A controversial flag art exhibit documenting a period of social upheaval in the United States generated its own local uproar. Over a dozen visits to the show, combined with an examination of the local press coverage, inform this thoughtful, personal reflection on its meaning.

In the 1950s and 1960s, all sides in the struggle over civil rights used the U.S. flag in different and evolving ways, competing for the power of the nation’s primary symbol. This article traces in scholarly detail how flag use influenced and gave images to the era.

From the resolution in the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777 which first defined the United States flag, to the latest presidential proclamation, all relevant legal citations are listed. They cover the flag’s description, display, and protection, providing a resource never before published elsewhere.

The government agency that did the most to spread the flag across the western United States in its first century was not the Army, not the Navy, but the Indian Department. Its “presentation flags,” often of a variant design with eagles or coats of arms in their cantons or with alternate star patterns, combine with the military’s standard flags in this article based on many primary sources.