[43] Let me give you something from the realm to which we return later more fully. The flag of a nation: what does it do? In itself it is a piece of cloth with special colors, and nothing else. But this cloth and these colors have become symbols^a by a process which originally, perhaps, was a conscious decision, but after it has been introduced, it stands for the majesty of the nation or the state^b. And in doing so, it participates in its power. For centuries the attitude of the citizen to the flag is a matter of discussion. And many injuries have been done, either to the majesty of the nation by people who didn’t regard it, or to people who were accused of not regarding it. I remember from the last book of Erich Fromm, the psychoanalyst, that he tries to show what is a real symbol, with all the power of a real symbol, for most people today. And he gives as an example also the flag, and imagine that somebody publicly, in the marketplace, desecrates the flag, treads on it with his feet, and does to it something which makes it a matter of contempt. There would be a tremendous reaction of the unconscious of the group for which this flag is a symbol, because this flag, after it has become a symbol, participates in the majesty of the reality, which cannot be expressed in other ways, or which must be expressed symbolically, because a nation is not given in the sense in which this desk is given, and therefore it needs symbolic expression. Let me make a footnote here about monarchy. No one can understand monarchy^c and its meaning who does not understand what symbols are. It is not a form of government--that it is also, but this is not important. Why should not forms of government change, and could have always changed? Laws have always changed. But it is more than this. It is representation in the person of the king or queen [of] the reality which OTHERWISE CANNOT BE EXPRESSED. And the participation in the power of this reality, namely the nation, is not only expressed in the fact that this person HAS some power--in many cases, he or she has very little power, as in present-day England-- but from the point of view of the REPRESENTATIVE power, the power which is expressed in the MAJESTY of the nation, THERE is the real reason for the tremendous importance many people have always contributed [i.e., attached--ed.] to this symbol. One has often ridiculed--especially from religious sides--the fact that kings usually sign [their name], "We, King, e.g., Wilhelm II, Emperor by the grace of God"--what does that mean? This does not mean he has a special grace, but it means that here, in this