They said the American flag belongs to everyone — not a single party or point of view. 

With the recent events at the United States Capitol and the riots that ensued from pro-Trump groups, local residents are joining in a national campaign to Take Back Our Flag.

Beatrice Ruberto, a Sound Beach resident, said the campaign, which started online around the 2020 election, implies that the American flag has become a symbol of President Donald Trump’s (R) beliefs.

“We started searching the internet, wondering how the American flag was being used,” she said. “We saw that over the past four years, it became shorthand for MAGA.” That’s Trump’s campaign slogan of Make America Great Again.

During her research, she found that after the election, many people on all sides of the political spectrum were ready to take it back. 

“We want to make the flag a unified symbol rather than a one-sided symbol,” she said.

So now, Ruberto and many members within the community, are looking to make sure the flag stands for its initial emblem, a symbol of We the People.

Ruberto and her group are hoping to persuade all people to hang their American flags outside their homes the day of the U.S. presidential inauguration, next Wednesday on Jan. 20.

“This is not a message of division,” she said. “It’s a message of inclusion.” 

After making its rounds online locally and nationally, Ruberto said the feedback so far has been generally positive, although some has been otherwise. 

But the message is simple, Ruberto noted. “Fly the flag,” she said. “Continue flying the flag, no matter what your point of view is. Everyone should be flying it.”