Imagine the following display: Thousands cheer as military personnel march in unison, waving flags and chanting. Above your head a fleet of fighter jets sweep by, leaving trails of ceremonial smoke in the sky. An American flag over a hundred feet wide and hundreds more long is draped before the cheering masses.

A band performs, pushing a cacophony of drum beats, smooth brass and symphonic woodwinds into your ears. The crowd you’re in rises in observance of a lone vocalist enthusiastically singing the Star Spangled Banner.

You may wonder: What’s going on? Are we going to war? Is this a parade of some kind?

No. You’re in a stadium owned by the National Football League, and it’s game day.

There’s a long-shared ceremonial connection between American professional sports and displays of patriotism. Sports fans and organizations created an atmosphere of national pride surrounding athletic events throughout the years, and it might not always be a good thing.

ISU’s Tim Wolters thinks we may take this connection for granted.

Wolters, a professor of American and technological history, described America’s love of sports growing out of the industrialization period, when Americans were having more and more leisure time.

“Sports organizations are, in many ways, part of show business,” Wolters said. “The NFL in particular is very much about spectacle.”

The NFL recently acquired another unique trait: Being the platform for protests against systemic injustice. In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began a tradition of abstaining from the pre-game patriotic festivities. The display polarized fans and political pundits nationwide, and no team signed the controversial quarterback for the 2017-18 season.

In Kaepernick’s wake and spirit, many NFL players took a knee during the national anthem. Some people, including President Trump, interpret this silent protest as a direct insult to the United States military.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump said in late September during and Alabama rally.

Trump took to Twitter the morning of Oct. 18 to criticize the NFL for not sharing his beliefs on the matter.

 “The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem. Total disrespect for our great country!” Trump said.

According to Wolters, Trump’s involvement in the anthem protests is “historically unprecedented.”

“It’s interesting for the president get involved in issues in [professional sports], and we’ve never had a president use social media the way [Trump] does,” Wolters said.

The impassioned responses from the president and others indicates how emotionally attached some Americans are to the flag.

Richard Kehrberg, a lecturer in ISU’s history department and an expert on flags, offered his insight for just why that is. He says flags have a long history of rigorous appreciation.

“Desecration of flags has historically been viewed as something extremely insulting,” Kehrberg said. He recounted a story of New Yorkers in the late 1930s, who boarded a German merchant ship and desecrated their flag: The Nazi Swastika.

At that time the U.S. had laws with strict punishments if flags of any nation were mistreated. However, the Americans couldn’t be charged because Germany had not made the Swastika their national flag. Once the fiasco ended Germany officially switched from the red, black and yellow bars.  

Kehrberg offered more insight into why people care so deeply of their flags.

“Flags have essentially a religious origin. The oldest flag in the world, the Danish ‘Dannebrog,’ features a cross, for example,” Kehrberg said.

Despite religious origins, ISU Professor of Religious Studies Hector Avalos insists displays of patriotism or nationalism are not synonymous with religion.

“I define religion as ‘a mode of life and thought that presupposes the existence of, and relationship with, supernatural beings and/or forces,’” Avalos said.

He continued, “A broader definition might involve anything that becomes the ultimate concern. In the latter case, nationalism and the pursuit of money could be defined as ‘religious.’”