For a cause...

Whenever I watch movies on the Civil War or Revolutionary War, I am always struck by the significance/insignificance of the flag bearer. One man carries the sacred symbol, representing "the cause" of the entire army. He walks boldly alongside his compatriots, the lone unarmed soldier. I'm sure there are rules stating that opposing flag bearers are off limits when choosing your target, but on a battlefield, chaos overshadows the "rules." Inevitably, the guys in the front are gunned down, and the flag bearer is no exception. When he falls, flag in hand, the man directly behind him or to his side abandons his weapon and picks up the symbol, never considering letting it drop unregarded. This next man will most likely face the same fate as the man before him, someone else will take on the responsibility of carrying the flag forward, and the cycle continues to victory or defeat. I am awed by this kind of dedication to symbolism.


As a human being, I understand the need for symbols to represent complex concepts. In war especially, there is a need to constantly keep in mind what you are fighting for. There is a purpose, a cause, and when your individual fight becomes too overwhelming, and you feel like there's no point in continuing, you recall the big picture, the thought of which can give you strength to endure. In books and stories, this is a very romantic concept. Flags wave, feelings of hope and independence run rampant. But realistically, how ridiculous.

It's one thing to place a flag in a court room to stand as a symbol of all that our nation has endured. It's quite another to turn a soldier into a sitting duck at the most dangerous moment of his life. If two armies are fighting each other, it's not as if one side is going to say, "Hey, who are we fighting and why?" in the event that no flags are present. "The Cause" being fought for is ever present with or without a symbol to represent it.

The only realistic purpose I can see for a flag on a battle field is to help the generals observing the fight identify their army's status. But come on, there are other indications of how the fight is going besides the location of a piece of cloth on a stick.

All this to say that I don't know if I could ever sacrifice my life for the sake of a symbol. When I read novels and notice symbols that can be neatly defined and are romantically displayed, I am moved, sometimes to tears. But in real life, I am hardened to such "foolish" displays. Why get hurt? Why die? It's only a symbol.

Growing up in a Christian family, I was told stories of martyrs. Men and women beaten, sawn in two, fed to lions, all because they refused to deny the truths they believed in. On hearing these stories, I was amazed and saddened. I couldn't help but think, why didn't they just say they didn't believe? Saying it wouldn't make it true, and surely God would understand the situation and look into their hearts to see the truth. There was no need for them to die.

Recently, I read an account of a homeless man from Guatemala (I think?) living in the U.S., and it caused me to reevaluate my feelings on the subject of symbolism in "real life." In his country, he was taken into custody as a political prisoner for belonging to a group dedicated to worker's rights. He was tortured for weeks in really horrific ways, and by the time he was released, his body was a mess, and he weighed around 80lbs, down from 150lbs. He said his captors told him over and over that if he would sign a statement siding with them, he would be released. I can't remember his exact words, but he says something like, My father taught me never to back down from what is right. My father believed in me. It's amazing what a person is capable of withstanding if he knows someone believes in him. I read this and I thought, Wow. Could I ever be that dedicated to representing what I believed to be right? This man had no flag to hold. He himself was the symbol.

And I suppose that's what a flag bearer is actually doing. It's not the flag he waves that represents his cause, it is the man sacrificing all he has for the cause that is the real symbol.

I wonder how many people would be willing to make themselves symbols no matter the cost in this age of apathy. Would you?