I’m launching a new weekly series each Monday to highlight what I’m reading, watching, listening to, and experiencing in public history. Stay tuned on Mondays for these “Monday Dispatches.”

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On Saturday, June 14th, I was asked to share a reflection on the meaning of the American flag during an event at Mullinix Park in Downtown Frederick, Maryland. My remarks, shared below, sought to provide historical context for our nation’s flag and what has happened beneath that banner over the last 248 years.

I’ve included the final draft of the speech below, with some hyperlinks added for those who might be seeking more information about the references made.

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Good morning,

I have been asked today to reflect upon the meaning of our American flag. As a historian trained here in Frederick at Hood College, I learned to see our past clearly, to honor its truths, and to share its lessons honestly.

On June 14, 1777, amid the great struggle of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress gave our nation this flag. Born from a revolution against oppression, our founders boldly declared a self-evident truth: that all are created equal, with rights no power should take away – Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

From its start, however, our nation faced the contradiction of slavery. The flag waved over a land promising freedom but withholding it from millions. This contradiction led our nation into a terrible civil war, with soldiers bearing this flag marching through Frederick County to battles at Antietam and Gettysburg – battles fought to save the nation and end the horrors of slavery. Here in Frederick, freedom took root in October 1864 – prior to the war’s end – when citizens voted for liberty and abolished slavery in our state. 

Yet freedom’s journey was not finished. Under our flag, segregation and Jim Crow laws persisted, and newly arrived immigrants seeking liberty faced prejudice. Native Americans lost their lands and livelihoods to expansion pursued under this same banner. America spread imperialistic influence far beyond our shores, planting this flag across oceans and in distant lands.

Still, our flag also flew in moments of great peril and inspired the fight for a better world. Americans, along with Allied nations across the globe, battled tyranny in two world wars, though many who fought returned home to find freedom incomplete. 

Through all this, there were always those who took up this flag to advance justice in the face of oppression here at home: abolitionists, suffragists, labor organizers, and civil rights marchers. Each generation had members who demanded that make America fulfill its great promise.

Today, this fight continues. Our nation remains an unfinished work – a constant effort to achieve the ideals we proclaimed almost 250 years ago. I am inspired by those who strive daily to make our union more perfect. 

In recent weeks, I came across a speech given by a Union veteran of the Civil War at the dedication of his unit’s monument on the battlefield of Gettysburg. His unit, from my hometown in Pennsylvania, marched through Frederick County on their way to fight in the battle that helped turn the tide of the Civil War. 

As he began the conclusion to his speech, Henry Royer shared a sentiment that has stuck with me, highlighting the promise and the ideals of America. 

He said: “In this nation has been hung the lamp of liberty to illuminate the whole world.” 

As we look upon the flag today, let us recommit ourselves to that vision, remembering both our flaws and our strengths, resolving together to uphold the promise our nation represents, lighting our path forward through these troubled times, and toward that more perfect union. 

(Featured Image: Unidentified Civil War soldier with the American flag – Library of Congress)

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