History Main / TatteredFlag

* Music/PattiSmith's "Broken Flag" is also an exploration of this idea (the song is about the American Civil War)

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

!Examples

* ''OnePiece'': Tattered flags are often used for high drama, but nothing quite beats Luffy standing atop of the castle in Drum Island holding Dr. Hiruluk's flag, which somehow manages to stay intact despite receiving heavy bombardment.

* The JohnnyCash song "Ragged Old Flag" "I take that back, I'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag!"
* Patti Smith's ''Broken Flag'' is also an exploration of this idea (the song is about the American Civil War)

* In the ChristmasEpisode of ''HeyArnold'', Mr. Hyunh is telling Arnold about how he [[spoiler: gave up his only daughter]] during the VietnamWar. During a scene depicting (possibly) the Fall of Saigon, a tattered (American) flag is prominently displayed.

** This trope's symbolism is subverted by the fact that most of the damage was caused, not by hard times, but by pieces of it being clipped off as patriotic mementos over many years, before the flag passed into the care of a museum.

* The end of ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'' shows a tattered American flag being raised upside down. The Tommy Lee Jones character had corrected this same mistake at the beginning of the story, explaining that it signals an S.O.S. <<spoiler: At the end, he's decided that message is appropriate.>>

* The end of ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'' shows a tattered American flag being raised upside down. The Tommy Lee Jones character had corrected this same mistake at the beginning of the story, explaining that it signals an S.O.S. ((spoiler: At the end, he's decided that message is appropriate.))

* The end of ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'' shows a tattered American flag being raised upside down. The Tommy Lee Jones character had corrected this same mistake at the beginning of the story, explaining that it signals an S.O.S. <<At the end, he's decided that message is appropriate.>>

* The end of ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'' shows a tattered American flag being raised upside down. The Tommy Lee Jones character had corrected this same mistake at the beginning of the story, explaining that it signals an S.O.S. At the end, he's decided that message is appropriate.

* The end of ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'' shows a tattered American flag being hung upside down, [[BookEnds mirroring the beginning of the film]].

* A battered, bullet-riddled Dominion flag appears in the beginning of the ''Franchise/{{Starcraft}} II'' cutscene "Fire and Fury", representing the damaged-but-defiant condition of the Terran troops themselves.

* In ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCarribean: At World's End'', the scene of the ''Endeavour'''s sinking shows the banner of the East India Company submerged in the water, with a body fallen from the destroyed ship caught in its folds.

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCarribean: At World's End'', the scene of the ''Endeavour'''s sinking shows the banner of the East India Company submerged in the water, with a body fallen from the destroyed ship caught in its folds.

* Seen during the attack in ''Film/PearlHarbor'', a ruined American flag floating in the water.

** This trope's symbolism is subverted by the fact that much of the damage was caused, not by hard times, but by pieces of it having been removed as patriotic mementos by past owners before the flag entrusted to a museum.

** This trope's symbolism is subverted by the fact that much of the damage was caused, not by hard times, but by pieces of it having been removed as patriotic mementos by past owners before being entrusted to a museum.

* Another real life example would be the flag from Fort [=McHenry=], which inspired Francis Key Scott to write The Star Spangled Banner after seeing its tattered flag still flying after a 23 hour bombardment.[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Fort_McHenry_flag.jpg The flag]] is huge, by the way. Currently, it's 30x34 feet, but was originally 42 feet long (though that is still 18 feet short of how long it should be, based on its height).

* ''Literature/EncyclopediaBrown'': In a moment of InUniverse FridgeLogic, Encyclopedia realizes that a man lauded as a hero shouldn't have gotten a medal because according to the story being told, the man saw the flag over a fort (that had been [[spoiler: taken over by hostile Native Americans]]) flying in the rain; this should have at least given him cause for concern, but he led the wagon train down the pass into the fort anyway.

* The second case occurs in the {{Warcraft}} series. Orc(and the Horde in general) flags are generally in tatters but are still proudly flown to symbolize how much of a beating they are willing to take in order to achieve victory.

* Literature/''EncyclopediaBrown'': In a moment of InUniverse FridgeLogic, Encyclopedia realizes that a man lauded as a hero shouldn't have gotten a medal because according to the story being told, the man saw the flag over a fort (that had been [[spoiler: taken over by hostile Native Americans]]) flying in the rain; this should have at least given him cause for concern, but he led the wagon train down the pass into the fort anyway.

* The second case occurs in the {{Warcraft}} series. Orc(and the Horde in general) flags are generally in tatters but are still proudly flown to symbolize how much of a beating they is willing to take in order to achieve victory.