humint: The subjugation of Americans to an empire is symbolically represented in the Star Spangled Banner.
filbert: Uh, no
humint: Whereas America was comprised of 13 Colonies of the British Empire. Whereas Americans were subjects of a monarch. Whereas the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution ended our subjugation.
Whereas the stripes don't stand for that at all -- they stand for the original states, nothing more or less. The manner of how those various states came to be is a matter of history, but that history is not included in the symbolism.
filbert: Uh, no
humint: Whereas America was comprised of 13 Colonies of the British Empire. Whereas Americans were subjects of a monarch. Whereas the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution ended our subjugation.
Tell you what--give me some contemporary references (from the late 1800's) that support your assertion and I'll consider its veracity. But what you're asserting is contrary to everything I've ever heard about the meaning of the 13 stripes, or the 13+ stars. So I am skeptical, but will be persuaded by sufficient historical evidence to the contrary.