Black flags fly across America

I typically see any number of flags when driving around the Riverbend. The overwhelming majority, of course, are Old Glory. Others represent a particular branch of the armed forces, or merely proclaim one’s allegiance to a sports team. Confederate flags are few and far between, thank heavens. An occasional Gadsden flag, which was created during the American Revolution, but is now associated with the Tea party, hangs from a dwelling.

While driving home a couple of weeks ago, I spotted two flags on poles that were attached to a house.

One was the POW/MIA flag that was created in 1972 when our nation was still involved in the Vietnam War. Captured American military personnel were being held by the North Vietnamese at that time, while others had gone missing in action and their fate remained unknown. The POW/MIA flag today symbolizes our determination to make certain that all MIA Americans from every war are never forgotten and ultimately accounted for.

The other flag was black, which puzzled me. From studying history, I knew that the black flag had traditionally been associated with some anarchist groups. I thought it highly unlikely, however, that anyone in the Riverbend would so blatantly proclaim their allegiance to such a radical ideology.

I wrote about my discovery on Facebook and asked my friends for their take on this black flag. A couple of kind-hearted souls suggested that it symbolized mourning a recently-deceased loved one. Another person posted a photo featuring a can of Black Flag insecticide. “No!” I facetiously told him. “I seriously doubt that this family is proclaiming its loyalty to a particularly brand of bug killer.”

Several friends wrote of the black flag’s significance in warfare. The person who best summed up this viewpoint posted, “Black flags have historically been used to signify that no quarter will be given. When translated into modern language, this means that captured enemy combatants will be killed rather than taken prisoner.”

Some Americans have now found a civilian use for the black flag. In an Oct. 13 article for Daily Kos, David Neiwert wrote, “Now, amid far-right protests against COVID-related vaccine and mask mandates, far-right extremists are unfurling their latest symbol: An all-black American flag with stars and stripes mainly visible through variations in material and shading.”

Neiwert observed that “‘No quarter shall be given’ is the black flag’s traditional message — and in the context of the building drumbeat of right-wing ‘civil war’ talk, a deeply ominous one. People flying them are essentially signaling that they’re prepared to kill their liberal neighbors.”

Many Trump supporters have taken a shine to black flags and display them on their houses. Indeed, Trumpshop.net offers 3-foot by 5-foot black flags for sale at $29.95. These flags, the text assures us, are “Perfect for Indoor or Outdoor Display at Home, Office, School, Business, and More!” I can’t imagine any “school” displaying such a flag, with the possible exception of the long-defunct Trump University.

Neiwert wasn’t exaggerating the ominous message these flags convey. The text also states, “The All Black American flags have been used to mean that captured enemy combatants will be killed rather than taken prisoner.”

This columnist thinks that flying the black flag is a spectacularly bad idea for the military. A Facebook friend wrote that Sun Tzu would strongly disapprove of flying a flag that proclaimed no prisoners would be taken since “it would inspire the enemy to continue fighting even after the battle was lost, thereby costing your side more, and needless, casualties.” I agree.

In an article for Upworthy, Tod Perry succinctly summed up why flying this flag is a bad idea for civilians as well. Displaying this flag on your home “doesn’t make you look tough.” Instead, “it shows that you have become irrationally afraid of people with different political beliefs” and “no longer believe in the spirit of American pluralism.”

Regarding one’s fellow Americans as enemies is bad enough. Proclaiming that one is prepared to go to war with one’s fellow Americans and kill them rather than take them prisoners is beyond the pale. Our nation has some serious healing to do. As Abraham Lincoln remarked in a speech delivered in Springfield on June 16, 1858, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

John J. Dunphy is an author, the Godfrey 15th Precinct Democratic Committeeperson and recording secretary for the Godfrey Democrats.