Judge, 1923-09-08 · page 7 of 36
Judge — September 8, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis: "Modesta Violetta Americanus" by James Montgomery Flagg This is satirical commentary on the decades-long debate over America's national flower. Flagg humorously eliminates candidates: - **Pansy**: Dismissed because statistics supposedly show 7/8 of Americans have twelve-year-old mentality ("pansies are for thoughts") - **Bachelor's button**: Rejected since all unmarried men have married off - **Golden-rod**: Mocked as an ugly, bilious weed - **Field daisy**: Associated with hard-boiled eggs - **Mushroom**: Too "weighty" for vested interests **The conclusion**: The violet wins by default—not through logical argument but exhaustion. Flagg's final mockery suggests the violet's only virtue is being "modest" (modesta), making it symbolically "perfect" for America through sheer mediocrity rather than genuine merit. The satire targets both the endless national debate itself and American pretension about finding deep symbolic meaning in arbitrary choices.
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IMODESTA VIOLETTA AME RICANUSL OUR NATIONAL FLOWER by James Montgomery Flagg a long enough rest between discus- sions about our national flower. The beautiful part of it is that it never will be decided. — Unless I close the whole ques- tion here and now. I may do this. All depends on how [feel as 1 go along. It is fairly agreed upon that the flower must he symbolic. First) we will eliminate the pansy. \ learned scientist. has shown that seven-cighths of the population of the United States of America have the low mentality of twelv sar-olds. Pansies are for thoughts. Q. E. D. exist pansy! —Who- ever suggested the bachelor’s button was hardly serious, because there no bachelors in this country—all_ m: are married except. the interior de tors. Besides even if there were clors they don’t have buttons. only haye shirts. The school-teachers for years tried to force the golden-rod off on us as a national flower. In certain ways it has its merits. Symbolically. Hardly complimentary nevertheless. We all are not gold chasers. A lot of us would be contented with silver or even dirty two-dollar bills—if we could ge vig enough collection. And the weed known as golden-rod is certainly not handsome. It’s a bilious and horrible yellow, grows in back lots with tomato cans and umbrella ribs) and as for its odor—a sort of mild suggestion of carbona. Golden-rod is out. Now be kind enough to leave that out of the discussion after this. Somebody has suggested the field daisy. Not so bad. It re- minds you of hard-boiled eggs and we lay more eggs in this country than any other three or thir- teen nations—or some such propor- tion. Still—I don’t: know—Of ce there's the mushroom. — Symbolically rather weighty. Be fairly difficult’ to sell the idea to our vested interests. Then if we put it to a vote in Europe our national flower would undoubtedly be the well-known stinkweed leave it them. Oh, well. I ma decide it. I meant to all along. It is to be the violet! Doesn't that spin you around on your O'Sullivans with delight? Don’t you gasp with the beautiful appropriateness I HAVE DECIDED that you-all have had of it? Symbolism perfect! Hits us right where we live! It explains. itself. Even jealous foreign nations when they hear the decision will have to admit that it is just. I can visualize a foreigner after reading the cable news of the deci- sion saying: “How marvelously just! How pov ow, when I walk through the wooded ines and lift up a shiny green leaf a beautiful blue flower tall exclaim, “Ah!