Lady Liberty's Flight in Snow Canyon

A stunning sight on Veteran's Day:  the largest American flag juxtaposed with the soaring cliffs of Snow Canyon State Park.

Lady Liberty, displayed by Follow the Flag organization, at night in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah.
Photo by Ann Little

Related pages in Explorumentary:  

PATRIOT

Red Mountain Primitive Trail

Follow the Flag Organization Facts
Check out awesome drone footage in these great videos!
Saville Creations:  America's Largest American Flag in Snow Canyon 
St George News

Founders:  Kyle and Carrie Fox
Motivation:  To strengthen Americans' patriotism, a simple idea of inspiring, strengthening and healing people by hanging one of their huge flags in a canyon produced "far more impact than ever anticipated." 
Other events: 

• Flag for healthcare workers hung on side of Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.
• ​Memorial for Cpl. James Cottrell, U.S. Marine Corps who passed away in Panama while visiting family.
• End of Watch - Officer Nathan Lyday, killed in the line of duty as he responded to a domestic violence call.
  

Mission Statement

• Honor the men, women and children who give and sacrifice their time, efforts and sometimes their lives to safeguard the freedoms of the USA.
• Heal as many as we can who are fighting the battle of everyday trials, suffering from health issues, handicaps, war trauma, abuse, loss of loved ones, homeless and more. Warm hearts and make them smile.
• Inspire all who cross our path with a new strength and drive to rise up and raise up a more unified American people. Open minds, hearts and eyes to the truths that surround us. 

American Flag Etiquette

• If hung vertically, the union (the blue field containing the 50 stars) should be on the viewer's left.
• When displaying the U.S. flag with other flags, the union should always be at the highest point, located at the peak of the staff when affixed to a flagpole.
• Per Federal Flag Code, Section 2, paragraph (a), it is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

Click on video below for awe-inspiring drone video

An unexpected sight greeted Fred and I on our favorite local loop-hike last month in Snow Canyon State Park.  Just off Whiptail trail, suspended high in a gap between orange cliffs, an enormous American flag floated, seemingly out of place in in these walls of Navajo Sandstone.  People were lined up, taking pictures of this spectacular sight.  The flag, in the still air hung vertically, but billowed and rolled with occasional breezes, the bottom edge of it flying gracefully towards the sky.    I suppose you could ask what visitors were thinking about this huge flag in this gorgeous natural setting and you would probably get different answers, ranging from the emotion of national pride and patriotism to "Wow!  That's pretty cool!" to "Why is it hanging here?"  For me, my heart swelled because two things that I love were juxtaposed:  a symbol of my country and the land of the American West.

Follow the Flag and United We Pledge, two non-profit organizations got together to bring this flag to Southern Utah.  It measures 150 feet by 78 feet (a little over one-quarter of an acre), one of two of the largest American flags.  It was hung on Veteran's Day.   Follow the Flag's team Ron Nix and Kyle Fox intend to inspire patriotism and courage, and connection in all of us.  They do "healing missions" for fallen soldiers and police killed in the line of duty, and honor and memorial events.

Dubbed "Lady Liberty", this flag has been hung in canyons throughout the country.  Follow the Flag organization is a tribute to historic flag bearers who would charge in battle.  Kyle Fox told a crowd gathered at her unfurling to have the courage and conviction to pick up the banner of freedom and keep it going.

"A more unified American people" is one of the driving forces behind Follow the Flag's mission.

Fred, Sue and Lady Liberty - Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

Strength, unity, connection, freedom - these are what the American flag is intended to signify.  The stripes represent the original 13 colonies that were seceding from the British.  The blue canton contains the stars of our 50 states.  Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice.  White signifies purity and innocence, and red signifies hardiness and valor.

This proved to be a good exercise in brushing up on my flag facts, reading America's unique Declaration of Independence, and learning of the efforts going on to unify our country.  Pew and Gallup polls show that a record high number of Americans perceive the nation as divided on the most important issues.  Maybe Follow the Flag and other organizations can help us see the positive and help us remember the ideals of our country's origin.  

"...if there’s one impression I carry with me after the privilege of holding for five and a half years the office held by Adams and Jefferson and Lincoln, it is this: that the things that unite us — America’s past of which we’re so proud, our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much-loved country — these things far outweigh what little divides us. And so tonight we reaffirm that Jew and gentile, we are one nation under God; that black and white, we are one nation indivisible; that Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans. Tonight, with heart and hand, through whatever trial and travail, we pledge ourselves to each other and to the cause of human freedom, the cause that has given light to this land and hope to the world."
         -  President Ronald Reagan's Independence Day Speech aboard the USS John F. Kennedy, July 4, 1986.