Long Live the Japanese Navy and Army! The Great Battle near Weihaiwei (Nihon kairiku banzai, Ikaiei fukin daigekisen no zu) 1895

This triptych print, by Kobayashi Ikuhide, depicts the naval battle of Weihaiwei during the First Sino-Japanese War. The flags, the explosions, the waves: all symbols of a nation’s power and a visceral depiction of conflict. Consider the flags waving amidst the chaos. Flags serve as potent emblems of national identity and allegiance, tracing back to ancient military standards used to rally troops and mark territories. They appear on ancient Egyptian sarcophagi, and are still around today. Here, they stir a fervent sense of patriotism. They evoke a deep, subconscious connection to the collective memory of the nation, igniting feelings of pride, unity, and the will to defend one's homeland. But it's crucial to remember the cyclical nature of symbols: they reemerge, evolve, and acquire new meanings in different historical contexts, mirroring the complex, often turbulent, course of human history.