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- Title
The Rise of the American Thin Blue Line Flag.
- Authors
Mainwaring, Scott D.
- Abstract
The American Thin Blue Line flag is a black-and-white version of the United States flag with the white stripe immediately below the canton replaced with a blue one, expressing support for police. It first appeared in December 2014 near the beginning of the most recent phase of political and often violent turmoil in the U.S. over relations between the police and communities of color. Since its introduction by a young entrepreneur in Michigan, the flag rapidly grew in prominence, particularly following the killing of police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, Texas, in 2016. In terms of widespread adoption and emotional response (positive and negative), the flag is a remarkable entrepreneurial success story. This paper explores some of the reasons underlying its success. These correspond to different ways of understanding a flag: as a commercial product, as a graphic design, as a component of mourning rituals, as viral internet content, and as a carrier of contested meaning that benefits from institutional and rhetorical support. The case of the American Thin Blue Line flag raises an important theoretical and practical questions for vexillology: What constitutes success, and what makes a flag successful?
- Subjects
DALLAS (Tex.); MICHIGAN; FLAGS of the United States; BEREAVEMENT; POLICE-community relations; BLACK Lives Matter movement; INTERNET content; KILLINGS of police
- Publication
Raven: A Journal of Vexillology, 2021, Vol 28, p111
- ISSN
1071-0043
- Publication type
Article