WEBVTT 00:00:01.063 --> 00:00:02.841 In 1989, 00:00:02.865 --> 00:00:05.095 an artist by the name of Dread Scott, 00:00:05.119 --> 00:00:08.030 who has also graced the TED stage, 00:00:08.054 --> 00:00:10.453 created a piece of art in Chicago, 00:00:10.477 --> 00:00:14.109 where he simply placed an American flag on the ground 00:00:14.133 --> 00:00:18.498 and then invited you the viewer to go and stand on that flag 00:00:18.522 --> 00:00:21.227 and record how it felt in a journal. 00:00:22.232 --> 00:00:26.756 And to me, one of the most powerful things written in that journal, in essence, says, 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:28.967 "Why are we so OK 00:00:28.991 --> 00:00:30.600 with homeless people, 00:00:30.624 --> 00:00:33.377 with human beings laying on the ground, 00:00:33.401 --> 00:00:35.241 but not flags?" NOTE Paragraph 00:00:36.994 --> 00:00:40.119 And to some of you, this piece of art is quite disturbing. 00:00:40.844 --> 00:00:43.322 And that's kind of the point of this talk -- 00:00:43.346 --> 00:00:46.107 not to upset you or to make you mad 00:00:46.131 --> 00:00:51.255 but to prove to you that flags have an incredible power, 00:00:51.279 --> 00:00:54.237 and that even if you think you don't care about flags, you do. 00:00:54.261 --> 00:00:55.555 You know you do. 00:00:56.111 --> 00:00:57.262 Alright. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:57.286 --> 00:00:59.588 By the end of it, I hope that you're inspired 00:00:59.612 --> 00:01:03.090 to go out and harness this power of flags and fight for a better world. 00:01:03.114 --> 00:01:04.954 But before we get there, 00:01:04.978 --> 00:01:07.688 we're going to start on the opposite end of the spectrum. 00:01:08.254 --> 00:01:12.153 And before I show you the next stuff, I need to say that anything I show here 00:01:12.177 --> 00:01:13.780 is not an endorsement, 00:01:13.804 --> 00:01:15.734 it's usually quite the opposite. 00:01:15.758 --> 00:01:19.735 But more than anything, what I want to do is create a space here 00:01:19.759 --> 00:01:22.850 where we can look at these flags, these designs, 00:01:22.874 --> 00:01:25.500 and examine how they make us feel. 00:01:26.004 --> 00:01:27.915 We're going to talk about our emotions. 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:29.567 Is that OK with everybody? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:29.591 --> 00:01:30.896 OK. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:32.650 Are you ready for your first flag? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:34.698 --> 00:01:36.476 Cool, we'll start with an easy one. 00:01:36.910 --> 00:01:39.358 That was a joke. (Laughs) 00:01:39.382 --> 00:01:44.121 So, some of you may be a little bit uneasy sitting in a room with this. 00:01:44.145 --> 00:01:46.817 I'm certainly feeling uneasy standing in front of it. 00:01:47.495 --> 00:01:50.303 Some of you may be feeling a little bit of pride. 00:01:50.677 --> 00:01:55.006 And that's understandable. This is Texas. This is not a rare sight, is it? 00:01:55.832 --> 00:01:57.395 But let's start with the facts. 00:01:57.735 --> 00:02:01.441 So this is not the Confederate flag. OK? 00:02:01.465 --> 00:02:04.661 This is the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia 00:02:04.685 --> 00:02:06.665 led by General Robert E. Lee. 00:02:07.244 --> 00:02:10.263 So next time someone tells you that this is their heritage, 00:02:10.287 --> 00:02:13.247 unless their family fought for that very specific militia, 00:02:13.271 --> 00:02:14.522 they're wrong, alright? 00:02:14.546 --> 00:02:17.414 And you have a flag expert's permission to tell them so. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:22.937 This flag rose into prominence during the mid-1950s and '60s 00:02:22.961 --> 00:02:25.758 as a response to the growing Civil Rights Movement. 00:02:26.266 --> 00:02:27.926 And then of course today, 00:02:27.950 --> 00:02:32.222 it has come to represent the Confederacy to most of us. 00:02:33.841 --> 00:02:36.674 But I shouldn't have to remind you what the Confederacy is. 00:02:36.698 --> 00:02:38.150 It was a rogue nation 00:02:38.174 --> 00:02:40.961 that rose up against the United States, 00:02:40.985 --> 00:02:43.045 waged war on the US, 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:44.293 and at one point in time, 00:02:44.317 --> 00:02:47.687 this was one of the most un-American things you could have. 00:02:48.248 --> 00:02:51.318 But yet, this flag is protected 00:02:51.342 --> 00:02:54.918 by the same laws that protect the United States flag 00:02:54.942 --> 00:02:56.996 in the states of Florida, Georgia, 00:02:57.020 --> 00:03:00.495 South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:01.573 --> 00:03:04.130 But let's pick on Georgia for a second, shall we? 00:03:04.831 --> 00:03:06.474 So in 1956, 00:03:06.498 --> 00:03:10.211 a few years after desegregation was mandated in public schools, 00:03:10.235 --> 00:03:12.620 Georgia changed their state flag to this. 00:03:14.636 --> 00:03:17.537 I think everyone watching can agree 00:03:17.561 --> 00:03:21.425 that this was not meant to be a flag that every Georgian was proud to fly 00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:23.000 outside of their home, was it? 00:03:23.643 --> 00:03:24.991 No. 00:03:25.015 --> 00:03:29.620 Just like all of the Confederate statues erected in the mid-1950s and '60s, 00:03:29.644 --> 00:03:33.278 this was meant to be a symbol of who was in charge 00:03:33.302 --> 00:03:34.792 and who was not. 00:03:35.916 --> 00:03:37.649 This remained the flag of Georgia 00:03:37.673 --> 00:03:39.892 until the year 2001, 00:03:40.870 --> 00:03:43.294 and in that year, they changed their flag 00:03:43.318 --> 00:03:44.476 to this. 00:03:45.051 --> 00:03:49.011 Now, as a flag expert, I can tell you: this is officially ugly. 00:03:49.416 --> 00:03:51.226 OK? It's OK to laugh at this flag. 00:03:51.250 --> 00:03:53.945 It's ugly, and because it's so ugly, 00:03:53.969 --> 00:03:56.936 that's one of the reasons they changed it just two years later. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:58.120 They had a referendum 00:03:58.144 --> 00:04:00.299 where they got to choose between that thing 00:04:00.323 --> 00:04:03.128 and then what is now the current flag of Georgia. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:04.194 --> 00:04:05.886 Now some of you might be wondering, 00:04:05.910 --> 00:04:07.199 "Wait a second, Michael -- 00:04:07.223 --> 00:04:09.740 if that before wasn't the Confederate flag, 00:04:09.764 --> 00:04:12.134 what was the Confederate flag? 00:04:14.174 --> 00:04:18.482 Georgia flies the first flag of the Confederate States of America 00:04:18.506 --> 00:04:19.731 to this day. 00:04:20.094 --> 00:04:22.484 They just slapped their state seal on it. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:23.345 --> 00:04:25.663 Well, let's go back to our emotions for a second. 00:04:25.687 --> 00:04:29.726 That didn't punch you in the gut as much as the other one did, did it? 00:04:30.351 --> 00:04:31.505 Right? 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:33.813 And that's why I love flags. 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:37.026 They are the simplest pieces of design, 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.528 usually just two or three colors, 00:04:39.552 --> 00:04:41.726 just some bars or stripes. 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:45.720 But yet, they can invoke the deepest emotions within us. 00:04:45.744 --> 00:04:48.543 They'll make us swell with pride 00:04:48.567 --> 00:04:50.250 or burn with hatred. 00:04:51.055 --> 00:04:53.050 We will die for a flag 00:04:53.617 --> 00:04:55.334 or even kill for one. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:56.873 --> 00:04:59.901 One of my favorite designers, his name is Wally Olins, 00:04:59.925 --> 00:05:02.689 they call him the father of nation branding, 00:05:02.713 --> 00:05:04.402 and he's quoted as saying 00:05:04.426 --> 00:05:07.299 that "Everyone wants to belong, 00:05:07.323 --> 00:05:10.420 and then they want to display symbols of belonging." 00:05:11.403 --> 00:05:15.867 And it's crazy that these pieces of cloth that are just sewn together or dyed 00:05:15.891 --> 00:05:18.916 come to be such a sacred item, 00:05:18.940 --> 00:05:21.857 and that's because they become parts of our identity. 00:05:22.501 --> 00:05:25.230 They are powerful tools to unify 00:05:26.047 --> 00:05:28.779 but equally powerful tools to divide. 00:05:30.056 --> 00:05:31.487 You ready for the next flag? NOTE Paragraph 00:05:33.590 --> 00:05:34.769 Right. 00:05:34.793 --> 00:05:36.196 Take a moment. 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:39.433 Really examine how you felt when this hit the screen. 00:05:40.488 --> 00:05:42.569 I'm going to change the slide pretty quickly 00:05:42.593 --> 00:05:45.151 so you don't take pictures of me in front of this one. 00:05:45.175 --> 00:05:46.176 (Laughter) 00:05:46.200 --> 00:05:47.351 Alright? NOTE Paragraph 00:05:47.375 --> 00:05:50.293 So Germany after World War I, 00:05:50.317 --> 00:05:52.323 it was in a pretty bad state, 00:05:52.347 --> 00:05:57.171 and a young Adolf Hitler had a lot of -- let's call them -- "ideas," 00:05:57.195 --> 00:06:00.006 of how Germany got to where they'd gotten 00:06:00.030 --> 00:06:01.415 and how to get them out. 00:06:01.861 --> 00:06:04.999 He spent entire chapters in his book "Mein Kampf," 00:06:05.023 --> 00:06:06.722 which I don't recommend reading, 00:06:06.746 --> 00:06:08.796 about how Germany lost World War I 00:06:08.820 --> 00:06:12.780 partially because the British had better graphic design 00:06:12.804 --> 00:06:14.365 and better propaganda. 00:06:15.318 --> 00:06:17.702 So, as the Nazi Party rose, 00:06:17.726 --> 00:06:21.735 Hitler created one of the thickest brand guides I've ever seen. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.159 It's thicker than most company brand guides today, 00:06:24.183 --> 00:06:27.572 and in it, he details titles and uniforms 00:06:27.596 --> 00:06:29.853 and lots and lots of flags. 00:06:30.716 --> 00:06:32.316 Hitler knew the power of flags. 00:06:32.340 --> 00:06:34.328 He says in "Mein Kampf," 00:06:34.352 --> 00:06:37.169 "The new flag ... should prove effective as a large poster, 00:06:37.193 --> 00:06:39.590 [because] in hundreds of thousands of cases 00:06:39.614 --> 00:06:42.437 a really striking emblem may be the first cause 00:06:42.461 --> 00:06:45.195 of awakening interest in a movement." 00:06:46.039 --> 00:06:48.038 He was an artist, after all. 00:06:48.062 --> 00:06:52.148 He knew the power of visual identity and uniforms 00:06:52.172 --> 00:06:54.885 could reignite the German identity. 00:06:54.909 --> 00:06:58.814 And to millions of Germans, this was a welcome sign. 00:06:59.850 --> 00:07:03.720 But of course, this was also a mark of death to others. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:04.897 --> 00:07:08.293 We don't often think of flags as weapons, 00:07:09.233 --> 00:07:11.169 but like the Confederate battle flag, 00:07:11.193 --> 00:07:13.205 the Germans used their flag 00:07:13.229 --> 00:07:16.895 to make an out-group feel unwelcome 00:07:16.919 --> 00:07:18.195 and less than. 00:07:19.151 --> 00:07:22.185 You see, when you create a flag, you immediately do two things: 00:07:22.209 --> 00:07:23.662 you create an in-group, 00:07:23.686 --> 00:07:26.164 a group that's meant to be represented by the symbol, 00:07:26.188 --> 00:07:28.350 but then, inevitably, you create an out-group. 00:07:28.374 --> 00:07:30.124 And usually, that's subtle. 00:07:30.148 --> 00:07:31.348 It's a byproduct. 00:07:31.372 --> 00:07:33.149 It's usually not the intent. 00:07:33.529 --> 00:07:37.699 But the Germans were very clear as to who was represented by the swastika 00:07:37.723 --> 00:07:39.053 and who was not. 00:07:39.945 --> 00:07:44.920 In 1935, Jewish people were banned from flying German flags. 00:07:46.246 --> 00:07:47.866 And in this way, 00:07:47.890 --> 00:07:51.587 the Germans, maybe more than any other time in history, 00:07:51.611 --> 00:07:53.661 used the dual power of flags 00:07:53.685 --> 00:07:57.328 to unite but also to divide. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.207 Flags were used as identity weapons. 00:08:00.969 --> 00:08:05.240 And now, in 2019, the Nazi flag is banned from being flown 00:08:05.264 --> 00:08:06.943 by anyone in Germany 00:08:06.967 --> 00:08:10.279 and anyone in Austria, in Hungary, in Russia and in Ukraine. 00:08:11.010 --> 00:08:12.187 Think about that. 00:08:12.211 --> 00:08:14.334 It's a piece of cloth, but it's banned. 00:08:15.031 --> 00:08:16.925 On its face, that sounds crazy. 00:08:17.846 --> 00:08:20.469 But I don't think anyone in this room would disagree 00:08:20.493 --> 00:08:21.922 that it's probably good. 00:08:22.796 --> 00:08:24.480 Sounds a lot like a weapon. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:26.383 --> 00:08:27.839 As a vexillologist, 00:08:27.863 --> 00:08:30.544 sometimes the most interesting thing about a flag 00:08:30.568 --> 00:08:32.329 is not so much its design, 00:08:33.184 --> 00:08:35.955 but it's those laws around the flag. 00:08:36.453 --> 00:08:37.953 For instance, 00:08:37.977 --> 00:08:41.318 in India, to create an Indian flag, 00:08:41.342 --> 00:08:44.771 you must use a hand-spun cloth named "khadi." 00:08:45.312 --> 00:08:47.554 If you make a flag out of anything else, 00:08:47.578 --> 00:08:50.569 you could go to jail for up to three years. 00:08:51.212 --> 00:08:52.389 It's crazy. 00:08:52.413 --> 00:08:54.254 Here in Texas, 00:08:54.278 --> 00:08:56.255 we've all heard 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:59.807 that the Texas flag is the only state flag that can fly at the same height 00:08:59.831 --> 00:09:01.006 as the US, flag, right? 00:09:01.030 --> 00:09:03.434 Because we were a nation before we were a state. 00:09:03.458 --> 00:09:04.709 Who here has heard that? 00:09:05.225 --> 00:09:06.376 Yeah. 00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:10.095 Well, I'm here to tell you that is completely false. OK? 00:09:10.119 --> 00:09:14.746 First of all, we were not the only state that was a nation before joining up. 00:09:14.770 --> 00:09:18.824 And secondly, all state flags can fly at the same height as the US flag 00:09:18.848 --> 00:09:21.015 according to the US flag code. 00:09:22.295 --> 00:09:25.292 And I don't have to ask you how you feel about this one, right? 00:09:25.316 --> 00:09:28.452 Most of us grew up pledging allegiance to this every morning, 00:09:28.476 --> 00:09:31.649 knowing we should never let it touch the ground, etc. 00:09:31.673 --> 00:09:35.953 We take our flag code very seriously here in the United States. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:36.978 --> 00:09:41.166 You remember, recently some NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:42.557 It was a big controversy. 00:09:42.986 --> 00:09:44.899 They were breaking the flag code. 00:09:44.923 --> 00:09:46.796 It states during the national anthem, 00:09:46.820 --> 00:09:49.275 stand at attention, hand at the heart, etc. 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:52.088 But what was fascinating to me as a vexillologist 00:09:52.112 --> 00:09:55.445 is that I didn't see anyone getting upset 00:09:55.469 --> 00:09:57.069 when something like this happens. 00:09:57.597 --> 00:10:01.665 The flag code says, "The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, 00:10:01.689 --> 00:10:03.643 but always aloft and free." 00:10:03.667 --> 00:10:06.283 So sometimes during the exact same national anthem, 00:10:06.307 --> 00:10:08.201 this was being done, and no one's upset. 00:10:09.071 --> 00:10:11.399 Or this. This happens all the time. 00:10:11.423 --> 00:10:12.588 The flag code is clear: 00:10:12.612 --> 00:10:17.600 "No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or on an athletic uniform." 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.027 This is Texas A&M baseball, 00:10:20.051 --> 00:10:22.976 not to get them in trouble, but this happens all the time, 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.795 especially in November. 00:10:25.570 --> 00:10:28.508 I'm sure, I can almost guarantee when you leave here tonight, 00:10:28.532 --> 00:10:30.911 you will see on the back of someone's car or truck 00:10:30.935 --> 00:10:33.353 a black and white American flag with a blue stripe, 00:10:33.377 --> 00:10:34.550 a thin blue line, right? 00:10:34.574 --> 00:10:36.142 Blue Lives Matter. 00:10:37.065 --> 00:10:39.289 That breaks the flag code in multiple ways. 00:10:39.313 --> 00:10:42.933 But all of these things are done with the best intent. 00:10:42.957 --> 00:10:44.696 No one's here to argue that. 00:10:45.352 --> 00:10:47.805 But of course they break a section of the flag code 00:10:47.829 --> 00:10:50.011 titled "Respect for the Flag," 00:10:50.035 --> 00:10:51.759 so by putting this on your uniform, 00:10:51.783 --> 00:10:55.580 you are legally disrespecting the flag. 00:10:56.973 --> 00:10:58.335 And what I find interesting 00:10:58.359 --> 00:11:00.844 is that those NFL players kneeling during the anthem 00:11:00.868 --> 00:11:04.142 and the people who would put Blue Lives Matters stickers on their car 00:11:04.166 --> 00:11:06.982 are both on the opposite end of a very big issue, 00:11:07.777 --> 00:11:10.692 but they're both breaking the exact same law, 00:11:11.707 --> 00:11:15.962 a law that is 100 percent unenforceable. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.639 In fact, it was Dread Scott's piece of art in 1989 00:11:21.663 --> 00:11:25.681 that led the Supreme Court to rule that the flag code is just a guideline. 00:11:25.705 --> 00:11:28.194 You cannot be prosecuted for breaking the flag code. 00:11:28.218 --> 00:11:30.680 You cannot be forced to be patriotic. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:32.091 --> 00:11:37.016 So why, then, have all of these little laws around how we use our flag 00:11:37.040 --> 00:11:38.724 if you can't enforce them? 00:11:39.966 --> 00:11:43.012 And that's because a nation 00:11:43.036 --> 00:11:45.166 is a fragile collective idea. 00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:47.880 It only exists in our minds. 00:11:48.798 --> 00:11:50.401 Can I see this? Thank you. 00:11:51.945 --> 00:11:57.741 Sometimes a flag is the only tangible symbol of that idea. 00:11:58.393 --> 00:12:03.628 Right? Our unity is sometimes only held together by literal threads. 00:12:04.648 --> 00:12:05.973 And that's powerful. 00:12:06.591 --> 00:12:10.912 The flag code is meant to preserve and protect that fragile idea, 00:12:10.936 --> 00:12:14.056 while also protecting your right to break it. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:18.002 And that's what's special about the United States, right? 00:12:18.026 --> 00:12:19.970 And that's what's unique about our flag. 00:12:19.994 --> 00:12:21.702 Our flag is amazing. 00:12:21.726 --> 00:12:25.253 It has changed more than any other flag in the world. 00:12:25.277 --> 00:12:28.770 It's the flag code that says when a new state is created, 00:12:28.794 --> 00:12:31.042 a star shall be added to the union of the flag, 00:12:31.066 --> 00:12:35.280 and such addition shall take place on the fourth day of July. 00:12:36.216 --> 00:12:40.710 Our flag is unique because it is meant to grow as we grow. 00:12:41.218 --> 00:12:43.126 By design and by law, 00:12:43.150 --> 00:12:45.508 it is meant to change with us. 00:12:45.532 --> 00:12:48.410 It's a living symbol of our individuality, 00:12:48.434 --> 00:12:50.879 our diversity in the stars 00:12:50.903 --> 00:12:52.219 and our unity. 00:12:52.916 --> 00:12:58.142 We have a gift in the United States to have a flag that is inclusive. 00:12:58.166 --> 00:13:00.996 If the Nazi flag was an identity weapon, 00:13:01.020 --> 00:13:06.350 the United States flag, by design alone, stands in direct contrast. 00:13:07.053 --> 00:13:10.514 And I have to say, as a vexillologist in 2019, 00:13:10.538 --> 00:13:12.102 using this flag 00:13:12.126 --> 00:13:15.099 as an identity weapon against anyone 00:13:15.123 --> 00:13:18.477 disrespects it far more than letting it touch the ground 00:13:18.501 --> 00:13:21.969 or any one of the other little laws that we break every day. 00:13:22.706 --> 00:13:23.987 Right? 00:13:26.058 --> 00:13:29.619 This flag is a symbol of our unity. 00:13:30.253 --> 00:13:33.531 We should never use this as a weapon against someone else. 00:13:33.555 --> 00:13:38.258 I resonate so deeply with the person who wrote in Dread Scott's journal, 00:13:38.282 --> 00:13:42.698 "We should never value the symbol over the thing that it symbolizes. 00:13:42.722 --> 00:13:46.916 We should never value a piece of cloth over a human life." 00:13:48.032 --> 00:13:50.907 And if you're ever going to use a piece of cloth as a weapon, 00:13:50.931 --> 00:13:52.618 you should never use this one, 00:13:52.642 --> 00:13:56.361 not when it has always had room for more stars. 00:13:56.822 --> 00:14:00.009 Hopefully by now, you've felt the power of flags, 00:14:00.977 --> 00:14:03.031 and you can see what they can do. 00:14:03.583 --> 00:14:05.850 So what if we harnessed that power 00:14:05.874 --> 00:14:08.639 and we used it to fight for something greater? 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:13.096 This is the flag of Earth, 00:14:13.986 --> 00:14:16.861 designed by Oskar Pernefeldt of Sweden. 00:14:17.653 --> 00:14:20.256 Just imagine with me for a second: 00:14:20.280 --> 00:14:23.853 What if we celebrated our humanity 00:14:23.877 --> 00:14:25.744 as much if not more 00:14:25.768 --> 00:14:28.392 than we celebrate our nationalities? 00:14:28.999 --> 00:14:33.420 As we become a spacefaring civilization and we go off into the stars, 00:14:33.444 --> 00:14:35.385 what do our nations mean anyway 00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:38.706 when you're standing on the surface of Mars or any other planet? 00:14:39.682 --> 00:14:41.593 And then of course, back here on Earth, 00:14:42.696 --> 00:14:45.601 as our planet is facing a climate crisis, 00:14:45.625 --> 00:14:50.174 as our climate could be unlivable in our children or grandchildren's lifetime, 00:14:50.198 --> 00:14:54.400 I believe we need a strong symbol, a flag, 00:14:54.424 --> 00:14:56.507 to unite us to fight, 00:14:56.531 --> 00:14:58.439 not just as nations, 00:14:58.463 --> 00:15:00.317 but as a species. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:01.349 --> 00:15:02.612 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:02.636 --> 00:15:04.962 (Applause)