A new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reveals that Americans are deeply divided over the meaning of the American flag along political, racial, and age lines.
The poll, conducted from April 16-20 among 2,596 adults, found that about half of U. S.
adults display the flag at home year-round or during holidays.
Political and Generational Divide
Seventy percent of Republicans and 60% of adults aged 60 and older fly the flag, while 60% of Democrats and independents never do.
Among Democrats under 45, 75% never display it.
Matthew Delmont, a professor of American history at Dartmouth College, noted that the flag carries complex meanings for minority groups.
“A lot of Black Americans see the flag as a symbol of both inclusion and exclusion,” Delmont said.
He added that the emblem is sometimes used to promote a selective narrative of national identity, rooted in exclusion.
Racial Perspectives
Only 30% of Black adults ever display the flag, compared to about half of white and Hispanic respondents.
Just 22% of Black adults view it as a unifying symbol, versus 55% of white adults.
Jerry Esters, a 64-year-old retired Black auto clay sculptor in Detroit, flies three flags at his home.
He sees the flag as representing personal success and ancestral progress, referencing his great-great-grandmother who was born into slavery.
“To me, that’s one reason I fly the flag.
We went through a lot to be able to own nice homes, and this is what we fought for,” Esters said.
In contrast, Yvonne Pistochini, a 79-year-old Black Detroit resident, said she would never display the flag due to socioeconomic disparities and political polarization.
“Just because you fly a flag doesn’t make you a patriot,” Pistochini said.
Allison Wiltz, a Black author, described the flag as “a painful symbol” of unfulfilled promises for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
White Republicans like Nancy Hansen, 73, associate the flag with personal liberty.
Linda Cunningham, 63, a conservative in Michigan, rejected political interpretations, saying, “It’s no political thing, at all.”
Paul Walthour, a 71-year-old retired advertising executive from Minnesota, observed that ideological extremes interpret the flag differently, making it “more dividing than uniting.”
