When the economy tanked and took the home-improvement business with it, David McDonald started selling flags to supplement the dwindling income from his deck and fence company.
Patriotism, long ago instilled by his Marine father, led him to invest in flags and start a website, www.americanus flags.com . For McDonald, who is 56 and lives in Louisburg, the American flag is more than a colorful piece of nylon. It is America's signature.
"If America could sign its name," he said, "it would sign it with the American flag."
Today, during America's 234th birthday party, patriotism will take center stage. But in 2010, patriotism is not an easily definable word.
Some, such as McDonald, root their patriotism in a love of country and a belief that you should not waver from it just because you don't agree with who sits in the White House. "You've got to be an American 24 hours a day," he said.
For others, patriotism is defined by love as well, together with a responsibility to criticize the country when they believe America is not living up to the ideals it represents.
America's views on patriotism have more or less taken those two forms over the past 60 or so years, said Lawrence Grossberg, a professor of communications studies at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies the cultural side of politics. The country may be divided about patriotism, but being able to argue about what America stands for is part of what makes it great.
"I think that's what makes the United States have a uniquely vibrant, and unfortunately for the moment, uniquely polarized political culture," Grossberg said. "In the United States, there are lots of ways of being patriotic."
To celebrate the Fourth of July, we explore a few of those ways.
Giving back
For Ana Rodriguez, a biology teacher, patriotism means giving back.
Rodriguez, who is 32 and lives in Cary, heads a program each summer that aims to excite Latino middle school students about science. This summer, a group of 12 is taking water-quality samples, speaking with park rangers about environmental stewardship and visiting the offices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Being patriotic, Rodriguez said, also means thinking less about one's self-interest and more about America and what's best for the country as a whole. In teaching kids about careers in science, she is impressing upon them the importance of caring for the environment.
"In order for us to take pride in our country," she said, "we have to take care of what we have."
Raising a song
Erin Karl regularly expresses her patriotism with song. Karl, 36, is an Air Force reservist who sings the National Anthem or "God Bless America," and sometimes both, several times a year at Durham Bulls baseball games.
She loves putting on her uniform before the games, even if it's "not very comfortable or attractive," Karl said, laughing.
But the uniform reminds the Raleigh mom that she is a part of something bigger. Singing in uniform, in front of thousands, provides a "very deep sense of pride and belonging," she said. "I really do believe that America is an absolutely exceptional place."
Karl is often approached by veterans afterward who thank her for the performance. She always tells them the same thing.
"It's my honor."
Limiting government
Felice Pete's definition of patriotism is a simple one: loving your nation.
And she has no shortage of love for America. "I think this is the greatest country that God has ever allowed to be organized," said Pete, 38.
She practices her patriotism by publicly sharing her political beliefs. The Raleigh nurse anesthetist is a popular speaker on the tea party circuit, where she champions limited government.
At tea party rallies, participants sometimes invoke the imagery of early patriots, carrying 13-star flags and wearing Paul Revere-style hats.
The country, Pete believes, has moved away from the ideals set forth by America's founding fathers. Bank bailouts and stimulus packages are not what George Washington and Benjamin Franklin had in mind when they signed the Constitution.
"For it to be a land of opportunity," she said, "the government has to shrink."
Dissenting
The bumper sticker on the back of Hank Elkins' car spells out his religious, and patriotic, viewpoint in a few short words: War is not the answer.
Quakers believe in settling conflicts without war, and Elkins, 73, is a Quaker who lives in Chapel Hill. With drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expressing traditional patriotism "is a greater challenge," he said.
But being critical of the government is one way of being patriotic, Elkins said. "Most Quakers are not uncritical cheerleaders," he said.
Elkins believes that America should bring its troops home and that the U.S. government needs to help reconstruct the lives of those in Afghanistan and Iraq. Quakers believe God's spirit lives within every human being.
"We don't draw a boundary and say, 'Those aren't humans,'" Elkins said. "Those are our neighbors. As patriots, we need to support their freedom, their liberty."
Sharing patriotism
Lee Heavlin expresses his patriotism each time he puts on his Vietnam Veteran ball cap or posts to his VFW blog.
But it is on full public display each Fourth of July, when he marches in the parade in Caldwell, a tiny crossroads community in Orange County. With the Fourth this year falling on a Sunday, the parade was held on Saturday.
Members of local veterans groups traditionally lead the parade. Six years or so ago, with their numbers dwindling, Heavlin decided that something needed to be done.
So Heavlin enlisted his fellow members of the Knights of Columbus color corps, who come from several area Catholic churches. Members of the color corps, the patriotic arm of the charitable group, dress in sharp black tuxedos with colorful capes. In Caldwell, they march behind the veterans.
Heavlin expresses his patriotism by sharing it with others, which he hopes will convince more people to do the same.
"When you're out there doing something patriotic," he said, "you encourage people to take heart."
