What's the red, white and blue (with stars) banner that Trump was using on the stage in his election campaign?

Question

During election campaign rallys, Trump was always on stages decorated with a red-white-blue-white-red banner with white stars on the blue part. I of course know that's the US colors and the stars are a reference to the national flag - but, is there a name for this flag / banner? I also saw a round version with the blue in the middle (IIRC) and then white and red circles around that.

Is that just a "let's throw some patriotic colors together and make it look nice"? Or does it have any deeper meaning?

Source

Answer 1

It's standard American Flag Bunting, which is the standard way to render the American Flag in a linear, banner form.

You've most likely seen it curled into a half-circle ring for decoration, particularly on the 4th of July, but also at other political events. Here's a picture from around the time of President Obama's inauguration:

But the actual form is a long banner:

It doesn't have any other meaning beyond being Patriotic.

As chrylis points out, one of the reasons Bunting is used so often is that it's a more respectful way to use the American flag for decorative purposes. The US Flag code discourages draping the flag or using it for decorative purposes. Bunting is a way to be patriotic without disrespecting the actual flag.