The Police, The Drummer, and The Little Flag That Could

Anyone who knows me for more than two minutes should know that my favorite band of all time is The Police. Whether they are together or not, they've always been and most likely always will be my favorite.

They were my first concert. They were my Beatles. I think you get the picture.

So, you can probably imagine my delight [read: hysteria] when a little over two years ago this little band got back together to embark on a reunion tour. Thanks to many wonderful friends, I had the opportunity to see them at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Hershey Park in Hershey, PA, Washington, D.C., and the show to [literally] end all shows, Madison Square Gardens in NYC. 

It's been almost 10 months, to the day, since the tour ended. I've wanted to blog about this for just as long. Though, I didn't know how to put it all into words. There was too much to explain with a kind of "you had to be there" feeling. 

Now, thanks to one very special lady who is an organizer extraordinaire and creator of the "little flag that could", I don't have to explain. Better words could not have been written to illustrate the experience of a few 100 or more fans of this band and more specifically, their drummer, Stewart Copeland...

"Our Little Flag Game: A strange tradition of the Police reunion tour"

By Kellie M. Walsh

On Thursday, August 7, 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Police—singer-bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland—took the stage one last time to celebrate the finale of their thirtieth anniversary reunion tour [...]
In the middle of the celebration hung a small green flag.
It wasn't much to look at. Its corners were soiled, its face cracked. Its emblem, the silhouette of a horse and rider, held no significance for the Police. To tens of thousands of witnesses that night, it was a mystery.
But to a small group of fans, just a couple of hundred or so scattered around the arena and globe, it was a message [...]
The plan was a simple one: volunteers from the forum at stewartcopeland.net would show their support for the site's namesake by carrying to as many reunion concerts as possible a kelly green flag emblazoned with Copeland’s personal logo of himself on a horse in silhouette.

[click here for full story. It's the feel good story of the season. Heck the decade! And you'll never guess where the flag now resides!]