“Home of the Brave is a collaborative flag featuring individualized iconography contained within a template of the US flag, constructed of DIY & craft materials. Working through collaborative means toward an aesthetic informed by knitivism, urban kitting, thread bombing, patchwork, and free collaboration, “Home of the Brave” makes a statement concerning the importance of diversity, and the shared and open nature of our American democracy.

Each component part of the flag (red & white stripes, the blue union, & “stars”) was handmade by different individuals and of materials of their choosing, but conforming to size specifications so the elements could accommodate one another within a whole; a whole informed by the proportions of elements for a personal use American flag (as opposed to official US flags, like those displayed for military funerals or on government property). The choice of the “personal” flag proportions was to engender and emphasize the notion of “we the people”, our own personal selves, as the basic, critical, constituent parts of the US democracy – in our own diverse, individuality.

Our analogy for the division of labor for the parts to form the piece was a potluck. We had a list of the component parts and participants could inform us which ones they wanted to take on.  We preferred the flag’s stripes and union be made from scratch with yarn (supplied from the originating collective of collaborators), either knit, crocheted, or woven, but we left participants free to make their own technical choices within that range.

The symbols to take on the role of the stars in our US flag could be made of any material, though it was encouraged to use low-budget and easily accessible materials that could be stitched or pinned to the fabric of the blue union. Contributors were asked to create their own icon/symbol/logo that expresses their individuality or their belonging within a community that gives them strength to be who they are within their American context, instead of the standard white star (though not excluding it, if that was considered desirable by the participant). Unclaimed star spaces on the blue union were marked with a safety pin as a space of potential activation to invite future participation (and as a subtle reference to early punk clothing).

Because, importantly, this flag is meant to have a future, beyond one exhibit, as a continuing public statement. Though this project was originally instigated by Michael Nagara, Jada Bowden, and Andrew Thompson, we consider everyone who participates to be a full collaborator. This means that if participants find future exhibition opportunities and/or venues to share the work, we can pass the flag around as-needed expanding on or completing from older iterations, possibly with even more new collaborators.

Learn more about the project, it’s contributors, and how to contribute a piece to it: http://bit.ly/Home_of_the_Brave”

— Original statement about the work