A Flag for Social Liberalism

 

My design of a flag to represent social liberalism.

 

Politics is a world of colours, symbols and flags. This is certainly the case for almost all political parties in democratic countries. Political symbolism has also been associated with particular political ideologies. The red flag and the red star are universally recognised symbols associated with socialism, with the hammer and sickle and the red rose being associated with communism and social democracy respectively. Another example is the association of anarchism with the black flag and the black circled capital A.

 

In this blog article, I outline my proposal for a flag to represent social liberalism. The flag that I have designed has a set of balanced yellow weighing scales at the centre of a red vertical stripe that covers the left third of the flag. The remaining two-thirds of the flag is yellow. I shall first outline a broad definition of social liberalism, before explaining my rationale for my flag design in the preceding sections of my article.

What is social liberalism?

Social liberalism is a progressive political ideology that emphasises the need to have social justice in order to enhance and facilitate the rights and freedoms of the individual. It is not to be confused with cultural liberalism, as is often the case in American political discourse.

 

Cultural liberalism refers to the equal liberties, equal rights and equal opportunities of all individuals, regardless of their personal characteristics. In other words, it is the part of liberalism that emphasises the rights of marginalised groups, such as women’s rights, LGBT+ rights and the rights of ethnic minority groups. All liberals should ideally adhere to cultural liberalism, regardless of whether they are social liberals, economic liberals, centrist liberals or green liberals etc.

 

All social liberals should adhere to cultural liberalism, however what distinguishes social liberalism as a distinctive school of liberal thought is the emphasis it places on social justice. Social liberals advocate for the most equitable distribution of wealth and resources throughout society within the framework of a capitalist liberal democracy. Access to wealth and social resources (such as healthcare, education, housing, fair employment, workers’ rights and the arts and culture) is vital in enabling individuals to realise their personhood and maximise their talents and abilities to the full. We therefore might think of social liberalism as social justice liberalism, social welfare liberalism or social resources liberalism.

 

In the 20^th century, social liberals in Britain and America advocated for the establishment of welfare systems and the advancement of workers’ rights. An excellent historic example of a social liberal government would be the American New Deal administration of President Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1930s. In more recent times, social liberals have called for urgent action to address climate change and have begun to advocate for a universal basic income.

 

On the traditional political spectrum, social liberalism is situated on the centre-left. This is due to its emphasis on social reform and political reform, as well as its opposition to entrenched inequalities and social hardships. In addition, it rejects right-wing politics and economics, the centrist status quo and the revolutionary anti-capitalist politics of the hard left. Political thinkers that made important contributions to social liberalism include John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill, Thomas Hill Green, Leonard Hobhouse, John Maynard Keynes, John Rawls and Amartya Sen.

 

Why does social liberalism need a flag?

The purpose of a flag for social liberalism is to distinguish its identity as a political movement. it is to provide it with political symbolism to be recognised on an international scale. Social liberal parties are few and far between internationally and in many countries, they face challenges from more dominant economic liberal parties. Across continental Europe, Latin America and Australasia, social liberal parties are often overshadowed by larger economic liberal parties and a general political culture that associates liberalism with the economic right. A flag would give social liberalism a clear presence as a distinctive school of thought and activism within liberalism.

 

A universally recognised flag would give social liberals a clearer voice and political identity. It would give social liberals are political presence and allow them to cooperate more confidently within nations and across borders. It would also highlight the social liberal involvement in wider political and social movements, while increasing the popular political awareness of the social liberal perspective and analysis of politics and economics.

 

Why balanced weighing scales?

I chose the symbol of a set of evenly balanced weighing scales due to its historical association with the values of liberty, justice, fairness and equality, values that all social liberals share. In particular, it represents the liberal politics of social justice as exemplified through the works of Green, Hobhouse, Rawls and Sen. The symbol of the balanced weighing scales represents a synthesis between the ideals of liberalism and the ideals of social justice as epitomised by social liberalism.

 

Why use the colour yellow?

Yellow is already widely associated with liberalism. The colour features prominently in the logo of the Liberal International and is used by national liberal parties in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia and as far afield as the Philippines. It is due to the pre-existing strong colour association between yellow and liberalism that I chose to use it to colour the majority of my flag.

 

Beyond this, yellow is also widely associated with the values of happiness, optimism, creativity and intellect, all of which are positive traits that any liberal society would aim to foster. Yellow is also a distinctive colour, when compared to other political movements that already have strong colour associations, such as socialism and red, ecologism and green, feminism and purple and to a large extent, conservatism and blue. The one clear drawback to using the colour yellow is that in America, it has become associated with some right-wing movements, such as the Tea Party Movement (which appropriated the yellow rattlesnake Gadsden Flag), the libertarian right and anarcho-capitalism. This is why I thought it was important not to use a single colour yellow flag, so as to distinguish it from those rightist political movements.

 

The particular shade of yellow I chose to use was that of the golden yellow used on the bird logo of the British Liberal Democrats. On my flag, yellow symbolises liberality, freedom and individuality. It is there to represents social liberalism’s presence within the wider international liberal movement, with its roots in the European and American political traditions.

 

Why use the colour red?

The second colour on my flag is the colour red. The usage of red has a long political history. Today, it is mostly associated with socialism and social democracy. However, in the 19^th century, it was the colour of political radicalism and was thus appropriated by liberals, republicans and anarchists, as well as by socialists.

 

Prior to the rise of socialism as a democratic force, red was linked to liberalism in electoral politics, especially across the Americas. Several liberal parties in both North and South America still use the colour red to this day. This includes several social liberal parties in the region, such as the Liberal Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Honduras, the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colorado Party in Uruguay, all these parties have their roots in the 19^th century. The most obvious exception to this is the US Democratic Party, which in recent decades has been associated with the colour blue.

 

The exact shade of red I chose to use is the shade that is present on the logo and party flag of the Liberal Party of Honduras. I also felt it was important to include a colour from a well-established liberal party from a developing world country. Liberalism, especially social liberalism, is not just for developed comparatively wealthy Western democracies, it is for all countries regardless of their level of development. The red on my flag is used to symbolise social justice, equality and solidarity, as well as social liberalism’s roots in the radical movement of the 19th century and its presence as a progressive left movement today.

 

Who should use this flag?

I have specifically designed this political flag to be used by all social liberals, welfare liberals, radical liberals and left-liberals. Any and all proud centre-left liberals should feel free to appropriate this flag. It has been specifically designed to represent social liberalism, social liberal activists and supporters, it is not meant for any other purpose other than this. I do not endorse the use of my flag or its symbolism for any other purpose. I hope it will be used to identify social liberals in numerous countries, within political parties and to represent social liberalism within wider political and social movements.

 

May this flag become a symbol of those liberals who strive for a synthesis between individual liberty and social justice. May this yellow and red flag come to epitomise the liberal politics of social justice and the equitable distribution of wealth and resources needed for individuals to maximise their individuality.