Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.
Almost all successful social movements have a public, unifying symbol that represents the shared ideals and goals of the members of that movement. Often in the form of a flag, these symbols unify, brand, and raise awareness for the movement’s cause in the eyes of the public who consistently see them.
The pro-life movement, despite its thousands of organizations and millions of supporters nationwide, lacks a single, well-known, unifying flag.
The team at Pro-Life Flag Project is attempting to change that. A grassroots initiative dedicated to facilitating the creation of a unifying symbol for the movement, Pro-Life Flag Project believes that designing, promoting, and proudly flying a universal, freely-reproducible, pro-life flag across the country will significantly help the movement in its already-unified aim: ending abortion.
READ: Pro-lifer gives “Precious Feet” pin to pregnant woman, saves her preborn baby
In addition to unifying the movement, a pro-life flag will raise awareness for the cause by becoming a commonplace symbol in the US and beyond, just as several other flags and symbols have done for their own social movements in recent history. Consider the clear messaging of the Peace Sign during wartime or the Thin Blue Line flag today.
Furthermore, flying or displaying the pro-life flag will be a means by which everyday pro-life supporters can stand in solidarity with the national pro-life movement. People around the country, regardless of their stance on abortion, will see the flag, know its meaning, and be compelled to think about the reality of abortion.
Through intentional symbolism representing the pro-life movement’s message of love and non-violence for preborn children and their mothers, the flag will also serve to positively brand the movement that has, in many mainstream currents, been so vilified and misrepresented.
Based on an iconic photograph of a ten-week-old fetus’s tiny feet, the “Precious Feet” lapel pins were officially designated as the international symbol of the pro-life movement in 1979. With tens of millions of Precious Feet having been distributed throughout the decades, these pins have served as a powerful tool for the pro-life movement as each one carries with it visible evidence of the humanity of the preborn.
Though the small size and specific nature of the Precious Feet impede their ability to become the prominent and universally recognized symbol that a pro-life flag could become, it is this little pin’s heritage that is laying the groundwork for a new, updated symbol of the pro-life movement.
Pro-Life Flag Project’s plan, however, is not to design the pro-life flag in a vacuum and then force it onto the movement. On the contrary, the project’s goal is to get as many pro-life supporters involved in the process as possible: “We want the flag that represents the whole pro-life movement to be made by and decided on by all the members of the pro-life community!”
To that end, the project will consist of a public design contest with thousands of dollars in cash prizes, open to pro-life designers around the world. The contest will be followed by a movement-wide vote on numerous finalists selected from the submissions to the contest. In this way, the individual members of the movement will have a voice in the creation of their flag.
Submissions to the contest must meet a few specific requirements including, most notably, containing symbolism for both the preborn child AND her mother. Designs, in order to stay professional, simple, and inclusive of all members of the pro-life movement, should not contain words or numbers, logos, photographs, or overt religious or partisan symbolism. The project’s design guidelines provide more details and offer other ideas for possible symbols that designers can consider incorporating. In a nutshell, the flag’s design should be “simple, symbolic, and recognizable.”
To reach the nation’s pro-lifers, Pro-Life Flag Project is partnering with established pro-life organizations that want to help get the word out. Partner organizations agree to promote the project at a few specific times throughout the process so that their followers can get involved in the designing and voting when the time comes.
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In exchange for their support, partners receive free advertising on Pro-Life Flag Project’s website, the design contest, and the final design poll. Additionally, leaders of partner organizations will have a voice in selecting the finalists from the submitted designs. Most importantly, though, becoming a partner ensures that your group and your followers are a part of this movement-wide project to create the new symbol of the pro-life movement.
While the “fierce independence” of the pro-life movement renders numerous benefits and is the result of countless, selfless individuals all taking action against the same injustice, it has also caused (and continues to cause) a significant challenge for the movement as a whole—a lack of unity. A pro-life flag will begin to help glue the movement’s many independent factions together under a symbol of shared identity representing the end-goal of all members of the movement: abolishing abortion.
For more information on Pro-Life Flag Project or to find out how you or your organization can get involved, please visit https://www.prolifeflag.com. You can also like, follow, and share Pro-Life Flag Project on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Bio: Will McFadden is the founder of Pro-Life Flag Project.
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