"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana (1863-1952)
As I said before, the flag for me symbolizes what my ancestors stood for and their devotion to duty, home and kin. I have over 20 direct ancestors that fought in the ANV from either NC or VA. My mom's side is from Richmond and the farm where her father grew up was in the Confederate rear area at Cold Harbor. One of her relatives was a high level mucky muck for a number of years in the UDC. So you could say I grew up without the static from a public education on history and had access to a number of first person sources. Bottom line, my alliegance follows pretty much the same order as those guys in gray- Family, Kin, Home, City, County, State, and Country.
The flag I follow, support and will fight for is Old Glory and what it stands for and know this, the federal gvt and alphabet agencies are NOT the flag nor what it means to me.