American flag wasn’t missing at the DNC

The Democratic National Convention opened Aug. 19 in the Windy City, and some social media users commented on the event’s lack of patriotic symbols.

"JUST IN: Missing from the DNC in Chicago…" conservative commentator Matt Couch wrote on X. "The American Flag…"

The post, one of several making the claim, received a community note, which lets users fact-check and add context to possibly misleading posts; the note contained a link to C-SPAN coverage of the event, which showed multiple flags onstage, including several American flags. An Associated Press photo shows that there were at least six flags placed in the corners of the convention stage.

Couch later made another post in the same thread, walking back his claim.

Featured Fact-check

Barack Obama

stated on August 20, 2007 in New Hampshire

If African-Americans vote their percentage of the population in 2008, "Mississippi is suddenly a Democratic state."

"I said I’ll own it and I will …" he wrote. "They have them, they’re off to the sides … but they are on stage." He added, "I stand corrected, I didn’t see any from the clips or parts I watched on TV."

PolitiFact rated False a similar claim that American flags were missing from a 2019 Democratic debate. 

Former President Donald Trump also said there were no American flags at the last in-person DNC in 2016. We rated that claim Half True because physical flags weren’t present for all of  the convention’s first night, although a video board displayed a virtual flag and a physical flag was raised during the national anthem. 

We rate multiple X posts claiming that the American flag is missing from the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago False.