to our emotions for a second.

0:04:25.687,0:04:29.726
That didn't punch you in the gut[br]as much as the other one did, did it?

0:04:30.351,0:04:31.505
Right?

0:04:31.529,0:04:33.813
And that's why I love flags.

0:04:34.180,0:04:37.026
They are the simplest pieces of design,

0:04:37.050,0:04:39.528
usually just two or three colors,

0:04:39.552,0:04:41.726
just some bars or stripes.

0:04:41.750,0:04:45.720
But yet, they can invoke[br]the deepest emotions within us.

0:04:45.744,0:04:48.543
They'll make us swell with pride

0:04:48.567,0:04:50.250
or burn with hatred.

0:04:51.055,0:04:53.050
We will die for a flag

0:04:53.617,0:04:55.334
or even kill for one.

0:04:56.873,0:04:59.901
One of my favorite designers,[br]his name is Wally Olins,

0:04:59.925,0:05:02.689
they call him the father[br]of nation branding,

0:05:02.713,0:05:04.402
and he's quoted as saying

0:05:04.426,0:05:07.299
that "Everyone wants to belong,

0:05:07.323,0:05:10.420
and then they want to display[br]symbols of belonging."

0:05:11.403,0:05:15.867
And it's crazy that these pieces of cloth[br]that are just sewn together or dyed

0:05:15.891,0:05:18.916
come to be such a sacred item,

0:05:18.940,0:05:21.857
and that's because they become[br]parts of our identity.

0:05:22.501,0:05:25.230
They are powerful tools to unify

0:05:26.047,0:05:28.779
but equally powerful tools to divide.

0:05:30.056,0:05:31.487
You ready for the next flag?

0:05:33.590,0:05:34.769
Right.

0:05:34.793,0:05:36.196
Take a moment.

0:05:36.220,0:05:39.433
Really examine how you felt[br]when this hit the screen.

0:05:40.488,0:05:42.569
I'm going to change[br]the slide pretty quickly

0:05:42.593,0:05:45.151
so you don't take pictures of me[br]in front of this one.

0:05:45.175,0:05:46.176
(Laughter)

0:05:46.200,0:05:47.351
Alright?

0:05:47.375,0:05:50.293
So Germany after World War I,

0:05:50.317,0:05:52.323
it was in a pretty bad state,

0:05:52.347,0:05:57.171
and a young Adolf Hitler had a lot of --[br]let's call them -- "ideas,"

0:05:57.195,0:06:00.006
of how Germany got to where they'd gotten

0:06:00.030,0:06:01.415
and how to get them out.

0:06:01.861,0:06:04.999
He spent entire chapters[br]in his book "Mein Kampf,"

0:06:05.023,0:06:06.722
which I don't recommend reading,

0:06:06.746,0:06:08.796
about how Germany lost World War I

0:06:08.820,0:06:12.780
partially because the British[br]had better graphic design

0:06:12.804,0:06:14.365
and better propaganda.

0:06:15.318,0:06:17.702
So, as the Nazi Party rose,

0:06:17.726,0:06:21.735
Hitler created one of the thickest[br]brand guides I've ever seen.

0:06:21.759,0:06:24.159
It's thicker than most[br]company brand guides today,

0:06:24.183,0:06:27.572
and in it, he details titles and uniforms

0:06:27.596,0:06:29.853
and lots and lots of flags.

0:06:30.716,0:06:32.316
Hitler knew the power of flags.

0:06:32.340,0:06:34.328
He says in "Mein Kampf,"

0:06:34.352,0:06:37.169
"The new flag ... should prove[br]effective as a large poster,

0:06:37.193,0:06:39.590
[because] in hundreds[br]of thousands of cases

0:06:39.614,0:06:42.437
a really striking emblem[br]may be the first cause

0:06:42.461,0:06:45.195
of awakening interest[br]in a movement."

0:06:46.039,0:06:48.038
He was an artist, after all.

0:06:48.062,0:06:52.148
He knew the power[br]of visual identity and uniforms

0:06:52.172,0:06:54.885
could reignite the German identity.

0:06:54.909,0:06:58.814
And to millions of Germans,[br]this was a welcome sign.

0:06:59.850,0:07:03.720
But of course, this was also[br]a mark of death to others.

0:07:04.897,0:07:08.293
We don't often think of flags as weapons,

0:07:09.233,0:07:11.169
but like the Confederate battle flag,

0:07:11.193,0:07:13.205
the Germans used their flag

0:07:13.229,0:07:16.895
to make an out-group feel unwelcome

0:07:16.919,0:07:18.195
and less than.

0:07:19.151,0:07:22.185
You see, when you create a flag,[br]you immediately do two things:

0:07:22.209,0:07:23.662
you create an in-group,

0:07:23.686,0:07:26.164
a group that's meant[br]to be represented by the symbol,

0:07:26.188,0:07:28.350
but then, inevitably,[br]you create an out-group.

0:07:28.374,0:07:30.124
And usually, that's subtle.

0:07:30.148,0:07:31.348
It's a byproduct.

0:07:31.372,0:07:33.149
It's usually not the intent.

0:07:33.529,0:07:37.699
But the Germans were very clear[br]as to who was represented by the swastika

0:07:37.723,0:07:39.053
and who was not.

0:07:39.945,0:07:44.920
In 1935, Jewish people were banned[br]from flying German flags.

0:07:46.246,0:07:47.866
And in this way,

0:07:47.890,0:07:51.587
the Germans, maybe more than[br]any other time in history,

0:07:51.611,0:07:53.661
used the dual power of flags

0:07:53.685,0:07:57.328
to unite but also to divide.

0:07:57.759,0:08:00.207
Flags were used as identity weapons.

0:08:00.969,0:08:05.240
And now, in 2019, the Nazi flag[br]is banned from being flown

0:08:05.264,0:08:06.943
by anyone in Germany

0:08:06.967,0:08:10.279
and anyone in Austria, in Hungary,[br]in Russia and in Ukraine.

0:08:11.010,0:08:12.187
Think about that.

0:08:12.211,0:08:14.334
It's a piece of cloth, but it's banned.

0:08:15.031,0:08:16.925
On its face, that sounds crazy.

0:08:17.846,0:08:20.469
But I don't think anyone[br]in this room would disagree

0:08:20.493,0:08:21.922
that it's probably good.

0:08:22.796,0:08:24.480
Sounds a lot like a weapon.

0:08:26.383,0:08:27.839
As a vexillologist,

0:08:27.863,0:08:30.544
sometimes the most interesting[br]thing about a flag

0:08:30.568,0:08:32.329
is not so much its design,

0:08:33.184,0:08:35.955
but it's those laws around the flag.

0:08:36.453,0:08:37.953
For instance,

0:08:37.977,0:08:41.318
in India, to create an Indian flag,

0:08:41.342,0:08:44.771
you must use a hand-spun[br]cloth named "khadi."

0:08:45.312,0:08:47.554
If you make a flag out of anything else,

0:08:47.578,0:08:50.569
you could go to jail[br]for up to three years.

0:08:51.212,0:08:52.389
It's crazy.

0:08:52.413,0:08:54.254
Here in Texas,

0:08:54.278,0:08:56.255
we've all heard

0:08:56.279,0:08:59.807
that the Texas flag is the only state flag[br]that can fly at the same height

0:08:59.831,0:09:01.006
as the US, flag, right?

0:09:01.030,0:09:03.434
Because we were a nation[br]before we were a state.

0:09:03.458,0:09:04.709
Who here has heard that?

0:09:05.225,0:09:06.376
Yeah.

0:09:06.400,0:09:10.095
Well, I'm here to tell you[br]that is completely false. OK?

0:09:10.119,0:09:14.746
First of all, we were not the only state[br]that was a nation before joining up.

0:09:14.770,0:09:18.824
And secondly, all state flags can fly[br]at the same height as the US flag

0:09:18.848,0:09:21.015
according to the US flag code.

0:09:22.295,0:09:25.292
And I don't have to ask you[br]how you feel about this one, right?

0:09:25.316,0:09:28.452
Most of us grew up pledging allegiance[br]to this every morning,

0:09:28.476,0:09:31.649
knowing we should never[br]let it touch the ground, etc.

0:09:31.673,0:09:35.953
We take our flag code very seriously[br]here in the United States.

0:09:36.978,0:09:41.166
You remember, recently some NFL players[br]kneeling during the national anthem.

0:09:41.190,0:09:42.557
It was a big controversy.

0:09:42.986,0:09:44.899
They were breaking the flag code.

0:09:44.923,0:09:46.796
It states during the national anthem,

0:09:46.820,0:09:49.275
stand at attention,[br]hand at the heart, etc.

0:09:49.299,0:09:52.088
But what was fascinating to me[br]as a vexillologist

0:09:52.112,0:09:55.445
is that I didn't see[br]anyone getting upset

0:09:55.469,0:09:57.069
when something like this happens.

0:09:57.597,0:10:01.665
The flag code says, "The flag should never[br]be carried flat or horizontally,

0:10:01.689,0:10:03.643
but always aloft and free."

0:10:03.667,0:10:06.283
So sometimes during[br]the exact same national anthem,

0:10:06.307,0:10:08.201
this was being done,[br]and no one's upset.

0:10:09.071,0:10:11.399
Or this. This happens all the time.

0:10:11.423,0:10:12.588
The flag code is clear:

0:10:12.612,0:10:17.600
"No part of the flag should ever be used[br]as a costume or on an athletic uniform."

0:10:18.299,0:10:20.027
This is Texas A&M baseball,

0:10:20.051,0:10:22.976
not to get them in trouble,[br]but this happens all the time,

0:10:23.000,0:10:24.795
especially in November.

0:10:25.570,0:10:28.508
I'm sure, I can almost guarantee[br]when you leave here tonight,

0:10:28.532,0:10:30.911
you will see on the back[br]of someone's car or truck

0:10:30.935,0:10:33.353
a black and white American flag[br]with a blue stripe,

0:10:33.377,0:10:34.550
a thin blue line, right?

0:10:34.574,0:10:36.142
Blue Lives Matter.

0:10:37.065,0:10:39.289
That breaks the flag code[br]in multiple ways.

0:10:39.313,0:10:42.933
But all of these things are done[br]with the best intent.

0:10:42.957,0:10:44.696
No one's here to argue that.

0:10:45.352,0:10:47.805
But of course they break[br]a section of the flag code

0:10:47.829,0:10:50.011
titled "Respect for the Flag,"

0:10:50.035,0:10:51.759
so by putting this on your uniform,

0:10:51.783,0:10:55.580
you are legally disrespecting the flag.

0:10:56.973,0:10:58.335
And what I find interesting

0:10:58.359,0:11:00.844
is that those NFL players[br]kneeling during the anthem

0:11:00.868,0:11:04.142
and the people who would put[br]Blue Lives Matters stickers on their car

0:11:04.166,0:11:06.982
are both on the opposite end[br]of a very big issue,

0:11:07.777,0:11:10.692
but they're both breaking[br]the exact same law,

0:11:11.707,0:11:15.962
a law that is 100 percent unenforceable.

0:11:17.519,0:11:21.639
In fact, it was Dread Scott's[br]piece of art in 1989

0:11:21.663,0:11:25.681
that led the Supreme Court to rule[br]that the flag code is just a guideline.

0:11:25.705,0:11:28.194
You cannot be prosecuted[br]for breaking the flag code.

0:11:28.218,0:11:30.680
You cannot be forced to be patriotic.

0:11:32.091,0:11:37.016
So why, then, have all of these[br]little laws around how we use our flag

0:11:37.040,0:11:38.724
if you can't enforce them?

0:11:39.966,0:11:43.012
And that's because a nation

0:11:43.036,0:11:45.166
is a fragile collective idea.

0:11:45.190,0:11:47.880
It only exists in our minds.

0:11:48.798,0:11:50.401
Can I see this? Thank you.

0:11:51.945,0:11:57.741
Sometimes a flag is the only[br]tangible symbol of that idea.

0:11:58.393,0:12:03.628
Right? Our unity is sometimes[br]only held together by literal threads.

0:12:04.648,0:12:05.973
And that's powerful.

0:12:06.591,0:12:10.912
The flag code is meant to preserve[br]and protect that fragile idea,

0:12:10.936,0:12:14.056
while also protecting[br]your right to break it.

0:12:14.960,0:12:18.002
And that's what's special[br]about the United States, right?

0:12:18.026,0:12:19.970
And that's what's unique about our flag.

0:12:19.994,0:12:21.702
Our flag is amazing.

0:12:21.726,0:12:25.253
It has changed more than[br]any other flag in the world.

0:12:25.277,0:12:28.770
It's the flag code that says[br]when a new state is created,

0:12:28.794,0:12:31.042
a star shall be added[br]to the union of the flag,

0:12:31.066,0:12:35.280
and such addition shall take place[br]on the fourth day of July.

0:12:36.216,0:12:40.710
Our flag is unique because[br]it is meant to grow as we grow.

0:12:41.218,0:12:43.126
By design and by law,

0:12:43.150,0:12:45.508
it is meant to change with us.

0:12:45.532,0:12:48.410
It's a living symbol of our individuality,

0:12:48.434,0:12:50.879
our diversity in the stars

0:12:50.903,0:12:52.219
and our unity.

0:12:52.916,0:12:58.142
We have a gift in the United States[br]to have a flag that is inclusive.

0:12:58.166,0:13:00.996
If the Nazi flag was an identity weapon,

0:13:01.020,0:13:06.350
the United States flag, by design alone,[br]stands in direct contrast.

0:13:07.053,0:13:10.514
And I have to say,[br]as a vexillologist in 2019,

0:13:10.538,0:13:12.102
using this flag

0:13:12.126,0:13:15.099
as an identity weapon against anyone

0:13:15.123,0:13:18.477
disrespects it far more[br]than letting it touch the ground

0:13:18.501,0:13:21.969
or any one of the other little laws[br]that we break every day.

0:13:22.706,0:13:23.987
Right?

0:13:26.058,0:13:29.619
This flag is a symbol of our unity.

0:13:30.253,0:13:33.531
We should never use this as a weapon[br]against someone else.

0:13:33.555,0:13:38.258
I resonate so deeply with the person[br]who wrote in Dread Scott's journal,

0:13:38.282,0:13:42.698
"We should never value the symbol[br]over the thing that it symbolizes.

0:13:42.722,0:13:46.916
We should never value a piece of cloth[br]over a human life."

0:13:48.032,0:13:50.907
And if you're ever going to use[br]a piece of cloth as a weapon,

0:13:50.931,0:13:52.618
you should never use this one,

0:13:52.642,0:13:56.361
not when it has always[br]had room for more stars.

0:13:56.822,0:14:00.009
Hopefully by now, you've felt[br]the power of flags,

0:14:00.977,0:14:03.031
and you can see what they can do.

0:14:03.583,0:14:05.850
So what if we harnessed that power

0:14:05.874,0:14:08.639
and we used it to fight[br]for something greater?

0:14:10.679,0:14:13.096
This is the flag of Earth,

0:14:13.986,0:14:16.861
designed by Oskar Pernefeldt of Sweden.

0:14:17.653,0:14:20.256
Just imagine with me for a second:

0:14:20.280,0:14:23.853
What if we celebrated our humanity

0:14:23.877,0:14:25.744
as much if not more

0:14:25.768,0:14:28.392
than we celebrate our nationalities?

0:14:28.999,0:14:33.420
As we become a spacefaring civilization[br]and we go off into the stars,

0:14:33.444,0:14:35.385
what do our nations mean anyway

0:14:35.409,0:14:38.706
when you're standing on the surface[br]of Mars or any other planet?

0:14:39.682,0:14:41.593
And then of course, back here on Earth,

0:14:42.696,0:14:45.601
as our planet is facing a climate crisis,

0:14:45.625,0:14:50.174
as our climate could be unlivable in[br]our children or grandchildren's lifetime,

0:14:50.198,0:14:54.400
I believe we need a strong symbol, a flag,

0:14:54.424,0:14:56.507
to unite us to fight,

0:14:56.531,0:14:58.439
not just as nations,

0:14:58.463,0:15:00.317
but as a species.

0:15:01.349,0:15:02.612
Thank you.

0:15:02.636,0:15:04.962
(Applause)