At first glance, Dover's flag looks very institutional: a coat of arms, inscriptions, a serious blue that evokes meeting rooms more than sunsets. That makes sense: Dover is the political capital of Delaware, a city where the laws of one of the country's smallest states are voted on.
A few minutes from downtown, the roads cross fields, farms, gas stations where time seems to slip by more slowly. Dover's flag tells of this link between administration and countryside, between the local statehouse and the barns on the horizon.
Hung in front of schools, courthouses or state offices, it does not put on a show. It simply reminds us that here, somewhere between Philadelphia and the ocean, people keep writing the daily life of a state that many cross without ever stopping.