National Flags, the Politicization and Sanctification of Nations

Abstract

We move now to consider the context in which flags have become significant political symbols. The sacred nature of their treatment, induced and attained through the ritualization of nationhood, explains why burning a piece of cloth is considered an act of desecration and lays bare the flag’s intricate relationship to the nation. The contradictory and contextualized nature of national flags is now investigated as flags continue to constitute meaningful yet empty, treated as both sacred or mundane objects depending on context. Flags can be uniting yet divisive symbols, and used as instruments or counter-instruments; some are used to honour, others to dishonour. National flags have remained successful political symbols over centuries because they authenticate boundaries by symbolizing commonality. Physically, flag poles displayed on either side of territorial border crossings highlight such claims as the flags here eliminate ambiguity. The signalling of territorial claims and commonality also make flags into highly divisive agents as they are used to threaten, warn or deny strangers of membership. Flags are used to bestow honour on allies but their usage also extends to dishonour or condemn enemies. In this chapter we build on the flag-typology and the symbolic regimes identified previously and explore the contexts and developments of these and the nations that they represent.