What is America? It is a challenge to singularly define America because the country reinvents itself on a daily basis. Growing up I have been able to view America from several perspectives: Black, female, first-generation American, and a former military child. Always being on the move has made me curious about how people come to formulate opinions about themselves and others. From 1995 to 2007 I traveled across the United States and Europe photographing and interviewing people with the American flag. The culmination of my work are the two books and multimedia project 'Flag: An American Story' (2001) and 'Flag International' (2008).

Flag reveals what is beneath the surface of the American dream by looking beyond stereotypes and into the minds of ordinary citizens whose feelings about America not only tells the viewer what America really is, but also what it can become. Through each person’s photographs and hand-written statements about America, the viewer becomes aware of the beauty, inequity and hope that have created the American cultural fabric.

The intention of the Flag series is to inspire an authentic dialogue about cultural understanding within a global framework. Cultural understanding is not only how a people or a nation views itself, but also how the world views you.

-Lauri Lyons