Old Glory is Missing in Action

When Americans on left and right give up on the Stars and Stripes, it's time for a red, white, and blue opposition

Rina Shah is a Washington, DC-based political advisor, commentator, and social entrepreneur. In 2016, she became the first RNC delegate to speak out against Donald Trump. She currently serves as a member of the Renew Democracy Initiative advisory board.

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Old Glory is missing in action.

When protesters hit the streets last month to resist ICE raids in Los Angeles, CNN called the Mexican flag a “defining symbol” of the demonstrations. The banners of other nations—from Latin American countries to the Palestinian flag—have become regular fixtures at anti-Trump rallies. Cynics on the other side latch onto these images. “We fly the American flag in America,” thundered Congressman Jim Jordan in a chest-thumping tweet amid the LA protests. Of course, that’s a dishonest take coming from a vocal Trump loyalist like Jordan. Why? Because when American flags appear at right-wing events, they’re often crowded out by MAGA flags (an un-American display of personal fealty to the president) or by corruptions like the Thin Blue Line. The Confederate stars and bars have a not-insignificant presence in pro-Trump spaces.

I am the daughter of immigrants. I'm proud to wave the American flag, even when I’m not proud of our government. And I want other Americans to share that pride. This Independence Day, it’s time for a patriotic opposition to reclaim the American flag—fifty stars; thirteen stripes; red, white, and blue.

My attachment to the flag begins with my family. My parents and grandparents were Indian by ethnicity and Ugandan by citizenship. It’s a heritage most Americans aren’t aware of—although both FBI Director Kash Patel and New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani share that background. Growing up in West Virginia coal country speaking Gujarati and Hindi with Swahili sprinkled in certainly made me an enigma to my peers. Yet at one point, our community numbered as many as 100,000 in Uganda.

A mad dictator changed all of that. In 1971, an army officer named Idi Amin seized power in a coup d’etat. He harassed, jailed, tortured, and killed many Ugandans of all backgrounds, but he had a special hatred for those with Indian ancestry—people like my family. Ultimately, he ordered the entire Asian population to leave the East African country.

I was born in America. Nevertheless, my family’s experience in Uganda always felt near. In my formative years, I’d spend time in the company of some of my grandmother’s friends as they’d tearfully recount to me how the regime cruelly disappeared their husbands. As a child, I often caught glimpses of scars on my grandfather’s back, permanent reminders of prison camp beatings.

Appropriately for the Fourth of July, my father chose America as his refuge from deadly persecution while dozens of his relatives turned to Great Britain. My dad loved the concept of the United States before he set foot on her shores: A nation founded on ideas rather than one organized around blood and soil or royal dynasties. He, along with my mother and my grandparents, endured an arduous process to become lawful citizens.

Celebrating Independence Day at the White House in 2024

My parents were born in a nation where they were told the flag was not theirs simply because of their ethnicity. After losing two generations of wealth, they were able to create a new home in a country where the flag belongs to the people—all of the people. The American flag belongs to my West Virginia high school classmates, who’d hoist it from their pickup trucks. You’ll see it hanging proudly on front porches in cities from Anchorage, Alaska to Jacksonville, Florida and everywhere in between.

In the political arena, however, it’s increasingly hard to find a simple, unadulterated American flag flown with pride. Any movement that wants to win should recognize this opportunity. A widely-respected symbol with national appeal is essentially up for grabs! The question is, which side will take it: those working to tear down our democratic institutions, or those fighting to protect them?

I understand that America is complicated and flawed—our flag carries that weight, too. Public opinion research shows that, on balance, Americans hold the flag in high esteem. However, certain segments of the population, including some younger people and liberals, are less comfortable with the Stars and Stripes than their older and more conservative-leaning neighbors.

To anyone reluctant to wave the flag because of the shadows of the past, let me challenge you. Those fighting for a better America have never abandoned the flag to those who would pervert its potential. Yes, the flag was first raised in a slaveholding society. But, it was also carried into battle by Union soldiers who fought and died to end human bondage. It flew above Japanese internment camps, yet it was also hoisted over liberated Nazi concentration camps. It was emblazoned upon Ku Klux Klan pamphlets demanding “America for Americans.” But, it was also courageously displayed by black Americans marching for civil rights. The flag was my north star when, in 2016, I became the first elected Republican National Committee delegate to publicly reject a demagogic candidate who lured millions with a promise to make America great again.

These are not contradictions. The flag is a tangible manifestation of the adage that there is nothing wrong with America that can’t be cured by what’s right with America.

My grandparents’ Ugandan passports

My grandmother, my grandfather, and my dad have all passed on. I recently came across my grandparents’ Ugandan passports. When I looked at their documents, I felt a pang of sadness. For their absence. For what they lost in the country they were raised in. That is a part of my story. So, I understand the swell of emotions Latin American immigrants in Los Angeles and elsewhere must feel as their stories and their place in the United States are under attack.

Still, seeing my grandparents’ Ugandan papers also triggered a swell of American pride. It evoked everything that they and my father taught me. They taught me that I am lucky to be born in this country, where I enjoy the freedoms my family lost in East Africa, rights that billions across the globe are still denied. And they taught me freedom can’t survive in complacency; it’s sustained through many kinds of brave sacrifices. Looking at those passports reminded me of the need to plant a flag—physically and figuratively—to reclaim my place here.

The fight to preserve American liberty is in full swing. Yet to be effective citizens, we also need to reflect, to rest, and recoup.

Spend time with family and friends over the next few days. Celebrate the birth of this incredible union. Think about what we are working toward. Then, when you come back from the long weekend, speak out. Exercise your First Amendment rights. And wherever you go, if you bring a flag, let it be the American flag.

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