No Stupid Questions

I feel like there’s minimal overlap between the people who drive these trucks with these flags and the people on Lemmy…

Might not be askin in the right place. Or in the place where you’re gonna get a real answer.

When in doubt, I always assume people don’t really think that deeply about it. Their brain was probably like “Truck. Flag. Cool.”

I've always assumed this was a variation of the pro police brutality flag that Republicans like. I don't think I've met any non-Republicans with these flag designs.

The meaning depends on the intent of the person displaying that flag.

The innocent option is that it's military cosplay. The US military uses black or gray monochrome flags since red/white/blue is bad for camouflage. Some people think it looks badass, so they mimic it.

The negative option is that it's a "no quarter" flag.

Honestly it runs the gambit. I first was seeing them on cop-related stuff in the 90's, when everyone wanted to wear black things and look "tacticool." (go to the 5.11 website if you're not familiar) I suppose there's a segment of the population going for "patriotic, yet edgy," that gets this stuff. As I get older I tend to view these people as looking for someone to fight, but only if they think they can win.

These people usually live in their own conservative bubble, and the behavior is accepted or rewarded. They usually leave the bubble in groups, so they can reinforce their views with each other when confronted or avoided. But when mixing with general society, they tend to mellow out. Leaving an echo chambers does that.

There are definitely people using it as a dog whistle. Those people will double down, not mellow out. These are your idiots attacking the capital. Fuck those guys.

Any version of the flag has basically become a racist, nationalist dog whistle. The thin blue line, black and white, upsidedown/backwards ones are the even more extreme folks typically. There's a slim chance someone with a regular American flag isn't a nationalist twat.

A lot of the time it's just an attempt to be patriotic and not fuck up the color scheme of the vehicle.

AFAIK, the monochrome flag comes from military uniforms, a lot of them have adopted flag patches in monochrome tans and greens to better match the camo of their uniforms. Police have been adopting more "tactical" military style uniforms in black, so black monochrome flags match that color scheme.

You may also notice that some of them have the flag backwards with the stars on the right, that's another styling cue from the military. The flag patches on uniform shoulders are in that orientation, it's mean to evoke the image of the flag streaming behind them as they walk.

As far as why civilians display these symbols, there's probably a few reasons, but it's probably pretty safe to say that most of them would identify themselves as being patriotic to some extent or another and want to show support for the police and/or military or at least think that the tactical look is cool.

The black version probably caught on mostly because it looks cool and kind of works with whatever color gear or vehicle you want to slap it on, tans and greens and such don't necessarily go with everything quite so well.

You'll often see these black flags with a single colored stripe, this originates from the nickname for the police "the thin blue line" (blue because police in the US traditionally usually had blue uniforms) though pretty much every vaguely public-safety/military/law enforcement has their own colored line these days- red for fire, green for military, forest green for park rangers, yellow for tow truck drivers etc.

You could probably write a book about what these lines are meant to represent, how they're interpreted by different groups, etc. Often they're meant to represent something like "the line between order and chaos"

Thanks to the blue lives matter response to the black lives matter movement, this sort of imagery has also become very associated with conservative politics

You may occasionally see the flag being flown upside-down. This originated as a distress signal, and is basically people saying that they think the nation is trouble.

I've tried to keep this mostly very matter-of-fact and not go off on my personal thought on these types of symbols and the people that display them, and kept it to just where these symbols come from. I'm going to leave my personal opinions with just a simple statement that these symbols tend to be used disproportionatly by the right wing, and I do not particularly like the symbols, what they represent, and how they are used.

You’re way overthinking it, my friend. The meaning of it is “‘Murica, fuck yeah!” They want everyone to know what a tough, Trump-loving big boy they are.

Maybe they just like the American flag. There doesn't always have to be a hidden meaning behind it.

In my experience, it's mostly a vet/military thing. Rednecks fly the actual confederate battle flag. It could be cop, but they typically fly the thin blue line flag. Subdued/monochrome flags are pretty popular accesories in military and military adjacent communities. If you check out "Grunt Style" you'll probably see dozens. And enlisted (grunts in particular) tend to skew less educated and are more entrenched in toxic ideals of masculinity, so it's no surprise to see them acting like fools on the road.

Patriotic edge-lord. I'm not sure what they believe or stand for, but they are edgy about it.

They think having flag themed everything is patriotic while having never actually read the flag code to know that it isn't.

weird trump shit brother. i've noticed much of those flags are also the back the blue shit flags too (blue lives matter tomfoolery)

It has to match their Punisher sticker duh

It means they're a nationalist twat. Simple question, not worth this much thought.

Someone is reading WAY the fuck too much into this.

It's just a flag.

The vast, vast, vast majority of people putting on these tacky flags onto their cars are doing it because they might think it looks cool.

I would also like to know. I drive a 4runner and there is a TON of aftermarket parts that have that black flag on them. Rear window stickers, bumpers, decals, cargo organizers, etc. what’s the deal?

Just bootlicker shit honestly

I have something like this on my Prius. Its just a black flag that doesn't take up the whole back panel.

It's just a flag. It has absolutely nothing to do with the civil war and doesnt have any hidden meaning. I didnt want a color flag because it would stand out.

I very much dislike trump, and in no way does the American flag represent him in my interpretation of it. For me, the flag just represents the sacrafice made by military members and the ability of the people to make meaningful changes to our country.

Im also understanding that the flag does not represent that to many people, and does represent an insitution of racism. I just hope those people understand that it doesn't mean that to me.

Confederate army soldiers flew the black flag to demonstrate they would not give in or surrender to the enemy. It showed that they would rather be killed than taken in as prisoner.

Fine. Pass the ammo.

I actually have one of these on the emergency kit my brother gave me for a car, he put it together in a like military style bag to keep in my trunk and it has a patch on it like that. It’s just a monochromatic version of the American flag, anyone I’ve known who has something like that doesn’t intend anything past that. Like others referenced, modern fatigues and gear in the US Military feature a similar monochromatic flag to that (usually black and the primary color of the uniform, like desert tan or olive drab) to save cost and make it blend in with the uniform better, so I think that popularized that to some degree in culture.