The North Korean and American flags share the color pattern of red, white, and blue. They also both feature stars (or rather, one star in the North Korean case) and stripes. The similarities are hard to ignore as the two flags of these enemy nations fly side by side in Singapore.

For some American nationalists, the sight of Old Glory keeping company with the North Korean flag is deeply upsetting.

National Review editor Jonah Goldberg fulminated:





FWIW, I think the North Korean flag is a piece of vile filth that stands for the dynastic rule of a racist cult that subjugates, tortures and enslaves it's own people. Ideally it would spontaneously combust when it even touches our flag. But nfw should it stand equal to ours. pic.twitter.com/GIhhYQenEd — Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) June 12, 2018

Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, lodged a similar complaint:

I'm just surprised everyone seems cool cool with the North Korean flag standing side by side the American flag. Why won't every murderous dictator seek nuclear weapons if this is the treatment they get after they do? — Neera Tanden 🌊 (@neeratanden) June 12, 2018

These objections seem misdirected. After all, North Korea and the United States are having a summit, so it’s natural for flags to fly there. There might be a case for avoiding contaminating the American flag with the emblem of an odious regime if it is done for purely gratuitous reasons. The 1936 Olympics, where the American flag kept company with the Nazi swastika, is a prime example. In retrospect, America should have boycotted that Olympics.