Keeping the Peace ~ The Bedford Flag at the US Capitol

Ralph Waldo Emerson put Bedford on the map in 1837 with his poem “Concord Hymn.” Many of us know the opening stanza by heart:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard ’round the world.

Why was resistance to the British Crown figuratively heard around the world? And why am I writing about a battle when this is for the Keeping the Peace segment?

I hope I can explain.

On January 6, when insurrectionists desecrated the US Capitol, someone told me that among the many banners on the Washington Mall was a reproduction of the Bedford Flag. Indeed, this has been confirmed with a photograph.

Our community recoiled. How did this happen? Perhaps someone serious about research discovered the flag that was carried on April 19, 1775, and in his or her mind was replicating the revolutionary spirit of that day. If that was the intent, it was not only misguided. It was borderline blasphemous.

Or maybe someone was inspired by the Latin inscription on the Bedford Flag, Vince Aut Morire, Conquer or Die. That possibility is even more frightening. And Town Historian Sharon MacDonald’s research revealed that the sword-bearing mailed fist emerging from the cloud represents the hand of God.

The Bedford Flag is sacred—not because of what it says, or because there is a mailed fist with a sword. The Bedford Flag is in a place of honor because of where it was carried—and how we feel today about what that place represents.

That battlefield symbolizes our highest ideals as a society: Opportunity. Equity. Justice. Honesty. Courage. Decency. Empathy. That is why we honor the sacrifices made on April 19, 1775 – not only for the immediate outcome, but more importantly because it unleashed unlimited potential for good.

And indeed, we are still struggling to reach those heights. It is hard for us to fathom that more than half a century has passed since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke these words in Washington: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

When Cornet Nathaniel Page grabbed the family flag on his way to join the Bedford Minute Men on the morning that launched our aspirational narrative, he wasn’t thinking about these things. No one knows what he was thinking. Maybe he just needed a prop to bolster the courage of the company. Indeed, he almost lost it—the historian Abram English Brown reports that in the Concord battle the flag was misplaced, only to be recovered from some kids “playing soldier with it.”

Today in Bedford, we are all the caretakers of this national treasure that, with its violent message and violent history, nevertheless is a symbol of peace and tranquility. We should all dedicate our lives to safeguarding that message.

Keeping the Peace is sponsored by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Bedford, a representative group of citizens interested in ending violence in families, communities, and beyond.   The VPC meets the first Tuesday of every other month at 8 am. For more information call 781/275-6507

Mike Rosenberg is a member of Bedford Embraces Diversity, a constituent member of VPC, and also The Bedford Citizen’s Community reporter. Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
Click this link to learn more about The Bedford Citizen’s first community reporter.