“Broad Stripes Bright Stars: A Graphic History Celebrating 250 Years of America’s Icons” by Kit Hinrichs, Delphine Hirasuna and Terry Heffernan has been released by Andrews McMeel Publishing.
The book looks at cherished American icons — the flag, the eagle, Uncle Sam, and Lady Liberty — through hundreds of patriotic objects created during the past two-and-a-half centuries, and how these permeated the lives of Americans.
The chapters are based on Hinrich’s collection of over 7,500 flags and flag memorabilia, assembled over the past 50 years. The book looks historically at the flag from several points of view: celebration, conflict, politics, business and memorabilia, which collectively weave a rich visual tapestry that defines the American spirit during its first 250 years.
The collection includes Native American crafts such as handmade quilts and Navajo weavings, children’s and adult’s toys and games, retail marketing, folk and fine art, postal imagery including Civil War envelopes, political/propaganda posters, personal adornment, sports, and much more. Many handcrafted and one-of-a-kind objects are published for the first time. The text not only illuminates the objects themselves but is filled with little-known historical facts and myths.
Two items are of particular interest to Japanese Americans:
• An American flag made from bits of lumber and barbed wire salvaged from Tule Lake, where artist Na Omi Shintani’s father, Kazumi Shintani, was incarcerated during World War II.
• An entrance display created by Hinrichs for Hirasuna’s exhibition, “The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946,” based on the book of the same name. The display consists of origami cranes forming an American flag, positioned in front of the public notice ordering all Japanese Americans on the West Coast to be sent to concentration camps.
The book includes a guide to the 27 official flags and the dates the states joined the union, plus the presidents that served under them.
To order online, go to: https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/broad-stripes-bright-stars/
Delphine Hirasuna has collaborated with designer Kit Hinrichs on countless editorial projects, including the widely acclaimed @issue: Journal of Business and Design, and more than a dozen books, including “Long May She Wave,” “100 American Flags,” “TypeWise,” and “The Art of Gaman.”
She organized and curated a touring exhibition of “The Art of Gaman,” shown in ten major museums across the U.S., including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, and five museums in Japan under the auspices of NHK Broadcasting.
Based in San Francisco, Hirasuna is a former columnist for Hokubei Mainichi in San Francisco and The Rafu Shimpo.