Invasion. Occupation. Provocation. Propaganda. Pride. Protest. Solidarity. Victory. Gratitude. A national flag is a simple piece of cloth that conveys a multitude of often contradictory meanings. Throughout time, American flags have flown in foreign battle fields, in wars whose justifications and cost will be debated for generations to come.
By planting a foreign flag in American soil, the Afghan Flag Project seeks to provoke public debate and private introspection over the meaning of war and patriotism, borders and sovereignty, moral imperatives and political realities. Do Americans feel threatened or reassured by the Afghan flag? Do they even recognize it? Is the appearance of an Afghan flag on American soil necessarily “pro-war” or “anti-war”? What does it mean to be “pro-Afghanistan”? Are such labels adequate to describe complicated feelings about infinitely complex subjects?
The creators of the Afghan Flag Project do not claim to provide answers to these questions—but we do believe that confronting these questions is an important responsibility for citizens of a country at war. We hope you feel the same way.
Join us. Our mission: to populate America with as many Afghan flags as possible. To participate in the Afghan Flag Project:
1. Email us at afghanflagproject[at]gmail.com and request Afghan flag stickers. We will mail you some stickers, free of charge.
2. Apply the stickers. We can’t control how you use the stickers; we can only request that you use your own best judgement. Our wish for the project is to provoke conversation, not to promote vandalism.
3. Take photos of the stickers in their new locations, and email the photos to us at afghanflagproject[at]gmail.com. Include the approximate address of the location. We will post the pictures on our blog. Our interactive map tracks locations of Afghan flag stickers around the country. Approximate address should include neighborhood, city, and state (i.e., Santa Monica , Los Angeles, CA).
We promise to keep your email private. Be safe, be kind, and have fun! We look forward to hearing from you.
Hello,
Thank you for your time, I really support your cause and I would love to plant stickers around everywhere that I can. I live in Indianapolis, a highly populated area in Indiana and with the Casinos and Tracks everywhere, I want to help provoke thought..Feel free to send me some stickers and I will take pics in return and send back!
This is a really cool project and I’d like to participate! I will send you a request for stickers shortly. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Flora! We look forward to sending you some flags.
What happens after the US withdraws from Afghanistan? Will the project end? Will we forget about Afghanistan?
Good question, Patriot! Afghanistan will continue to exist with or without US involvement. As long as people are requesting flags, we will continue to send them and post the pictures here.