America, Encapsulated

I took the image above during the town parade on the 4th of July. There were a lot of flags in the parade, both big and small.

I’m aware some folks outside of the United States are curious as to why we Americans are so fond of our flag. Each part of the flag means something — the 50 stars represent the 50 states in our country, the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies, and so on — but what’s more, it’s a symbol of our national pride. It’s not an easy thing to explain, and it’s not based on conceit or elitism or ego (it may not seem like it at present, but it is true). It’s just a very basic part of who we are as a nation.

The U.S. isn’t perfect, and we have things in our country’s history of which to be ashamed, but overall, I think we do pretty well. And I am proud to be an American.

Thus concludes my random tangent into patriotism. We now resume your regularly scheduled photo blog.