On Flag Day, June 14, 2017, Creative Time, a New York-based non-profit organization that produces public art, launched Pledges of Allegiance. For the project, the organization commissioned sixteen artists to design flags that represented their beliefs or concerns regarding the current political climate. Each of the flags flew in succession at Creative Time’s headquarters in New York and, subsequently, on rooftops around the United States.
Rather than replace the Stars and Stripes, these flags augment the American Flag as a national symbol. They manifest the multiplicity of Americans’ opinions, politics, and identities. Some, like LaToya Ruby Frazier’s flag, which calls attention to the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, function like a billboard or protest banner. Others, like Robert Longo’s black and white and bifurcated version of the American Flag, depict abstract symbols that defy easy interpretation.
Of the sixteen flags that Creative Time commissioned, fourteen are on display here. This is the first time that they have flown together.
