Young artists can design a new flag for America's future

The Fly Your Flag contest is a chance for you to show your America. The American flag you know, Star-Spangled Banner, is a national symbol that visually represents our past — the 13 colonies — and our present — the 50 states. 

As a young person, you are the future. We want to see what flag flies for the country you experience, or for the country you hope to build. Maybe you’ll remix the current design as part of your own (like Andy Warhol and Amy Sherald have done) or create something altogether new.

As you get started, take some time to think about why we use flags as symbols, not just as Americans, but as humans worldwide.         

Big ideas:

• The earliest civilizations used flags to visually symbolize their identity
• Flags can represent not just countries and states, but also individual and group identities, like the rainbow flag or pirate flags 
• Flags are “visual shorthand” for regions, countries, and ideas
• Artists have often reinterpreted the flag, either to honor it, or to challenge its meaning 

Big Questions: 

• What’s the real story of how the American flag was designed and created? 
• If you made a flag to tell people about you and your identity, what symbols would be on it? What would those symbols represent?
• What are some other examples of “visual shorthand” and how do others know what they mean? What are some you use in every life? (Here’s a hint: 😄)
• As an artist, do you want to reinterpret the meaning of the American flag? Or question or challenge it? How will you do that? 
• In Tim Marshall’s book A Flag Worth Dying For, he asks, “How can a piece of cloth come to mean so much?” Why do you think flags mean so much to the citizens of a country? 

How to submit your video

A letter to families: Important information about the Fly Your Flag contest that everyone should know

Resources: 

Articles: 

• “Five Myths About the American Flag” The Washington Post
• “Are Flags Just Pieces of Cloth, Or Are They a Powerful Symbol of Something Greater?” Inc
• “Interesting Facts for Kids About the Flags of the World” Kids World Travel Guide 
• “Every State Flag (Plus DC) and the Meaning Behind Each” USA TODAY

Books:

• The Flag Book, Lonely Planet Kids 
• Stars and Stripes: The Story of the American Flag by Sarah L. Thompson
• The American Flag, a True Book Elaine Landau

Slide deck: Introduction to 'Fly Your Flag' contest

Additional resources for students aged 13+

• “Where Do Flags Come From? Since ancient times, civilizations have carried staffs, crests and banners to declare their identities” The Atlantic
• “Controversial Depictions of the US Flag in Art” BBC
• “The Visual Power of the Four Flags in the News This Week,” Wired
• “And American Flag Tradition in Hip-Hop Albums and Song Covers” Homegrown Radio 

Books:

• A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols by Tim Marshall

Web: 

• American Flag Remix 

Rubric

As you engage your students in this project, you can share and consider this rubric. 

As our committee reviews flag submissions, they will consider these five categories: 

• Impact: We’re looking for designs that will capture, and keep, a viewer’s attention. 
  • Does your flag make a lasting impression? 
• Civic Vision: We’re excited to learn more about students’ civic vision, what they want others to understand about their home, community, country, and future. 
  • Does the flag have an important message for and about Americans?
• Unification: We want to know what connects young Americans despite their differences. 
  • Is the flag meaningful to different kinds of people? Does it show what brings everyone together? 
• Originality: We can’t wait to see something we’ve never seen before.
  • Is the flag unique and creative? 
• Craftsmanship: We want to see the depth of talent that America's students are bringing to the world of visual art. 
  • Did the artist use care, skill, and sustained effort when designing their flag?