Stok van een vaandel van het vijfde afdeling infanterie

This is a staff for a flag of the Fifth Infantry Division, by Jan Willem Pieneman. While we don't have an exact date for its creation, Pieneman lived between 1779 and 1853, a period of immense change in Europe and the Netherlands. Consider what a flag represents: nationhood, military strength, and the often violent assertion of power. In a time when national identities were being forged through conflict, this staff was more than just a piece of wood. It was a symbol, and the person who carried it bore the weight of that symbolism. What does it mean to carry a flag into battle, to be the standard-bearer of a nation's ambitions? What kind of person would take on that role? What would that feel like? This piece prompts us to consider the relationship between individual identity and collective national identity, and the human cost of war.