Return to Home Page
Flags have meaning. If they were just pieces of colorful cloth, there wouldn't be any reason to wave them in parades, hang them from front porches or salute them during the National Anthem.
Since their design is significant and can stir patriotism, it shouldn't be surprising that flags can also stir other passions, as they did recently in Albany when a group of Black legislators asked for the removal of the Georgia state flag that was flying in the Capitol.
A mini-Civil War then broke out between those New York lawmakers and some in Georgia. What upset the Black legislators in Albany is that the Georgia state flag contains the Stars and Bars insignia from the Confederacy. Angry that a symbol associated with slavery should be prominently waving near them, they decided to pull it down. Gov. George Pataki agreed with their feelings and ordered the removal of the gonfalon from an array of state flags.
In retaliation, some Georgia state lawmakers yanked down the Empire State's pennant that was waving in their state house, telling New Yorkers that they might want to begin cleaning the crime and poverty from their own house before pointing accusing fingers in a southerly direction.
The disagreement was treated mostly with jokes and feature stories in the media, but Catholics realize how significant symbols can be and why they stir such strong emotions. Walking around last week with black ashes on their foreheads, Catholics know that symbols are powerful signs of something far more important. After all, that's what sacraments and sacramentals are: physical signs -- water, oil, ashes, bread -- of God's presence and grace.
A few years ago, when a federally subsidized artist submerged a crucifix in urine, Catholics (and others) were outraged and wanted immediate redress. Why? Because a symbol of good had been desecrated. Why do the Black lawmakers want the Georgia flag removed? Because a symbol of evil has been honored.
Symbols -- religious and secular -- surround us every day with seemingly ordinary items that are actually imbued with deeply personal and profound meaning: your wedding ring, your late grandma's quilt, the desk your dad used, a drawing your kindergartner made that still hangs on the 'fridge a decade later.
Anyone who says about the flag flap, "It's just a piece of cloth" or "That's ancient history" fails to recognize that symbols hold great meaning. Catholic understand that flags are important to people, in Georgia and in New York. But when a flag is offensive to someone, the proper Catholic response is sympathy -- and a helping hand to fold it up for storage in an archive.
Return to Home Page