Personal Essay: The Flag And National Anthem

In 2017 controversy struck when the NFL tried “taking a stance” and protesting the National Anthem. In this protest, many NFL players one by one knelt down while the National Anthem played at their sporting event. The National Anthem is a song for our country and symbol to represent all of the men and women who have fought in our military. This song is not played just for our entertainment, it is to honor the flag and what it stands for. The protesting was started by Colin Kaepernick, last season, when he was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He was the first player to take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem, now many other NFL players this season are following in his path and doing the same thing. Many players and viewers claim it is for police brutality and the injustice that is being served, while other viewers see it as entitled millionaires disrespecting the flag and the military. Everyone has different opinions on the issue, but no matter what the country needs to respect one another as humans and be united; the American Flag is a symbol of our freedom and the NFL needs to recognize the National Anthem rather than kneeling and disrespecting what it stands for.

What does the American Flag mean to me? It means freedom,respect,equal right, faith and hope. Soldiers help protect this country, they fight for us, they give up everything for us. People don’t know how important the flag is. The flag means our country’s freedom. When I look up at the flag, I see people, not just any people, the great Americans that have fought for this country.

Asking most American’s today regarding the national anthem of the United States of America the clear answer would be The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key, but most Americans are unaware of the great debate between the two patriotic songs America, the Beautiful and The Star-Spangled Banner in regards of the suitable national anthem. There is no doubt that controversy shrouds the beloved national anthem, as issues of racism, slavery, and the militaristic tone arise after each passing century. However, in my opinion, the national anthem should not be changed as it is a part of America. Not only is the Star Spangled Banner a song that is a piece of history of the land of the free, it is also a song that has deep roots in this country, and is a part of America’s heritage.

Protesting in the National Football League has been going on, as some of the country’s most beloved and highly recognized athletes are seen disrespecting the United States of America on national TV every weekend. The players’ reason for the protesting is police brutality, you can see them kneeling, raising their fist in the air, or even sit in the locker room while the national anthem is being played. Although I do understand what they are trying to do, I believe that there definitely better ways to go about their protest. The protests started in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, took a knee during the national anthem. When question about his actions he responded by saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour”(Lake). While some people sided with Kaepernick most people took offense to his decision to kneel. In him doing this it has caused a league wide outbreak in protest; as players and sometimes even whole teams take a knee or show some type of protest during our country's anthem.

One of the most famous photographs in history was taken by Joe Rosenthal at the Battle of Iwo Jima, during the Second World War. The American people on a whole embraced this photo and saw it as a firm success for the army, so the government knowing that the war needed lots of added funds decided to cease this opportunity and sent the survivors of the flag razing on a propaganda based bond drive for the army. Clint Eastwood in the way he directed the film showed just how different an image of war is compared to a real war. Clint Eastwood allowed the viewer to get an insight to all three survivors of the photo and this gave an insight to how the war on Iwo Jima and the image that gave them a entirely different course in the war. The

A big problem protesters like Colin Kaepernick and others are facing is that since they don’t participate in the National Anthem people think that they don’t like our country and are unpatriotic. For example Donald Trump and his aides took the situation into their own hands when calling out the protesters by saying, “protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag and those who have fought to protect the United States”(Tatum). After these comments players fire back by saying they’re exercising free speech by not participating in the National Anthem while standing with their hands over their hearts. Protesting is a

The quote, “The secrets of the earth are not for all men to see, but for those who will seek them.” means that you cannot see what you do not look for. The secrets of this earth does not come to our hands whenever we want it. We must seek for the secrets of the earth ourselves. Only the people who work to find the secrets will have a chance to acquire it.

     As one reads Ayn Rand’s significant quotes from the story of anthem, there is always a main theme that is trying to escape, just as Prometheus escaped in her story. All three of the listed quotes work as a trio to sing that We; as society, works to defeat individuality. The quotes emphasize that we cannot survive without individualism and being alone brings out our unique personalities. It is true that all the quotes work as one, but at the same time they have their own individualism. Each quote holds a purpose of its own and the author wants to express the quote to each persons understanding.

Ideologies are meant to be shared and learned throughout a society to encourage the spread as well as competition of ideas. Through Anthem, Ayn Rand warned of the dangers of blindly and unquestionably following an ideology; the dangers to society that unexamined loyalty to a belief system cause to society are upholding oppressive and dehumanizing morals, decreased quality of life and the government taking advantage of their citizens

The American flag represents this so-called notion of equality and patriotism, even though it was used alongside with the pledge of allegiance to capitalize on the people’s love of the country. The current controversy is that protest at NFL games is not only disrespectful to the country, but is also a disrespect to our armed forces who fought for our constitutional rights, this paper is simply an observation piece that will discuss the various arguments surrounding the NFL protest and will explore people’s current feelings toward the silent protest.

There is much controversy surrounding the idea of patriotism and the iconography of the American flag in today’s society. Some believe patriotism is simply the act of supporting the decisions of the leaders of the country. Others say, to be patriotic, people should be outspoken and voice their oppositions to what is going on in the government. Opinions also differ on the idea of what the American flag represents. One opinion of the flags representation is that the flag represents our history, and the formerly mentioned idea of patriotism. Others believe the flag also represents our history as a nation, but these beliefs focus much more heavily on the negative aspects of our history; such as slavery and other injustices carried out by our

When you see the American flag, what is the first thing that pops into your head? Is it a war? A relative? A political leader? What? For me, I usually think of the Star Spangled Banner. I grew up on a military base in Germany. If the flag were being raised or lowered, you would see soldiers, and even civilians, standing at attention, saluting the flag. In a parade, as the flag was being carried in front by one of the brigades, everyone held his or her hand over his or her heart as the flag passed that person. Even in the theaters, before the movie would start, the Star Spangled Banner would be played while scenes of American flags in battles and peacetime were on the screen and everyone would stand, either at attention or with

We march on out to the stadium, the percussion player taps on his snare every so gently, with the flick of his rist he plays a beat and our feet roll in time against the pavement. The band looks uniform, like marching soldiers. People line up against the curb, moving their eyes with our steps, as they bend a curve on their face in joy.

“An athlete silently protests during the national anthem. People respond with taunts of "traitor," "you're a disgrace" and "leave our country!" Are these angry tweets aimed at National Football League players kneeling during the national anthem?”said by writers Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton.Due to half of the 49ers team kneeling during the National Anthem 49ers fans are burning their jerseys due to the refusal of the players to stand during the National Anthem.Many fans are outraged and boycotting National football because of the fact that football players are disrespecting the flag by kneeling during the National Anthem.The reason players should stand for the National Anthem is because the United States Flag stands for the individuality and

The Star - Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key as he watched his fellow Americans stand strong in their darkest hour. For over twenty four hours Fort McHenry was bombarded by British Navy, but the American troops fought, and so did their families. The Americans rallied around the singular flag that stood high in the fort, and a flag that was a target for the British armada. They planned to destroy the flag to disrupt moral, but the Americans refused to let it fall. They used that singular flag as motivation, and motivation that eventually won them the battle. The flag still holds the same purpose today. To remember those who have fought, or are currently fighting in our armies. It also serves as a source of pride, motivation, and patriotism towards our country. Knowing what our flag means to our history and our country, we can’t possibly keep letting our countries source of pride be disrespected by those attempting to promote their own cause. Are nations athletes that choose to display their displeasure with our nation’s current state, and disrespect what our flag means for our country.