Everyone was dressed in red! Red coats, red gloves, red caps. But what did red mean?
When both sides were wearing it? Did red mean protest? Did red mean unity? Here is a
historian, what can he tell us? Red is the blood of revolutionaries. Which revolution? Which,
indeed. Is the sun white against blue sky or are the stars yellow over red earth? That is a loaded
question and you know it. Say you pick the white sun. Say you hoist it in the air. You declare: It
is a new day, look how bright the sun is, against the blue sky. But then you look down. The
earth is still red. And the sun isn’t just shining on you. It is shining on them, too! In fact
they are basking in it. In fact if you were to take it down, it would cause an international
incident. You are so confused. Weren’t they vehemently opposed to your sun? Didn’t they
arrest you for bringing it to a ping-pong tournament? Didn’t you have to put a hood over
your sun just to walk in the opening ceremonies? The world watching two gymnasts on
parallel bars, both in red leotards.