> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.robbscapitolhill.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # See It Online: Capture the Flag - URL: https://www.robbscapitolhill.com/capture-the-flag/ - Published: 2026-07-02T01:33:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-09T15:07:08.000Z - Author: Robb Hill ## America’s Competition for Identity Subscribe to Robb's Capitol Hill for more visual commentary and quests from the DMV's one-man photo bureau. [Be the first to sign up for Robb's Capitol Hill ](https://www.robbscapitolhill.com/#/portal) ## ****What does America's flag mean to you?** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/2_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/3_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/4_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/5_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/6_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/7_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/8_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/9_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/10_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) Flags can be beautiful banners, offering communities, states, and nations a focal point to gather around. Yet that very same flag can also be experienced as divisive, even horrific. Throughout American history, The Stars and Stripes has functioned both as a rallying point and a symbol of oppression — often at the same time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/11_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/12_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/13_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/14_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/15_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/16_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/17_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/18_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/19_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) As the unfurled embodiment of our highest ideals, Old Glory stands for freedom, liberty, and democratic principles. In our nation's darker moments, the American flag has been equated with oppression, blatant inequality, colonialism, and blind self-righteousness. In his essay "Notes on Nationalism," George Orwell writes that patriotism is "devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to enforce on other people." In the same essay, Orwell defines nationalism as "the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” Orwell acknowledges how easily the two can blur, so he separates: "patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally," but "nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/12_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/13_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/14_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/15_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/16_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/17_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/18_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/19_Capture_the_Flag-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/20_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/21_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/22_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/23_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/36/86/3686685c-eb11-4657-b981-b531c420018a/content/images/2026/07/24_Capture_the_Flag.jpg) Capture The Flag We are living through a moment in the American experiment when the meaning of the flag feels fundamentally divided. Does our flag symbolize e pluribus unum — a nation where many cultures, foods, religions, and driving habits coexist? Or does the Star-Spangled Banner represent one kind of people, with a singular heritage forged at the beginning of the republic? Capture the Flag looks at how Americans project their beliefs, fears, and identities onto this enduring symbol — one that has never been as unified as we might imagine. --- I want to give a big thanks to Eric Bond, WOWD, and Talk of Takoma for featuring this work and the great conversation. I also want to thank Mary Goodwin, the founder of the [Aurora PhotoCenter](https://www.auroraphoto.org/?ref=robbscapitolhill.com) in Indianapolis, for her friendship and support of this project. Subscribe to Robb's Capitol Hill for more visual commentary and quests from the DMV's one-man photo bureau. [Be the first to sign up for Robb's Capitol Hill ](https://www.robbscapitolhill.com/#/portal)