By Robert Talbot 

It’s difficult to drive through Leesburg without noticing elaborate American flag displays decorating traffic signs, medians, and street corners all across town. Linger outside the circuit courthouse on East Market Street on any pleasant evening, and you’re bound to run into the man who sets up these displays. 

Mike Sanders—sometimes referred to as “Flag Guy” by locals—is an Air Force veteran and avid bicyclist and is easily identified by his neoprene outfits and patriotically festooned sedan.  Sanders eagerly dispenses wisdom gleaned from his life experiences; chatting with him unlocks a treasure trove of anecdotes and proverbs.

Sanders grew up in the small town of Hampton, South Carolina, spending much of his youth around his grandfather, a Pentecostal minister. He recounts how his grandfather would minister to the homeless and downtrodden in the streets. He would always ask about what they had done to improve their situation first. If they had made some effort, then he would offer them his help. If they hadn’t tried, however, he would simply promise to pray for them and walk away.

Sanders learned a valuable lesson about individual effort from his grandfather. “This country has a lot of safety nets,” he says. “[It has] a lot of things to help you out if you want to help yourself … but you’ve got to do something. Like my grandfather said: ‘I can help you, but you gotta come meet me halfway!’”

After graduating high school, Sanders spent four years on active duty in the United States Air Force. Hoping that his service would take him around the world, he was disappointed to find himself stationed at Biloxi, Mississippi. 

He switched to working as a computer systems operator in hopes of being sent somewhere exotic, but this change only brought him to an Air Force base in Georgia. “The reason I joined the military was I wanted to travel,” he laments. “I wanted to see the world. Well, I grew up in South Carolina, and the first two places I got to go to were Mississippi and Georgia.”

Sanders retired from active duty for a reserve position and a career as a satcom technician, which afforded him ample travel opportunities. He ultimately settled in Leesburg around 2008.

His “Flag Guy” identity was born in 2009 after watching the funeral procession for soldier Stephan Mace of Purcellville, who was killed in action in Afghanistan. “When I was standing there, looking at that, I was looking around at people’s faces. And people looked kind of sad.”  Noting how all his neighbors were troubled by the ongoing war, he remembered what his grandfather had taught him about working proactively to make the world a better place. “I thought, ‘Well, what’s something that makes people smile in America? Flags. Because people understand what they represent.’”

Reasoning that the American flag could cheer people up while serving as a reminder of what unites us, Sanders embarked on a personal mission of displaying it all across town. Always armed with an arsenal of flags and zip ties, he’s been making his rounds for fourteen years, and he doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.

Of course, Sanders wouldn’t keep at this if the American flag didn’t mean something special to him. It reminds him of the incredible cooperation it took the founders to give us the liberty we enjoy. “You think about all these people who came here from all these different places [and] different cultures … You can’t tell me that when they were in that room, that they didn’t have disagreements. We all know that. But they didn’t lose sight of the greater goal, which [was] one country … We’re going to rise and we’re going to fall together. Whatever happens, we’re a community. We’re a country.”

Above all, Sanders hopes to inspire youth to remember their American identity, discover their talents, and go forth making good contributions to the world. “I always tell young people … gravitate to your individuality. You were given skills and wonderful gifts, and you want to use them. If you go out there like this [narrows hands to the sides of his head like blinders] rather than like this [widens hands for an expansive view], you’re doing yourself a disservice.”