The Language of Flags

Written by: Elsa Varghese

GD by: Khooshi Jajoo

“Flags are meant to symbolize unity and pride, yet too often, they become symbols of division and war. This poem listens to the silent language they speak.”

They say flags speak,

but I only hear them shouting,

stitched voices of pride,

fluttering louder than the cries beneath.

Each color is a promise,

each emblem a prayer,

yet the cloth forgets

the children buried under its shadow.

Red bleeds into red,

not of fabric,

but of lives unnamed.

Green whispers hope,

yet borders choke it silent.

White waves for peace,

but peace never crosses the line.

Flags rise higher than graves,

higher than homes turned to dust,

as if altitude

could make innocence disappear.

They say flags unite,

but I have seen them divide,

oceans patrolled, skies claimed,

neighbors turned into strangers

because their fabric was cut

in a different shape.

And yet, when the wind grows tired,

and the flags fall limp,

they look the same:

just cloth,

threadbare,

waiting for hands

to lower them with humility

instead of raising them for war.