I’m not much for the rigid military flag raising ceremonies that occur everywhere in China on a daily basis. But when I came across this little homemade video just now that someone made on National Day at Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square, I thought to myself: “Self, here’s a flag raising that means something.”

Among the clutter and litter that inevitably follows any big party in China (and National Day certainly qualifies as such) a tiny red flag lies on the ground - trodden into the dirt by tourists likely too awed by Tian’anmen and the big Mao head to notice what’s they’re stamping into the ground.

When the girl picks it up, it’s likely that nobody else there paid any mind. But there’s something about this flag raising that is far more beautiful and meaningful than any other flag ceremony I’ve seen anywhere else before. China or otherwise.

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