When artist Elizabeth Cole Sheehan first conceived the Prayer-Rag-Flag, she sought to acknowledge the American soldier and to express hope for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was inspired by Japanese prayer rags and Tibetan prayer flags. Both of these traditions involve tying fabric outdoors, allowing the prayers they hold to go out into the world on the wind. In honor of Veterans Day, and to commemorate the 5,189 soldiers whose names appear on the flag today. the National Heritage Museum is displaying the Prayer-Rag-Flag in its lobby throughout the month of November.

To construct the flag, Sheehan tied strips of fabric torn from red, white and blue garments onto a grid of vinyl-coated wire. Friends and members of First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Canton, Massachusetts, assisted her. Each ribbon of fabric bears the name of an American soldier killed in the current wars. The names are taken from several sources, all of which have been confirmed by U.S. Central Command.  As more fatalities are reported, the names will be added.

Sheehan completed the flag for Memorial Day 2009, when it graced the First Parish Green in Canton. Said Sheehan, “This project helped all the collaborators who worked on it find common ground in opposing opinions regarding the current wars. It also imparts respect for the deceased soldiers’ effort and sacrifice, and offers comfort by acknowledging grief and presenting an opportunity to release regret. Most of all, it makes the absent soldier tangible, as a public visual aid demonstrating what the number lost looks like.”