From the original version, to patriotism, to crude criticism...

Before showing you how artists have immortalized in multiple forms, and relative meanings, the object of investigation in question, which, explicated by the title, is none other than the most well-known and widespread flag in the world, that is, for better or worse, the American flag, I will briefly discuss its more traditional iconography, and then reveal, only later, how the latter has oftentimes been transformed within the varied narrative of art history. It all starts with the final version of the above-mentioned banner, such as that of 1959, consisting of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red 6 six white alternating, and the upper quadrant presided over by a blue rectangle containing 50 white stars, ordered in 9 rows of 6 or 5 stars, alternating. It should be made clear that this is not just a purely aesthetic or chromatically balanced arrangement, as the sum of the stars clearly refers to the number of U.S. states, while the 13 stripes allude to the original thirteen colonies. Moreover, to what has been said there is to be added the presence of an equally rich symbolism, which, concealed in the features of the flag in question, is intended to represent the freedom and rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as to symbolize personal and individual liberty. After these basics, which leave out the longer history of the birth of the final version of the drape in question, we are ready to see how the aforementioned symbol of sovereignty has sometimes been faithfully reproduced by the art-historical narrative and, in other cases, cleverly and searchingly "usurped" in its features and, consequently, in its meanings. In a somewhat gradual manner, I want to present first celebratory and then desecrating works, starting with the analysis of a canvas dated 1851, namely Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware, where an older version of thestars and stripes flag appears in the patriotic scene in which Washington, leading two thousand five hundred men, set out to assault the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey, on December 25, 1776, an extremely famous and iconic event of the American Revolutionary War, which, heavily charged with nationalist spirit, turned the masterpiece in question into one of the most beloved, famous and reproduced paintings. In addition, still on the subject of the canvas, it is important to point out how this one, in addition to highlighting the figure of Washington, wanted to symbolize all the peoples of the new United States of America, immortalizing a figure wearing a Scottish bonnet, a man of African descent, two peasants with wide-brimmed hats, and a figure, wearing clothes akin to those of Native Americans. What is more, another curiosity is that the man standing next to Washington, having the flag in his hand, appears to be Lieutenant James Monroe: future president of the United States.

CABIN AMERICAN FLAGSculpture by Jerome Chauvin (JICE).

CALIFORNIA OCEAN FLAG (2020)Painting by Dutch Montana.

Now, pursuing the intent of progressively desecrating the quintessential U.S. symbol, I move from highlighting the drape-Washington juxtaposition, to highlight the fusion of the stars and stripes with a simpler sandwich and pack of cigarettes, an image rendered by Tom Wesselmann's masterpiece titled Still Life Number 36, aimed at manifesting an imminent consumerist transformation of the country in question, capable of sweeping away many of the ideals explicated by the iconography of the flag, to replace them with a new and relentless thirst for economic expansion, mainly based on a media bombardment, ready to foist junk food, death vices, as well as a progressively decaying quality of life on the masses. In fact, the artist intended the work in a much less "violent" way from mine, that is, pursuing the simple goal of making explicit how everything could be art, including the common consumer objects that fill our pockets and kitchen cabinets. We thus find messages more akin to those explicated by my thinking, certainly more oriented toward a more idyllic and dreamy return to the state of nature, in such expository masterpieces as Sean Scully's Ghost 2 (2018), or Emma Amos's Stars and Stripes (1992) and U.S.A. Surpasses All the Genocide Records, U.S. Surpasses All Genocide Records... (c. 1966) by George Maciunas. Speaking of the first artist, he, inspired by the 2014 killing of 12-year-old African American Tamir Rice at the hands of a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2014, created the series of paintings called Ghost, in which, through the replacement of the stars of the American flag with a gun, the painter highlighted how the right to bear arms, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution itself, could also be seen as an act of betrayal against the same banner. In conclusion, if the message of denunciation toward the U.S. appears highly explicit from the title and text present in Maciunas' work, in Amos' Stars and Stripes (1992) the replacement of the blue field of white stars with a photographic transfer depicting AfroAmerican children in blue tint, as well as the presence of an X, intended to negate the traditional interpretation of stripes, changes designed to invite the viewer to question the actual freedom granted by the American banner, are realized. ..Finally, other interpretations, both critical and more hopeful, come at the hands of some of Artmajeur's artists, as seen in the work of Fov, David Decourcelle, and Elle Mccarthy.

20US (2021)Painting by Fov.

Fov: 20US

Fov's Pop art transforms the red of the stripes into rivulets of blood, ready to trickle from the bottom to the top to indicate the end of a vital path, made explicit in its term by the stars turned into crosses, probably intended to allude to all those innocent victims of the America system, who have died unjustly at the hands of its laws, its unbridled capitalism, its authorities, its lust for power, its inexorable desire for control over the globe, etc. In any case, in reporting the artist's thought and, consequently, having openly criticized America, I come to realize how, in reality, it is quite difficult to besmirch U.S. policy without finding, in a parallel manner, other similar tendencies of exploitation, malfeasance and unconscionable enrichment, which, now widespread, are more or less blatantly manifested in the rest of the world, reminding me of the famous phrase from the Gospel according to John: let he who is without sin cast the first stone...Leaving aside further moralizing intentions, I would like to compare 20US, which expresses itself through symbols, to Carlos Martiel's Fundamento (2020), a performance aimed at explicating, this time through body language, a naked, raw and honest reality, in which a physical torture induced by the American flag itself takes shape, which, probably while not leading to the aforementioned death, has the purpose of anticipating it in order to allude to it. In fact, as made explicit by the artist himself, Fundamento was inspired by the well-known and much-talked-about murder of George Floyd, an event evoked by the helpless figure of the artist lying on the floor. Finally, this last image certainly represents a decidedly unpatriotic work, which, like the artist's work in Artmajeur, casts a glance toward what is not working within American society and politics, probably to stimulate a debate, aimed at promoting any form of improvement.

OLD GLORY (2021)Painting by David Decourcelle.

David Decourcelle: Old glory

The American flag, through Decourcelle's interpretation, has become mute, since, deprived of its stars and stripes, it is no longer capable of telling us, that is, of alluding to the states of America, the colonies, freedom and rights, transforming itself, as per the title, into something that, now undone, belongs only to the past, just like that sadly gone sentiment of those who believed in the dream dated 1776, but then realized, along the way, the quarrels of the man-political relationship. In the narrative of the figurative arts, however, it is possible to show how the flag in question has taken various forms, more or less capable of narrating its history and meanings, even considering only the figurative investigation of Jasper Johns, that is, the author of more than 40 works based on the flag of the United States, among which, particularly notable are the large and monochromatic White Flag of 1955 and Three Flags of 1958, depicting three overlapping flags showing a total of 84 stars. Speaking of the first encaustic painting, the subject of the drape in question was designed to be drained of its characteristic coloration in order to become a kind of ghost with a bleached appearance and a composite, as well as layered, form, intended to make an extremely familiar image strange. In fact, the artist's purpose was not so much to criticize America, but to address the viewer in order to challenge his perception, complicating his relationship with national identity. Finally, it is curious to reveal how Johns' flag series came about two years after the artist was discharged from the U.S. Army, a time when he was inspired by a dream of the U.S. flag in 1954. Speaking of the first encaustic painting, the subject of the drape in question was designed to be drained of its characteristic coloration in order to become a kind of ghost with a bleached appearance and a composite, as well as layered, form, intended to make an extremely familiar image strange. In fact, the artist's purpose was not so much to criticize America, but to address the viewer in order to challenge his perception, complicating his relationship with national identity. Finally, it is curious to reveal how Johns' flag series came about two years after the artist was discharged from the U.S. Army, a time when he was inspired by a dream of the U.S. flag in 1954.

"PEACE SIGN" (2022)Painting by Elle Mccarthy.

Elle Mccarthy: Peace sign

Referring to the artist's words in Artmajeur, Peace sign was inspired by a photograph by David Peterson, in order to bring to life a painting, part of a series of works, having the intent to give voice and semblance to U.S. patriotism, in this case made explicit by the presence of a hand making the sign of victory, complementing with its stars and stripes the American features in the background. A kindred sentiment was expressed by Childe Hassam in Day of Allied Victory (1917), an impressionist-inspired painting that depicts the day during World War I when Americans celebrated the country's entry into the conflict, externalizing it through a euphoric mood, which had the consequence of filling cities with drapes not only with stars and stripes, but also depicting the decussate crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick (flag of England), as well as the blue, white and red of France. It is precisely these latter subjects that are imposed within the composition, presenting themselves in a lively zigzag arrangement, to be understood as a manifesto of a precise thought of the time, according to which the war would provide an opportunity for the aforementioned peoples to restore democracy to the world through their salvific intervention in the conflict. Finally, another painting celebrating the American flag is Frederic Edwin Church's Our Banner in the Sky (1861), a work in which the aforementioned banner emerges from a dusky starry sky suspended over a verdant landscape, dazzling the viewer with its colors, intended to evoke a reverential awe, which, in fact, harkens back to the difficult era of the Civil War.