You see it everywhere: on bumper stickers, tee shirts, lapel pins, in shop windows, and in front of nearly every school or government building. Yet while the American flag is ubiquitous, as a symbol it is both heavily freighted and misunderstood.

Now an acclaimed European professor of American history brings a fresh perspective to the American flag, exploring its political, social, and cultural significance across the broad swath of its history. Mining a rich vein of materials from history, literature, music, and popular culture, Arnaldo Testi analyzes the symbolic importance of the flag to the national consciousness of this "nation of immigrants" and sees in it the very contradictions that make up our history: secularism and sacredness, freedom and empire, inclusiveness and aggressive self-confidence.

Using sources as diverse as Walt Whitman and Jimi Hendrix, and events as divergent as the American Revolution, the moon landing, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Testi reveals the central importance of the flag to the creation of our nation, the evolution of our national character, and the spread of American culture and power across the globe, while illustrating the varied and often conflicting meanings different Americans ascribe to it.

Whether you worship the flag or revile it, respect it or ignore it, Capture the Flag offers the reader a colorful and compelling exploration of the sway it holds on the American imagination.

The symmetrical, exuberant heart is everywhere: it gives shape to candy, pendants, the frothy milk on top of a cappuccino, and much else. How can we explain the ubiquity of what might be the most recognizable symbol in the world? In The Amorous Heart, Marilyn Yalom tracks the heart metaphor and heart iconography across two thousand years, through Christian theology, pagan love poetry, medieval painting, Shakespearean drama, Enlightenment science, and into the present. She argues that the symbol reveals a tension between love as romantic and sexual on the one hand, and as religious and spiritual on the other. Ultimately, the heart symbol is a guide to the astonishing variety of human affections, from the erotic to the chaste and from the unrequited to the conjugal.

William Gordon Perrin (1874-1931) was an RAF and Navy officer, who also held the position of Admiralty Librarian from 1908 to 1931. Originally published in 1922, British Flags provides a detailed analysis of the uses and development of flags. It is regularly regarded as one of the foremost volumes on flags, setting a benchmark for the studies which followed. The text contains numerous illustrative figures, together with detailed notes and an exhaustive index. This is a highly informative book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of flags, British history and naval history.

The flag is a country's national symbol, and is far more than a mere banner, it reflects that country's independence, the citizens, and their social views. As such, a flag is treated with respect, defended, and given a military salute. As so much is bound up in that flag, it may also be ridiculed, defiled, and burned in protest. As a symbol of the pride of the people, the flag is imbued with a variety of emotions around the world. Many flags are remnants of the often-turbulent history of nations destroyed. This book explains 326 flags, of which 219 are national flags and additional flags of international organizations, including the UN, the EU, and the Red Cross. Each flag's historical background and significance are recounted, along with explanations of its colors and symbols. Informative statistics also provided additional information about the countries and nations flying these flags. This book is for anyone with a passion for international affairs or world history.

A treasure hunt for the hidden meaning of the symbols that appear on America's beloved national flag. "The best book on the American flag's origins. . . No one knows the ins and outs of the origins of the flag of the United States as well as Henry Moeller does. . . Highly recommended." --Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography With gorgeous four-color reproductions of an amazing array of art from diverse cultures and eras, Inventing the American Flag explores the symbolism of the flag and investigates why the founding fathers chose the images they did to represent the new nation. Art history sleuth Henry W. Moeller brings a breath of fresh air to our appreciation of the flag, blowing away the cobwebs left by antiquarians fixated on dusty records and Masonic conspiracies. Inventing the American Flag weaves together exotic and colorful strands of history to offer a new understanding of the forces that contributed to the flag flown by America's revolutionaries. Henry W. Moeller's forty-year journey into the history of the symbols on America's early flags took him to libraries, museums, and private collections around the world. The deeper he dug, the further back in time he went. He pored over explorers' maps, medieval manuscripts, astronomers' charts, and ancient myths. Gradually, he was able to piece together the remarkable, constantly surprising, and often inspiring story of how, beginning in classical times, the stars and stripes acquired new meanings and were put to new uses until, at the birth of our nation, they became the symbols of that nation itself.

The harp, the shamrock, the Claddagh ring, St Patrick, Round towers, turf, Aran jumpers, The Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, Croke Park. An illustrated guide to the symbols, places, treasures, famous figures and mythical creatures of the Emerald Isle.