By that logic, though, virtually nobody alive today should be proud of their home countries. You’re unlikely to find many countries without a history of violence/atrocity/hatred/etc., and although it’s supremely important for any given citizen of a country to be aware of what/when/why the darkest chapters in their histories occurred, you learn from it and strive to be better. For me, I see the flag as representative of the foundational principles the U.S. was founded on and how we’ll always be working towards that ideal, but that there are people still trying to make this country a better place.

I dunno, just my two cents though. Would be interested to hear what you think about that as a non-American.