There is controversy lately over the American flag.
Marcus Lemonis is the CEO of Camping World, with some 210 locations across the nation. He loves the USA, his adopted country, and shows his love by flying huge American flags at his businesses.
Some of the local authorities in North Carolina are clamping down on this. Fox News reports they are suing him “over his refusal to take down the colossal flags.”
Originally from Beirut, Lemonis sees this battle over the stars and stripes as a personal cause. He says, "I’ve put a lot of sweat and tears into building this business for my people, for the country. And it’s my love letter to tell everybody how grateful I am this country provided me an opportunity where it didn’t have to. To make money, to be a capitalist, to provide jobs in America."
Some municipalities where his flags fly complain that the banner and the pole are just too big, per Fox Business. “The Greenville [N.C.] City Council said the flag is nearly the size of a basketball court at 3,200 square feet. It flies on a pole that stands 130 feet tall, almost double the size of what is currently allowed.” It was 15 times the size allowed by ordinance.
Lemonis has already closed one of his dealerships over the issue. In a choice between the flag or the business, he chose the flag.
Symbols like the flag are important, making the battles over them important as well.
The American flag, “Old Glory,” has an interesting backstory, and church played a role. Go back about 250 years ago. At different times when George Washington was in Philadelphia, for example, in the summer of 1787 when he presided over the Constitutional Convention, the father of our country regularly worshiped at Christ Church. Other parishioners there included single mother and widow Betsy Ross, who was a seamstress, and Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who had served in the Continental Congress.
Francis Hopkinson came up with the design for the flag, Betsy Ross implemented the plan, and George Washington oversaw the whole process.
A generation later, the American flag was at the center of the incident that caused Francis Scott Key to write what became our National Anthem. That anthem in turn helped give birth to our National Motto.
During the War of 1812, when America was at war with England (again), the British managed to conquer the nascent city of Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1814.
Then they turned their sites on Baltimore, a plush target at the time (compared to the swamp that was D.C.). But Fort McHenry in the Baltimore Harbor stood in the way of the invading British.
Francis Scott Key served as the District Attorney at Georgetown, Washington, D.C. During the War of 1812, President Madison authorized Key to negotiate the release of an American being held captive by the British in a fleet near the mouth of the Potomac River. This was on September 13, 1814.
As Key and his delegation set out for the negotiation, they were taken aboard a British truce ship and held as captives overnight—as the British fleet attempted to decimate Fort McHenry.
Through the night of September 13-14, Key watched helplessly as the British mercilessly bombarded the fort.
But when the morning came, at “the dawn’s early light,” Francis Scott Key was overjoyed to see the fort still standing, and the American flag still waving.
This incident inspired him to write a hymn/poem, dedicated to the “Defense of Fort McHenry.” The song, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” became instantly popular. Later it became our National Anthem.
The usually-unsung fourth verse declares:
“Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heavn’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust!’”
Later “In God We Trust” was added to our coins in the 1860s and our bills in the 1950s. Also, in the 1950s, Congress adopted as our national motto: “In God We Trust.” It is still our national motto.
Dr. Peter Lillback, founder of Providence Forum, notes that each of the colors of the U.S. flag has significance. Red stands for hardiness and valor. White stands for purity and innocence. Blue stands for perseverance, justice, and vigilance. Those seven values are critical for us to maintain our country.
In his song, “God Bless the USA,” Lee Greenwood has the line: “the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away.” But while it’s a great song, history has proved over and over again that freedom can indeed be taken away. The flag is a reminder to us to always be vigilant in the defense of freedom.
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Dr. Jerry Newcombe is the executive director of Providence Forum, a division of Coral Ridge Ministries, where Jerry also serves as senior producer and an on-air contributor. He has written/co-written 33 books, including (with D. James Kennedy), What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? and (with Dr. Peter Lillback), George Washington’s Sacred Fire.
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