Unfurling the Flag: Reflections on American Patriotism

“Unfurling the Flag” will be on view at Beinecke Library from March 16 – Sept. 27. Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “Unfurling the Flag: Reflections on American Patriotism” explores the complex ideological and political power of patriotism in the United States. Over time, conceptions of loyalty, allegiance, and national belonging have evolved, and patriotism has been likewise reimagined and reinvented through national conversations, policies, protests, and bloodshed. This presentation explores the distinctive ways that leaders and common citizens alike have revisited patriotism through historic writings, speeches, maps, photographs, drawings, and other items from Yale Library’s collections. Additionally, the exhibition highlights the implications of marshaling patriotism to justify foreign interventions, establish hierarchies for national priorities, register dissent, and draw boundaries of civic inclusion and exclusion. What is at stake when we talk about patriotism? How are its ideals informed by the country’s founding documents and expressed in today’s conversations? “Unfurling the Flag” makes visible the varied meanings that citizens, officials, activists, intellectuals, artists, and others have assigned to national allegiance, and invites gallery visitors to reflect on how our notion of patriotism might continue to unfold in the future. Curator: Joshua Cochran