FLY YOUR FLAG

FLY YOUR FLAG.

Youth leaders are rising in America. The voices that matter most in the 2020 elections are yours. You are the young Americans who can’t yet vote, but you are influencing our national conversation and shaping the future of our democracy.  

We’re here to inspire and reward your ideas.

We are Kidizenship - a non-partisan, non-profit media platform for tweens and teens. Kidizenship isn’t school. It’s where civics education, creative self-expression and community action merge. If you’ve been looking for a place that will amplify the ideas and voices of people who look and live like you, welcome! You’re here. Kidizenship values artistic vision, a diversity of opinions, radical listening and learning, and agreeing to disagree so that we can better understand America’s challenges from different perspectives.

Over the next few months, Kidizenship will launch a series of contests for teens and tweens ages 8-18 to reward your civic vision and creative thinking. Our judges will include government leaders, politicians, activists, celebrities, and educators from across the political spectrum. The contests will invite young Americans to share their ideas through art, song, design, writing, and speech. 

Our first contest asks you to design your own American flag.

Almost 250 years ago, in 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that stated: "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

Not just a flag, but a new constellation. And like the constellations we see in the night sky--separate stars that we connect with our minds to create stories and meaning--our flag tells a different story to everyone who sees it. A flag is a visual symbol, colors and designs meant to capture the spirit of a country. We learn in school that the stars on our flag stand for the states and the stripes for the original thirteen colonies. But what else does the flag stand for? What bigger story does it tell? If you created a new flag, what would you want it to say? How would you say it?

Our country has changed a lot since 1777, and the flag has changed, too--a little. It has a lot more stars than in the original constellation. The first flags were sewn one by one. Now, more than 150 million flags are sold each year. They’re made in factories from fabric that ripples and snaps in the wind and stands up to harsh weather.

The way our laws treat the flag has also changed over the years. In 1968, when protestors were burning or cutting flags in response to the Vietnam War, Congress approved a law that made it illegal to “knowingly” cast “contempt” upon the American flag. It became a crime to destroy or deface the flag. Twenty years later, the United States Supreme Court said that law violated the Constitution. The justices decided that burning or defacing the flag is a form of speech or expression protected by the First Amendment, just like marching in a protest or writing your Senator.

Reimaging this symbol is a uniquely American exercise.  For decades, famous artists including Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Amy Sherald, have shared their own interpretations of the flag. Artists have printed the flag in neon colors, painted people dancing across its stripes, woven its colors into landscapes, turned it upside down. Sometimes their art doesn’t look like the traditional flag at all--but it is still a symbol of America, seen through the artist’s eyes. 

The purpose of this contest is to design a flag that shows us your America. You can celebrate our national symbol or challenge it. The American identity is beautifully vast and varied. We know your flags will be, too. 

So get out your paint, spray paint, ink, glass, old jeans, tapestries, plastic bags, thread, stained glass, crayons, construction paper, cardboard, found scraps, photographs, photoshop—any artistic media you choose—and create a flag that represents the values and ideals of the America you want to live in.

The contests will be judged in two age categories, 8-12 and 13-18. Three prizes will be awarded in each category: $1000 for 1st, $750 for 2nd, $500 for 3rd. You can submit your own flag or work with a partner in the same age category. Enter the contest by posting a photo of your American flag to Instagram with hashtag #kidizenshipFLAG; be sure to include your first name and age in the post. You can include a description of your flag that ranges from 200 to 2,200 characters. Or you can email your submission to info@kidizenship.com. Please check out our official rules before you enter. Every submission must use respectful language and imagery. If visual art isn’t your thing, check out our upcoming contests that will roll out in the 12 weeks between now and the presidential election: Write your hero. Sing your anthem. Champion your cause. Make your Speech. Build Your Monument. 

We are Kidizenship, and we want to hear what you have to say. Enter our contests and share them with your teachers, friends and neighbors. Want to learn more? Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.