American Symbols - article about American Symbols

American symbols are by no means a simple and straightforward manner, as the more rabid patriots would have you believe. There are more American symbols than the bald eagle and the statue of liberty. There are many symbols of American culture and life. For example, if you are a southerner, the Confederate flag might be an American symbol for you, but if you are an African American, you might find this American icon to be deeply insulting. It is really important to keep symbolism in perspective. The symbols of America are just that: symbols. The only thing that gives them real power at all is our belief in that, and we can never let that belief become more important than our ties to eachother. In the right hand, national symbols can be quite beneficial, increasing ties of man to man, but in the wrong hand, even the most benificient of American symbols can be an invite to tyrrany.

Of course, Native American symbols are something different all together. While the flag, the bald eagle, and lady liberty symbolize our current country, Native American symbols have come to symbolize our countries spiritual past, before the conquest hungry Christian colonists brought a more modern mindset to the continent. Native American symbols, sometimes against the objections of the Native Americans from whom they were taken, have been used to represent all kinds of neo-pagan religious revivals, becoming symbols not just of the peoples that used them, but also of modern religious movements. Whatever the use of these Native American symbols, it is interesting to see how an ancient idea can be reincarnated to refer to something that is thoroughly modern.

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