Capture the Flag’s plot hinges on the efforts of the three main characters to retrieve and protect the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired America’s national anthem. By augmenting their efforts with historical facts about the flag and the people associated with it, Messner communicates how such artifacts are more than aging museum exhibits: they create a sense of cultural memory by representing the values people associate with their history. Cultural memory refers to the shared knowledge, experiences, and traditions passed down through generations by a society’s members. Through the preservation of artifacts like the flag and rituals like the singing of the national anthem, this history becomes dynamic, connecting the past and present. The Silver Jaguar Society, in protecting these kinds of artifacts, represents the actions necessary to ensure these cultural memories will remain intact in the future.

By presenting the flag as “an irreplaceable piece of American history” stolen for the purposes of political manipulation, the novel addresses timely questions about how Americans define national identity and who gets to “own” this history (27). Even the first word of the novel’s title, “capture,” suggests whoever possesses the flag gets to define its significance.