Easter Reflections: Rebirth and Resurgam

The Heart of it All flag

Portland’s motto is Resurgam, latin for “I shall rise again”. Given the obvious religious parallels, on this Easter Sunday, we chose to fly the Heart of It All flag, hand sewn by the good people at Maine Flag Company, to show support for our front-line health care workers (and their vital support staff), essential employees, local businesses and everyone doing their part to protect the herd by practicing social distancing. It’s a perfect example of the meaningful symbolism inherent in flags.

One way or another a new Portland will “rise from the ashes” post-corona-virus. This is some pretty heavy-handed language, but a city does not need to be physically burned to the ground to experience rebirth. Once-in-a-generation events such as this present hardships that we must endure, but also opportunity that should not be squandered.

Our hope is that Portland-redux will be more caring, more resilient, and more civic-minded than the city pre-quarantine, but of course, each of us citizens has the ability and obligation to shape this newest iteration of our hometown. We pledge to do our part to help our community heal and grow, and we hope you will join us.