cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/4249593

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis called the Gadsden flag ‘a proud symbol of the American revolution’ after a a Colorado student was told to remove a patch of the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag from his backpack.

  • Kalcifer@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    It sucks that the symbol is associated with assholes.

    I would suggest rewriting this statement as follows:

    “It sucks that the symbol gets associated with assholes.”

    This does, of course, depend on which “assholes” that you are referring to; however, the bottom line is that the Gadsden flag is a symbol that represents ideas of individual liberty, and resistance to authoritarianism. If it gets mistakenly co-opted by individuals that do not share these values, that does not change what the flag fundamentally represents, but, instead, that which it gets associated with.

    I’m pretty left, but I’ve always liked the Don’t Tread on Me flag…

    It depends on how you are defining “left-wing” but I would that the Gadsden flag’s symbolism is not mutually exclusive with being “left-wing”. At a fundamental level, the Gadsden flag represents ideas of rejecting authoritarianism and supporting individual liberty. So long as one’s beliefs align with this, then they can fly the flag without compunction.

    The average person displaying this flag treads all over people’s rights constantly, though.

    This statement is pure conjecture.