The Meaning of a Flag
May 2000

It took only one small child to split America. Unlike many political issues, the opinions surrounding the Cuban born child did not originally fall exclusively along party lines. Not all Democrats believed as Janet Reno and President Clinton believe, and not all Republicans believed the opposing viewpoint.

Then came the government's raid on the house.

Most of us have seen the video of armed INS and Border Patrol agents removing Elian from his relatives' home in Miami. Most of us have also seen the photograph of one of the agents pointing a gun (probably outlawed to "normal" American citizens) at the "fisherman" that plucked Elian out of the water when he was found several months ago. These pictures stay with us all, no matter which side of the issue you were on, just like the Oklahoma City bombing picture of the fireman carrying the infant out of the wreckage.

But we are not here to discuss whether the Justice Department and INS actions were legal or not. We are not here to discuss whether the actions were even moral or not. The topic that we would like to put forth for discussion is one that is difficult to figure out. It deals with flags.

As we watched all those video clips and caught glimpses of all those photographs, the sea of Cuban flags was amazing. Why the Cuban flag and not American flags?

Yes, I understand why many would not want to fly American flags after the raid on the house, but why had they been flying and carrying Cuban flags before and during the raid? Many of these people have fled Cuba, and believe that Elian should not be sent back to Cuba, so why do they fly the flag of Cuba?

But even beyond the Cuban flag, many other nation's flags were flown before, during, and after the raid on the house. Such flags included one's from Israel, Brazil, and many other countries from around the globe.

What is the purpose of flying another country's flag? There seems to be absolutely no logic to these people flying non-American flags. Unless you are a citizen of that other country, the flying of another flag has no purpose other than rebellion.

Although there may seem to be no logical reason to use those other flags, there may be one. Unfortunately no one has given one yet. But then again, the American government is flying the Cuban flag at Andrew's Air-Force Base. So, maybe flying the flag of a Communist country is now considered showing support for America.

What will come of the entire Elian situation? Time will only tell, but one thing is for sure, it does make you think twice about supporting a Flag Amendment to the Constitution.