By Bisi Lawrence
It is customary for a community or society, an association or a club, or an institution of any kind –  whether religious, or  political, or social to fashion for itself, or adopt as its own, a form of symbol by which it is identified.

That symbol then becomes not just an emblem of its identity in which resides its hopes and aspirations, but it also a mark of its self worth presented with pride before the world. It is its badge of  honour and the logo of its integrity. That is exactly what a flag represents for a nation.

Flags are as old as nations themselves. They were featured prominently as standards in days gone by during wars between the countries or dukedoms of  Europe and Asia, as we all know from history.

The aspects of  their  military connections imbued them with great significance  as important patriotic equipment. They thus acquired names by which they are known, from  nation to nation. One of  the oldest and best known is the flag of  the United Kingdom called the “Union Jack”, since it is a combination of the flags of  Scotland, Wales and Ireland, which were merged under it.

Then thee is “The Star Spangled Banner”, commonly called “The Stars and Stripes”, an apt description of the flag of the United States, which is also known by Americans as “Old Glory”.

As a republic from the founding of the nation, the U. S. never had an institution of royalty as an feature of its nationhood to which it could owe an allegiance. Its symbol of statehood – its pride and aspirations as a democracy – resides in the flag which is featured in legends of courage and bravery, and even in the national anthem.

The Russians have their “Hammer and Sickle”, the French their “Tricolor” and Ghana ‘The Black Star”.

Several nations, especially the older ones, derived their flags from historical antecedents. But the younger nations of  the world designed theirs for themselves.

The new flags, especially those  of  the emergent nations of Africa, tend to be bent towards inspiration, and fashioned to denote the wealth of the land, or strength of the people. We may here mention Kenya, “Land of the Burning Spear”, or even South Africa, with its rainbow motif.

Our own flag, sometimes ordinarily referred to as the “Green-white-green”, however, appears bland and plain, depicting little.

So important have flags grown in the position they hold as portrayals of the spirit of nations, and  in their position as fixtures in the psyche of the people, that special rituals and observances are accorded them in various nations.

These are codified in the United States, for instance, intriguingly as “The Etiquette of the Flag”.

From the hoisting of the “Star Spangled Banner at dawn, to its lowering at dusk, it is guarded with a variety of ceremonies. The flag should be raised briskly, but lowered gently, according to the Americans. In Nigeria, our flag too was raised with ceremony on October 1, 1960, the day of its birth.

I remember that the man who hoisted it was the most senior Nigerian Police officer, a colourful personality, Agbabiaka by name. But the ceremony seemed to have been in the occasion itself, not particularly with the raising of the flag as an observance by itself.

The Americans also specify that their flag should be displayed daily on the main administration building of every public institution. In fact, it would appear that they take pride in following this instruction. You can see “Old Glory” flying at high mast on every public, and even not-so-public building in every town across the States, except on rainy days, or in any inclement weather, throughout the year – especially on public holidays.

We too indeed do see our “Green-white-green” flying in front of police stations and the like, but that happens, come rain or shine, which usually renders it tattered and dirty in several locations where it is displayed.

In America, the flag is also shown in every school compound, whether private or public, on schooldays. It might   be  the  rule in this country too, but it would appear to be more noticeable in the breach than in the compliance. When   we hold peaceful demonstrations, which are now in vogue, our flag should also be prominently displayed to depict the freedom we are thus expressing “under the flag”.

It is the done thing in the US where freedom of assembly, among other rights, is jealously guarded.

But when the flag is featured in a public procession, it is given a prominent position above any other flag, including even that of the United Nations, except at the UN headquarters where it may share equal prominence.

However, where the flags of two or more nations are displayed together in peacetime, international law prescribes that they should be of equal size and given the same prominence on separate staffs.

There are several other rules pertaining to the use of the “Stars and Stripes” as a mark of respect but in keeping with international law. These include the display of the flag on a motor vehicle or boat, on a wall, across the street, on a speaker’s platform, in a chapel or church, at a state funeral, or at any public function.

In all its display, “the union”, that is the area in which is enclosed the stars representing the states, should never be featured in any subordinate position. The Americans venerate their national flag to the extent that their pledge of allegiance is to “the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which its stands”.

It would appear that we indeed have quite a bit to learn about the respectful usage of a national flag as an embodiment of our ideals as a nation. That is what it should be. That, in fact, is what it is, especially in a republic such as we proudly describe ourselves to be.

Our flag all these years is little more than a drab representation of our vigorousness, wealth, and strength as the single largest unit of black people on earth. Not for nothing have we been described as “The Giant in the Sun”. As we are poised to celebrate the first fifty years of our existence as a nation, we should seriously, and dispassionately, consider how far we can claim to have done justice to that title.

The bane of our progress has been the lack of a unity of purpose, caused by the paucity of a general sense of belonging. We suffer from the absence of a common cause to which we can commit ourselves as one people, welded together by, or for one ideal.

Our meeting points are bare and dry like the face of desert. For instance, our Constitution falls short of the general yearnings of the populace; we even seem afraid of going too close to amend some of its provisions. It is patently impotent to provide a focus for our aspirations as a nation.

Our public institutions like the universities, our public establishments like the police, are bereft of standards of excellence. Although we have so much to look forward to, we have nothing to look up to. We need a rallying point. Our nation needs a symbol of unity.

Our flag, like those of other nations, presents itself for this function. The Nationalm Anthem with which we started out fifty years ago has been changed, mostly for the purpose of change.

On the other hand, we can change our flag for the purpose of turning it into a rallying point for the desire to be one. It is appropriate here to mention that the American flag, which exemplifies the moving spirit of a nation today, went through a number of alterations to make it an embodiment of American ideals. We can give our nation a symbol within our flag.

Ghana did that for herself, and the symbol of the flag became a mark of identity for the nation. She placed a black star in the flag, and that, in the first place, gave the flag itself its name. The football team became The Black Stars; the national maritime body took on the name of the Black Star Lines, and so on.

It was easy for the people to subscribe to the idea of the star as a luminous celestial body, an object worthy of any glorious effort to achieve the best. There is no doubt that the Black Star has indeed served its purpose as an insignia of inspiration, and of pride.

Look at a cluster of  flags at international assemblies, and you will not find it difficult to discern the colourful ones. The so-called “Green-white-green” usually melts within the merry flutter of the display. I have seldom found it easy to discover the location of Nigeria in such situations.

My country’s flag appears deprived of tone, when I eventually see it. It would look rather dowdy uninteresting, uninspiring, and uninviting

Please let us celebrate our Golden Jubilee by giving our flag a facelift, and our hearts a ray of sunshine. I humbly, but heartily, suggest the installation of a golden disc – a yellow ball – to represent the sun for ‘’The Giant in the Sun”, and also give the flag that same name.

We may call it “The Giant”, for short. Let us rename our football team, in the same manner, as “The Giants” too; the game, after all, is still the only point of common interest we have as a nation now. Lat us adopt the sun, in all its power and wealth, as our symbol of nationhood. Let it bring colour to our flag and a sense of belonging to our spirit.

Let us mark an end to mediocrity and the beginning of a bright
future with that source of universal light – the sun. God bless Nigeria, my country.

ECHOES: (0805.313.4238) I would like to ask you, sir, do you share the views of those
“Architects and Engineers about 9/11 Truth”? Unlike “Pearl Harbour” these events were transmitted ‘live’ as they happened …

Yes, indeed! But we are now living in an era of a world of “magic” – supersonic flights, Internet communications, satellite transmissions – the lot! . What is there to be believed? We can now all join with good old Pontius Pilate and ask, “What is truth?”
(TASIE: 0805.170.6714) Thank you, Uncle Bisi for the piece on tithing. It is inspiring that elders like you not only find salvation, but also adhere to God’s tenets.

Thank you. I indeed believe that I     have found salvation, but we are all still “seeking heaven alone.”

(J.A. OBRIKO, ESQ: (0818.225.8488) My Vanguard friend, Bisi, could you please tell your readers more about tithing by reading Deut. 14:22-29?

Yes, my friend. The passage very well emphasizes the purpose of tithing which is “to teach us to always fear the LORD our God ..

(ALOBA: 0706.733.2970) Isn’t it possible  that  the 9/11 terrorists had explosives on board, and that also the point of contact   was  by the flank of  the plane? It makes nosense  for the US to fight in Afghanistan as it is of no strategic benefit. I would like  to point out that Japan was already in the war on the side of the Axis powers by 1940.

They had already invaded China, Korea and the Philippines under General Tojo, their hawkish army chief.
If there were explosives on the terrorist’s plane, and that is a possibility, anything is possible.

As for the American decision to fight in Afghanistan, a number of conjectures present themselves. You tell me why. But I inadvertently gave the impression that Japan entered the WW II on the heels of  Pearl Harbour. That is patently incorrect. You are right.

Japan signed the Axis pact in 1940, one year after the war started, and even more than one year before Pearl Harbour. However, the main storyline stands. What are you, anyway – a war history buff’? Thanks for the correction. By the way, your take on today’s theme -will a new flag, not necessarily the proposed design, help?
Time out.