In downtown Los Angeles, a vibrant array of national flags was on full display during recent immigration protests, with many demonstrators expressing their pride in their heritage amid rallies against immigration detentions and the National Guard’s presence in the city.
Among the crowd was Axel Martinez, a 26-year-old who recently purchased a flag that featured the Stars and Stripes on one half and the Mexican flag on the other.
Martinez, who was born in the U.S. and raised in Mexico City, returned to the States seeking opportunity and proudly declared, “I’m proud to be Mexican and to be born here.”
The protests, which have been ongoing for over a week, showcased hundreds of demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, standing firm against National Guard troops stationed on Alameda Street.
Flags from various nations—Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the U.S.—fluttered in the air, capturing the attention of both supporters and critics.
While many waved their flags in solidarity, some critics, including members of the Trump administration, have expressed disdain for the display of foreign flags, with Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff, calling the protests an “invasion” and labeling Los Angeles as “occupied territory.”
Martinez reflected on this sentiment, stating, “Everyone has a story here,” and questioned the negativity surrounding the display of foreign flags during protests.
On the front lines of the demonstrations, 46-year-old Christopher Kim draped a South Korean flag over his back, marking his first participation in such protests.
Kim explained, “I was seeing all these flags flying out there, but there’s not just Korean, Mexican, Guatemalan people here… We have a community here.”
His choice of the Taegeukgi flag was a tribute to his immigrant parents who sought better lives for their children in America.
He added, “This country is made out of immigrants. How could this be offensive to anyone?”
Jade, a 21-year-old protester, held a Mexican flag aloft as she joined the crowd.
Although born in the U.S., Jade’s Mexican heritage stems from her grandparents, and she expressed, “I came from a family of immigrants, and I’m here for them.
This is my country. This is my family.”
Meanwhile, Arielle Miller waved the blue and white flag of El Salvador, despite not being of Latin American descent, to honor a close friend who was unable to attend the demonstration.
Miller expressed the importance of the flags as symbols of community and solidarity: “You can have pride in who you are and where you came from.”
Najee Gow, a protester of Black descent, joined the demonstration with a Mexican flag on his back, taking to the megaphone to lead chants.
He explained that he chose the Mexican flag as a means to support his fiancée from El Salvador—a sentiment echoed by many others who carried flags representing countries of friends and loved ones.
The street was a visual tapestry of solidarity and identity, with not only foreign flags but also American flags participating in the protests.
Javiera Burton, a 25-year-old from Chile, carried a U.S. flag and commented on the diversity of flags present.
“We are living in the U.S., and this is the flag,” she stated, while also feeling that people should have the freedom to express their heritage through the flags they carry.
When confronted by a Trump supporter who assumed her support for the administration based on her display of the American flag, Burton turned the flag upside down—a universal symbol of distress—indicating her discontent with current immigration policies.
As the protests continued, a vendor selling an assortment of flags for $10 each, including those of Guatemala and El Salvador which quickly sold out, voiced his support for the demonstrators by offering flags free to those who couldn’t afford them.
Having personal connections to deported family members, he shared, “I got family that got deported too. They got picked up when all this started.”
The flags served as potent symbols of a shared struggle for community, identity, and rights.
Different demonstrators carried flags not solely to represent their own national identities, but also to signify unity and support for a collective cause.
Kim emphasized this idea of unity: “The flag I carry is not my flag. It is our flag. It represents an entire people, struggling to survive with dreams and hopes that are common to every human.
Everyone out there holds their [flag] because of what it represents: we the people of Los Angeles.
As the protest gathered momentum outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, many voices called for attention to the stories behind the flags—stories of hope, resilience, and the human condition that connect the diverse array of people gathered in solidarity against a turbulent immigration climate.
image source from：https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-13/these-are-some-of-the-people-flying-flags-during-los-angeles-protests-and-why-they-do-it
