Consuelo Jimenez Underwood American, b. 1949

Border Flowers Flag is part of the artist’s celebrated Flags series. In this rendition of the U.S. flag, the canton is filled with flowers rather than stars, and its stripes are interlaced with butterflies and flowers. Introducing flora and fauna, particularly the southern border state flowers, helps us reimagine how territories can be defined by their ecosystems instead of the fictive borders that separate states and nations, impacting and destroying local environments in their wake.

In words by Barbara Purcell, “Beauty, grace, and flowers soothe the quiet rage that has permeated theAmericas for over a hundred years,” Jimenez Underwood writes in her artist statement — words that ring clear as I stand before her Border Flowers Flag (2008). The tricornered tapestry, iconically red, white, and blue, features state flowers for stars and strips of tortilla cloths for stripes. Its three corners are reminiscent of the three sisters and the border’s three cultures, as they remain inextricably connected."