Flag Day - by Benny Andrews

At the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago stands one of the finest and most symbolic works of American art: titled Flag Day and painted by African-American painter Benny Andrews in the year 1966.

In the painting, you see an African-American figure emerging from the American flag (which has been turned on its side), almost using it as a cover or blanket. The figure seems to be grasping two of the stripes almost as if he is grabbing the bars of a jail cell. 

The juxtaposition of the harsh, prison-like stripes coupled with the comfort the figure seems to find in being enveloped in the flag points to America being a double-edged sword. This man finds asylum and freedom in the US, but he also is trapped in a system of racial inequality. 

One could also interpret this as a metaphor for the African-American community trying to break free but being refrained. In a way, it looks like the man is trying to escape but the flag clutches onto him and holds him back. Yet another interpretation is that because the flag shift and moves to the contour of the man, America is being constantly changed and shifted to reflect the people within it.

Benny Andrews himself was born in the South in the 1930s, and so he experienced Jim Crow and segregation on a personal level. His family was very poor growing up (both parents were sharecroppers) and he describes his childhood as a "fight".