ASSAULTING FORWARD

by Patriots Point

ASSAULTING FORWARD
THE COLORS NEVER RETREAT

From the standard bearers of the American Revolution to the American service members of today, the flag has accompanied generations who stepped forward when their country called.

From the Battlefield Standard to the Modern Uniform

Today, one of the most recognizable expressions of that forward-moving tradition can be seen on the uniforms of American soldiers.

When the United States flag insignia is worn on the right shoulder, the design is reversed so that the blue union—the field of stars—faces forward.

To someone unfamiliar with the tradition, the flag may initially appear to be backward.

It is not.

The United States Army Institute of Heraldry explains that the flag is positioned this way to create the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward.

Imagine a flag carried on a staff by someone moving ahead. The union remains nearest the staff while the stripes stream behind it.

The right-shoulder insignia recreates that visual effect.

The stars lead.

The stripes follow.

The flag moves forward with the person wearing it.

More Than an Orientation

That visual tradition has acquired powerful meaning.

Forward represents movement.

Forward represents determination.

Forward means meeting responsibility rather than retreating from it.

For generations of American service members, moving forward has often required courage under circumstances most Americans will never experience. Yet the principle reaches beyond the battlefield.

A nation moves forward when its citizens accept responsibility for preserving what previous generations entrusted to them.

Liberty survives when citizens understand it.

Self-government survives when citizens participate in it.

American institutions endure when the principles underlying them are respected, defended, and passed from one generation to the next.

The flag therefore reminds us not only of where America has been, but of the responsibility carried by those who inherit what others sacrificed to preserve.

Why Patriot Gear USA Wears the Flag Forward

The forward-facing American flag on the right sleeve of Patriot Gear USA apparel is intentional.

It is not simply a decorative placement.

It reflects the military tradition of the star field leading as the wearer moves forward.

For Patriot Gear USA, that orientation also expresses something fundamental about our company:

We honor those who came before us by carrying their legacy forward.

The flag represents the country we love.

The stars represent a Union greater than any one individual.

And its forward orientation reminds us that patriotism is not merely admiration for America's past.

It carries a responsibility for America's future.

That is why the flag occupies a distinctive place in the Patriot Gear USA identity.

Unity and Strength

Fifty stars represent fifty states—different places, different histories, different communities—joined within one Union.

Americans will disagree. They always have.

Unity does not require uniformity of thought.

What holds a constitutional republic together is something more durable: commitment to the nation, respect for the rights of fellow citizens, adherence to the rule of law, and a willingness to preserve the constitutional principles that allow disagreement itself to remain free.

The flag belongs to all Americans.

It has accompanied the country through periods of extraordinary unity and profound division. It has flown during victory and mourning, war and peace, national achievement and national uncertainty.

Through all of it, the flag has remained.

Courage Across Generations

Every generation inherits challenges it did not choose.

The Americans of 1777 faced the uncertainty of whether a new nation could survive.

Later generations confronted civil war, global conflict, economic hardship, attacks upon the country, natural disasters, and countless moments requiring service and sacrifice.

Today's generation faces its own responsibilities.

The circumstances change, but citizenship still requires something from us.

Courage.

Character.

Service.

Respect for one another.

And the willingness to preserve liberty for people we may never meet.

A Living Symbol

Federal law describes standards for the display and respectful treatment of the United States flag. But no statute alone can explain what the flag has come to mean to generations of Americans.

Its meaning lives in the people who carry it.

In the service member wearing it on a shoulder.

In the family displaying it from a home.

In the first responder standing beneath it.

In the veteran saluting as it passes.

In the citizen who understands that the freedoms represented by those colors carry responsibilities as well as rights.

The flag connects generations because each generation is entrusted with the same fundamental obligation:

Receive liberty. Protect it. Strengthen it. Pass it forward.