^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

The Devil's Advocate (book)

Taylor Caldwell

Introduction
Democracy of America
Minute Men

See also:

Introduction

Many, many years ago I had the misfortune to read a novel titled The Devil's Advocate by Taylor Caldwell, a truly dreadful American writer. In it, the US is in the grip of a collectivist dictatorship and the country's name has been changed to The Democracy of America. There is, of course, an underground freedom-fighting organization called the Minute Men — what else? I can't recommend the book, but I thought the flags were worth a mention.
Tom Gregg, 3 June 1999

Democracy of America

image by Eugene Ipavec, 12 April 2006

Caldwell provides a description of The Democracy's flag: "bloody of background and bearing a single bloated white star."
Tom Gregg, 3 June 1999

Gules, a mullet argent is "the debased red rag of the Democracy of America".
Alexander Justice, 14 November 1995

A 'bloated' star could be the 'rounded' star of the USSR, which has its inner diameter equal to half the outer diameter.
Ole Andersen, 12 June 1999

I thought of that, but such a star would look too Soviet Russian. In Caldwell's book, The Democracy of America is a home-grown totalitarian regime. In fact, the author tells us that The Democracy fought and won a war with the USSR some years before the time at which the novel's action begins. Thus an "American" type of star seemed more appropriate. I took "bloated" to mean simply "large."
Tom Gregg, 12 June, 1999

Minute Men

image by Eugene Ipavec, 12 April 2006

The flag of the Minute Men is also described by the author: It bears crossed rifles in dark blue on a white field.
Tom Gregg, 3 June 1999