A life lived between two cultural truths and the reclamation that follows.

For years, national emblems like the Union Jack, Stars and Stripes have been a symbol of collective solidarity as well as exclusion disguised as pride. Over the last few years we’ve seen a reclamation of what it means to wave your flag as well as examples of how to own your identity in a nation where you’re essentially made to feel an outsider when you ARE in fact British or American.

For a lot of us, identity comes to a crossroads, heritage on the right, nationality on the left. Dual identities creates a silent tension. To exist as both Black and British or Black and American – constantly trying to understand a language untranslatable and trying to navigate a journey with no map.

I’m here for the bending of nationhood and remixing a flag and translating it into something more, something new and something to be reckoned with – a language of resistance translated through music, style and motifs. 

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History of the flags:

The Union Jack was made to be a symbol of sovereignty under the Monarchy, signifying the strength of the British Empire. However, for many it’s also a reminder of cruel colonialism, the theft and erasure of so many cultures. A flag that signifies a nation that benefits from immigration but chooses to acknowledge the contribution of immigrants in construction the country and its culture.

The ideology of the American Flag is built on freedom and liberty – propaganda for ‘the land of the free’. Yet conflict between futures and actuality, supposed freedom for some and oppression for the rest.

Flags are meant to represent an entirety of people but how when these flags aren’t the intended symbols of unity for ALL but instead,  for SOME.

The reality is, your place in a country’s national ethos is shaped by the colour of your skin.

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I’m not going to bore you explaining and rambling about tons of examples we’ve already seen and examples that are currently unfolding before us. Outkast, Beyonce, A$AP Rocky, Solange, Rihanna, Len, YT, Rachel Chinouriri, AfroSurrealist… the list goes on

However, some examples that stood out to me were;

Uzi’s Pink Tape Cover:

Uzi feminising such an aggressively political and masculine symbol is more than an abstract artistic choice for an album cover, but a look into a future that is reshaped by a new world order.

Stormzy’s Union Jack Bulletproof Vest:

When Stomzy headlined in ‘019 wearing the bulletproof vest with the Union Jack by Banksy. The weaponisation of the flag, a political stunt highlighting the countries knife crime crisis and symbolising a nation that throws stones and hides its hands – the mistreatment and exclusion of help that minorities seek, excused by the fantasy that we live in a nation where everyone is treated equally.

Momo Boyd’s ‘American Love Song:

I saw Momo receiving loads of backlash for the way she embraced Americana through her single. Her use of the American flag as a metaphor of how the deep rooted sense of individualism in the country’s culture hinders the ability to love without bounds. Similar to Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’ music video that explored how we’re able to ‘find love’ in places that aren’t intended for us to thrive in, where she rocked a US flag inspired denim jacket- turning a ‘hopeless’ place into somewhere where powerful things are birthed.

Jim Legxacy’s Black British Music:

The purpose of the project being intended to aid other first-gen Black Brits Artists (according to Rolling Stone). His use of the British Flag as a storytelling prompt along with a gateway to his own personal nostalgia but a journey and experience a lot of us shared while exploring what it means to be from Africa and the Caribbean whilst also being British.

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Yes, flags are symbols but not only are they a reclamation of what it means to belong to a nation but they also serve as mirrors – mirrors that for so long, seemed to reflect everything but us. Not anymore though, now as we continue the reclamation of our flags and the navigation of the intricacies of our identity, we come to see that nationalism isn’t just limited to patriotism but self-expression and evolution.

Thanks for reading,

Until next time,

Megankamangawrites.