How objects speak
1. American Flag
Date: 1938
Medium: cotton
Credit line: Gift of Monterey Peninsula Japanese American Citizens League
Object ID: 2002.10.1
This flag was created in 1938 by the Japanese American Citizens League chapter in Monterey, California, for a Fourth of July Parade. Measuring 40 by 70 feet and requiring 50 people to support it when unfolded, this flag has been paraded throughout California as well as in other states. It is interesting to note that at the time of its creation, Japanese immigrants were considered "aliens ineligible for citizenship," which suggests different and layered interpretations. During World War II, when Japanese Americans on the West Coast of the United States were incarcerated for the duration of the war, the flag was displayed in Utah, a region not subject to mass incarceration. In 1946, the flag was used to welcome home returning Nisei soldiers in Idaho Falls, Idaho.