Based on recent proclamations from the MAGA government and the zealotry that some of its partisans have for the American flag, you’d never guess that flag worship was really not a thing in the United States for a very long time. Most Americans in the first half of the 19th century had little to no knowledge of the Stars and Stripes; that is, until the Civil War changed everything. Joe and Mark discuss Old Glory’s journey from military banner to object of near-religious veneration and how that history informs the flag-related controversies we see today.
