Author: Dan Huang

Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD)

A U.S. flag on a tombstone. (Photo taken by author)

Description: Will you hang a national flag in the yard or window at home? When I explored various neighborhoods in the city of Chicago, I was surprised by the ubiquity of the U.S. national flag here both in public and private spaces. Why do national flags hold such a significant place in the lives of Chicagoans?

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Transcript (provided by author):

Welcome to the ELI’s Finding Chicago Global Perspectives Podcast Series for AEPP 2023. I’m your host, Dan Huang, and I’m currently enrolled in the University of Chicago’s Social Science Division.

As an international student visiting the U.S. and the city of Chicago for the first time, I was surprised by the ubiquitous national flags here. For instance, during my walks in the downtown area, I found that it was so common to spot a national flag about every five minutes. Whether it was the Chicago River, Union Station, the Chicago Board of Trade, the Art Institute of Chicago, or Millennium Park, the U.S. flag seemed to be everywhere.

However, what surprised me the most was the ubiquity of national flags not only in public spaces, but also in private areas. During my fieldwork in the Uptown neighborhood, I noticed that there are so many national flags hung in private places, such as doors, windows, yards, and even on tombstones in cemeteries. And this seemed to be the case actually at many other neighborhoods that I live in or visit, which includes Hyde Park and Chinatown. As a native Chinese, this phenomenon seemed kind of peculiar to me. In the city where I was born and in many other cities in China, hanging a national flag in the door or yard of a private house may have people feel like it was a government office. Instead of national flags, people tend to prefer having headshots of presidents or party leaders, as decorations in their homes.

These observations and interesting comparisons made me start to think about the reasons behind the ubiquity of national flags in both public and private areas in the city of Chicago. Why is the U.S. flag so closely related to the personal lives of Chicagoans?

In my opinion, one possible reason for this phenomenon could be the good design of the U.S. national flag. Its design follows some essential principles to make good flags, such as keeping simple, using few basic colors, and using symbolic meanings. So the U.S. national flag might be a visually appealing decoration for people’s homes.

Furthermore, I think another possible reason might be patriotism. People may view the national flag as a tangible symbol of their nation or country, and thus, it is possible that people are willing to hang a national flag in their private houses to express their love, their respect, their pride, or their sense of belonging to this country. I assume that it is because of patriotism that national flags, as symbols of the country and nation, may seem to permeate private spaces, closely intertwine with people’s daily lives, and become ubiquitous in various Chicago neighborhoods. In my viewpoint, national flags might serve as visual symbols for Chicagoans to imagine their connection to people living in other areas and states.

What’s more, if we take closer examination of this phenomenon, I find it interesting to compare how individuals perceive their country or nation and what elements they associate with patriotism. As far as I am concerned, both Chinese people and Chicagoans may exhibit patriotism toward their home countries, and both of them might need to have some tangible things in their daily life to express their romantic feelings toward their countries. But, they seem to express it in different ways.

For many Chinese people, patriotism may refer to a kind of respect, loyalty, and enthusiasm not only for home country, but also for the government and certain political party. On the contrary, I feel like Chicagoans may perceive their country as an imaginary community and express patriotism in a distinct manner. For them, the government or political party appear to be viewed differently, and it seems like both of them are excluded from their sense of patriotism. For Chicagoans, patriotism might relate more to their pride and love for their country directly. This distinction could be one of the possible reasons why Chicagoans prefer to hang national flags in their homes instead of displaying headshots of presidents or party leaders. I believe that this phenomenon stems from the unique political culture and historical context in the U.S.. And I think this could be the topic of my next Podcast.

As we reach the end of this Podcast episode, I would like to express my gratitude for your listening. To sum up, I hope this episode can provide you with some interesting insights into the ubiquity of national flags in the city of Chicago, and can serve as a starting point for you to explore broader historical and political context underlying this phenomenon. What’s more, I hope this episode can offer you a comparative perspective to reconsider the patriotism and the relationship between individual’s lives and their own countries. The answers to these questions are always open-ended.