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The Devil's Advocate (book)

Democracy of America
Minute Men

See also:

Democracy of America

by Tom Gregg

Taylor Caldwell, The Devil's Advocate - Gules, a mullet argent is "the debased red rag of the Democracy of America". She also describes the flag of the dissident Minute Men.

Alexander Justice, 14 November 1995

Many, many years ago I had the misfortune to read a novel titled *The Devil's Advocate* by Taylor Caldwell, a truly dreadful American writer. In it, the US is in the grip of a collectivist dictatorship and the country's name has been changed to "The Democracy of America." Caldwell provides a description of The Democracy's flag: "bloody of background and bearing a single bloated white star."
Tom Gregg, 03 June 1999

Is that star 'bloated'? I thought of the "rounded" star of the USSR. The 'rounded' star has its inner diameter equal to half the outer diameter. Rosignoli writes (in World Army Badges and Insignia Since 1939):

"The red star with hammer and sickle was introduced in 1922 and two types of it were initially made for the Red Army. The 'rounded' star which is still in use nowadays [1972/4] was adopted on 3 April, 1922, but another pattern with straight points ('sharp') was also adopted on 11 July of the same year. The latter star slowly went into disuse."

Ole Andersen, 12 June 1999

I thought of that but decided that such a star would look too Soviet Russian. In Caldwell's book, The Democracy of America is a home-grown totalitarian regime. In fact, the author tells us that The Democracy fought and won a war with the USSR some years before the time at which the novel's action begins. Thus an "American" type of star seemed more appropriate. I took "bloated" to mean simply "large."
Tom Gregg, 12 June, 1999

Minute Men

There is, of course, an underground freedom-fighting organization called the Minute Men--what else? Their flag is also described by the author: it bears crossed rifles in dark blue on a white field. I can't recommend the book, but I thought the flags were worth a mention.
Tom Gregg, 03 June 1999