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FRIDAY
Published recently enough to include a dedication to the victims and heroes of Sept. 11, Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag might seem the sort of book that stirs martial passions. After all, the original Stars and Stripesprobably designed by Francis Hopkinson, who requested (but didn’t get) 24 bucks’ worth of wine for his troublewas created so that vessels of the ragtag American revolutionary navy could identify each other. Graphic designer Kit Hinrichs has a collection of some 3,000 flag-related objects, and they’re not all so bellicose. Some of the pieces borrow the flag’s image for protests against American policy, but many are folk art, now-quaint promotional items, or cross-cultural oddities. While tobacco- and election-related items are major categories, the book also enshrines Statue of Liberty Barbie, a 19th-century Japanese kimono, and lots of irreverent graphic design. Hinrichs and co-author Delphine Hirasuna discuss their book at noon and 7 p.m. at the National Archives’ Room 105, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free. For reservations call (202) 208-7345. (Mark Jenkins)