Graphic designer Harry Stone unpacks the complex symbolism of the US flag

“The US flag has been studied extensively, and is one of the most recognisable symbols ever produced,” says British graphic designer Harry Stone, speaking on the topic of his latest project. “It’s been put on the moon, printed on contact lenses, and praised by school students every morning.” Indeed, over the years, the flag has become many things to many people, and this plurality of meaning was what first drew Harry to the idea of studying it himself. For his undergraduate dissertation at Falmouth University, he wrote extensively on its symbolism, and this period of research went on to inform Old Glory, a new body of work that furthers his interest in the subject.

“America [the name of his dissertation paper] acted as a stepping stone for Old Glory,” explains Harry, who even modelled the project on his end-of-year exhibition at university. This initial presentation of the work drew inspiration from Wolfgang Tillmans’ truth study center (2005) series, which arranges various materials in glass cabinets in a seemingly randomised way. Similarly, Old Glory takes the form of a disorderly pack of papers, allowing readers to engage with the content in a non-linear way. The effect of this, Harry says, is that “people can create their own opinions [about the work]”, while the unordered composition also “reflects the chaotic symbolism of the flag itself.”

At the heart of Old Glory’s overarching concept is the notion that the symbolism of the US flag is fraught with contradiction. “It’s been planted on the moon, but also used by rioters at the 6 January protests in 2021,” adds Harry. “In one instance the flag represents hope and prosperity, and another, despair and tyranny; but to some, 6 January also represented hope and prosperity – confusing and contradictory, right?” Naturally, the imagery in the project reflects this ambiguity, with photographs of Nicki Minaj saluting in front of the flag presented alongside photographs of military trucks with the flag flying from the roof. The flag means nationalism, militarism, democracy, pop culture, and a million other things depending on your perspective and personal beliefs.

The images are accompanied by detailed sections of text that provide informed insights into the subject, with Harry explaining that this writing was taken from his previous studies: “My dissertation used critical theories to explore how places like art galleries or military bases shape the meaning of the flag, and conveniently left me with over 5000 words of written content to use – a graphic designer’s dream.” Coupled with the images, the text provides snapshots of the subject for readers to peruse in any order, and all of this content is presented on cotton US letter paper.

Minor details like this were important to Harry during the creation of Old Glory and he recalls “going to town on getting nerdy with the rationale.” For example, when dealing with the layout, he only used inch measurements and a 13 column grid to reference the 13 stripes on the flag. He also opted for red, white and blue as the colour palette for the project, and chose Gotham (a typeface used in political campaigning since John F. Kennedy in 1960) and ABC Diatype as his typefaces. “GT America by Grilli Type was of course a very close contender, but I had to make a visual compromise on that one,” he adds.