This photograph & article appeared on the front page of the Style section July 4th, 2004

Red, White and Golden Arches: The Star-Spangled Banner Ad

By Tommy Nguyen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 4, 2004; Page D01

As waves of stars and stripes flood the city’s Fourth of July celebrations, Nikolas Schiller knows that the subtle redesign of his American flag will appear only as a tiny ripple on the sea, if it isn’t swallowed up completely. Doesn’t matter, he says. Schiller plans to be on the Mall today, by himself, with his makeshift flagpole and his skinny, 5-foot-9 vegetarian frame planted firmly against the tide.

“When people see all these corporate symbols, it sparks conversation, and that’s the beauty of this flag,” says Schiller, 23, a recent graduate of George Washington University. He’s talking about the swoosh of Nike, the beast of burden of Camel, the great eye of CBS, and 27 other corporate logos that, in Schiller’s world, have replaced the stars on America’s great tapestry in more ways than one.

Continue reading:

+ MORE