The Politics Woven Into the Flag Sweater

By: Nylah Mitchell, Contributor 

A folded knitted piece is tucked away in my closet, untouched since Election Day. After years of saving on Pinterest boards, I finally purchased it to wear while watching the desired presidential election results. However, my reluctance to pull out the garment is now drawn from fear of public perception in approval of the current state of politics. 

The Polo Ralph Lauren Iconic Flag Sweater was supposed to be my new staple item in a new era of democracy. The ability to proudly wear that sweater—partly to live out my coastal grandma dream—stemmed from the hopes and promises of tomorrow. The idea that America would dawn a transformative chapter where politics started to reflect the needs of the masses. It’s what made patriotism attractive last year, acknowledging the country’s complex history while feeling pride for its progressive direction. The sweater inspired strides of self-expression through fashion while exercising enfranchisement.

However, even before Election Day, the perception of the sweater slowly shifted after conservative politicians like Nikki Haley began wearing one on the campaign trail. It wasn’t until after the results of the 2024 presidential election that the sweater took on a whole different meaning. Patriotism mixed with diet-nationalism and a side of fascism modified the true message of the sweater, love for a country’s “liberty and justice for all” through the perseverance of achieving the American Dream. 

“[The flag] just meant that you were proud to be an American, whereas if you wear an American flag now, it somehow indicates that you’re conservative,” writer Lauren Sherman explained to Vogue. 

Then again, what we wear is inherently political, especially when ideologies, similar to the current holding majority in all three branches, thrive when aesthetics are used to further an agenda. Hint: Think of the dress code at the Turning Point Young Women’s Leadership Summit. It begs the question: what separates a person wearing a sweater to show patriotism versus nationalism? 

Patriotism, defined earlier, is based on loving and supporting one’s country; rather, nationalism is premised on the idea that one’s country outweighs the interests of people and other countries. So, what if you’re wearing the sweater, not in a political way, but in a Lana Del Ray Americana way? 

Safe to say, you’re still an active participant in the system. “The vast majority of TikTokers who share these sweaters are Gen Z,” trend forecaster Casey Lewis said to Vogue. “I don’t think Gen Z is wildly conservative. I think they’re sort of unaware of what the American flag represents. It’s not just cute Brandy Melville. It’s more than that.”

It’s hard to round up the past few months in politics and world news into one sentence. Federal regulations to monitor greenhouse gas warming the atmosphere are diminishing. Protests are spiking throughout the country, disapproving of the president’s policies and fascist-like stances. Families are being rounded up and separated in “unsanitary confinements” while facing deportation to random countries. The decimation of Gaza through starvation and famine, and the crisis in Sudan, the ethnic cleansing of its civilians. 

The matter behind wearing a sweater with a flag directly relates to the political and social climate in the country. To the untrained eye, it reads as just another garment to pair with linen pants. To the discerning eye, wearing it now signals a subtle acceptance of shrinking freedoms and the censorship of truth and diverse perspectives.

On the other hand, when we restrict what we wear, we land ourselves in the bubble of policing our closets in fear of public perception. Through words and fashion, self-expression has long shaped the beauty of personal autonomy. 

When we overestimate the pieces we put on, whether vacationing, brunching, or shopping, we slowly hide to avoid associating with the current occupants. Self-policing is exactly how ideologies succeed in fitting into their ultra-curated and defined box. But, that’s how resistance through fashion works, especially when a national identity is conflicted with itself; it lies with the ability to freely dress during periods of conflict to undermine the “traditional meaning,” as pointed out by Aileen Valerio. 

Fashion and history, as coordinating couples, have always worked through pendulum swings when politics and style swing one way, counterculture and resistance forces them to go the other way.