At the DNC, Harris and Democrats took back the American flag

• Democrats leaned into traditional patriotic symbolism and rhetoric at their convention.
• Speakers emphasized military might and love of country, all while chants of "USA" rang out.
• Republicans have branded themselves as the party of patriotism for decades, but that's changing.

Donald Trump may sometimes literally hug the American flag, but Democrats showed during their four-day convention that they are just as ready to embrace the red, white, and blue. After Kamala Harris formally accepted the nomination as presidential candidate, 100,000 patriotic balloons fell to the floor of the United Center.

Though Republicans have branded themselves as the party of capital-P patriotism since the Nixon years, Democrats sought to reclaim American pride this week. A striking number of this year's speakers focused on military might and distinctly American values, from Harris herself to Iraq war veterans.

Efforts to cast the Democratic party as anti-patriotic stretch from the 1960s through the current MAGA era. Peter Loge, the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University who served in the Obama administration, told Business Insider that liberals have been reluctant to fly the flag in recent years.

"Part of it is because Donald Trump and a lot of Republicans have tried to make patriotism a Republican thing," he said. "If you fly the flag, you're not just America first, but America only."

That changed at this year's convention, though, when organizers made it easy to spot their love of country. While Trump's allies passed out signs during his convention that called for "Mass Deportation Now," Democrats wielded placards that simply said "USA." The patriotic chant echoed in the United Center, where some delegates wore cowboy hats.

Many of the week's speakers hailed from or focused on the military. Loge said that the emphasis on veterans and defense not only bolsters the sense of patriotism, but also counters prominent Republican attacks.

"Democrats are often seen as weaker on defense in the military, and Trump is going to make that case. Women are often seen as weaker on defense and military issues, which is unfair, but it's a stereotype we carry around," he said. "Foregrounding law enforcement and the military says, 'Look, Democrats are really strong on military and defense.'"

Peter Kauffman, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton and a Navy veteran, told Business Insider that the emphasis on defense has been building for years.

"There is a new generation of Democrats and progressives who served in the military and are no longer willing to just sit by and let Republicans try to co-opt patriotism," he said.

Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee who spent 24 years in the US Army National Guard, spoke about his service and relationship to guns. He boasted that he was better shot than most Republicans in Congress, some of whom have questioned how he represents his time in the National Guard.

Another veteran, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, went after Trump's famous campaign slogan, which the former president borrowed from President Ronald Reagan, to argue that it's actually Democrats who better appreciate the arc of the nation's story.

"The unevenness of the American journey has made some skeptical," Moore, a rising star in the party, said during his speech. "But I'm not asking you to give up your skepticism, I just want that skepticism to be your companion and not your captor. And I'm asking that you join us in the work, because making America great doesn't mean telling people you're not wanted. And loving your country does not mean lying about its history."

When Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona took the stage, he introduced himself as a "husband, congressman, and the proudest Arizonan you'll ever meet. But I am even prouder to be a Marine." Toward the end of his remarks, Gallego, who is running in a key US Senate race, invited fellow veterans up on stage to raucous applause.

And former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, himself an Army veteran, talked about giving the orders to kill Osama bin Laden in 2011.

"[Harris] will keep America's military the strongest in the world, the strongest ever known," he said.

Harris herself leaned heavily into a push for the nation's defense that sounded downright hawkish, promising to make sure the country remains "the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world." And while her candidacy is historic, Harris never directly mentioned her potential status as the first female president. Instead, she emphasized that her life story "could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth."

"We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world," Harris added at the end of her speech.

There are clear political benefits to the patriotic messaging. Harris and her fellow Democrats are trying to slowly build a permission structure that makes it acceptable for more centrist voters and perhaps even a few Republicans to support her candidacy.

"Democrats are saying to moderates or Republicans, 'I get you're not a hardcore Democrat, you don't like a lot of policy, but in this case, in this context, it's okay to vote for Harris,'" Loge said.

Multiple former Republican elected officials earned prized speaking slots at the DNC. They made clear that they don't agree with Harris on everything, but that the election's stakes go beyond sheer party unity.

"Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home watching, if you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you're not a Democrat, you're a patriot," former George Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said during his convention speech.

For the past decade, Loge said that Democrats have been "shy" or "embarrassed" about embracing classic American patriotism, but that Harris and Walz are attempting to reframe the association with the flag. Not only are they giving moderates permission to vote for them, but they're also giving loyal liberals permission to proudly declare love of country.

The shift, Kauffman and Loge agreed, is both strategic and authentic.

"Democrats serve too," Kauffman told Business Insider. "We love our country and there's no reason for us to shy away from that."

"It's easy for professors like me and journalists like you and pundits to say everything is about strategy and tactics," Loge said. "It's easy to forget that politics at its core is about what people believe."