Political cartoonists are a patriotic lot. You may not think it as they bash every politician that passes by and criticize nearly every aspect of the apparatus of our government, but their ultimate goal is to embarrass our current crop of Washington inhabitants into living up to the promise of our great country.

Cartoonists are all about symbols, and there is no more memorable symbol of our country, especially on Independence Day, then the stars and stripes.

Dave Granlund uses the layout of the flag as a way to remember those who fight and have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom…

Mike Keefe of the Denver Post uses the flag to put our debt, and debt holders, into context…

Florida Today cartoonist Jeff Parker gives us a quick reminder who provides us with the freedom our flag symbolizes…

Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News worries about our growing prison population in his flag cartoon…

Costa Rican cartoonist Arcadio Esquivel reminds us about the origins of our country with his cartoon…

While Columbia Daily Tribune cartoonist John Darkow lets us know all American flags should come with an asterisk…

Arcadio also used the flag as a symbol to denounce America’s gun violence…

…a thought echoed by Mike Keefe…