A struggle over civic vocabulary and symbols: US tariffs and the progressive backlash broke the conservative monopoly on the use of patriotic symbols. Civic vocabulary became a battleground. Progressives began to wield nationalist terms like sovereignty and homeland in narratives of belonging and social justice, while conservatives shifted their rhetoric to the terms freedom, institutional conflict, and the defense of political figures. The exaltation of the American flag by conservative protesters was harshly criticized by progressives, who used it to demonstrate who the "true patriots" were.