Efforts to paint the Democratic Party as anti-patriotic stretch from the 1960s to the current MAGA era. Peter Loge, the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University who served in the Obama administration, told Business Insider that liberals have been reluctant to raise the flag in recent years.

“Part of it is because Donald Trump and a lot of Republicans have tried to make patriotism a Republican thing,” he said. “When you raise the flag, you’re not just America first, you’re America alone.”

That changed at this year’s convention, however, when organizers made it easy to see their love of country. While Trump’s allies handed out signs calling for “Mass Deportation Now” at his convention, Democrats waved placards that simply read “USA.” The patriotic chants echoed inside the United Center, where some delegates wore cowboy hats.

Many of the week’s speakers came from the military or focused on the military. Loge said the emphasis on veterans and defense not only heightens a sense of patriotism, but also counters prominent Republican attacks.

“Democrats are often seen as weaker on defense in the military, and Trump is going to make that point. Women are often seen as weaker on defense and military issues, which is unfair, but it’s a stereotype that we carry around,” he said. “By putting law enforcement and the military at the forefront, you’re saying, ‘Look, Democrats are really strong on the military and defense.'”

Peter Kauffman, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton and is a Marine veteran, told Business Insider that the emphasis has been on defense for years.

“There is a new generation of Democrats and progressives who served in the military and are no longer willing to stand by and watch as Republicans try to co-opt patriotism,” he said.

Governor Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee who served in the U.S. Army National Guard for 24 years, spoke about his service and his relationship with guns, boasting that he was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, some of whom questioned how he represented his time in the National Guard.

Another veteran, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, took aim at Trump’s famous campaign slogan, which the former president borrowed from President Ronald Reagan, to argue that it is actually Democrats who better understand the nation’s storyline.

“The unevenness of America’s journey has made some skeptical,” Moore, a rising star in the party, said in his speech. “But I’m not asking you to abandon your skepticism, I just want that skepticism to be your companion, not your captor. And I’m asking you to join us in the work, because making America great doesn’t mean telling people you’re not wanted. And loving your country doesn’t mean lying about its history.”

When Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona took the stage, he introduced himself as “a husband, a congressman, and the proudest Arizonan you’ll ever meet. But I’m even prouder to be a Marine.” Toward the end of his speech, Gallego, who is running in a high-profile race for U.S. Senate, invited his fellow veterans to the stage, to loud applause.

And former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, himself a war veteran, said he ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

“(Harris) will ensure that the United States military remains the strongest in the world, the strongest that has ever been known,” he said.

Harris herself leaned heavily into a defense push that sounded downright hawkish, promising to ensure the country remained “the strongest, most lethal military force on the planet.” And while her candidacy is historic, Harris never directly mentioned her potential status as the first female president. Instead, she insisted that her life story “could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth.”

“We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world,” Harris added at the end of her speech.

There are clear political advantages to the patriotic message. Harris and her fellow Democrats are slowly trying to build a consent structure that will make it palatable to more centrist voters, and perhaps even some Republicans, to support her candidacy.

“Democrats are saying to moderates or Republicans, ‘I understand you’re not a die-hard Democrat, you don’t agree with a lot of policies, but in this case, in this context, it’s OK to vote for Harris,’” Loge said.

Several former Republican elected officials earned respected speaking engagements at the DNC, making clear that while they don’t agree with Harris on everything, the stakes of the election go beyond party unity.

“Let me be clear to my Republican friends watching at home: If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you are not a Democrat, you are a patriot,” former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said during his speech at the convention.

Loge said Democrats have been “shy” or “ashamed” to embrace classic American patriotism over the past decade, but Harris and Walz are trying to reframe the flag’s association, giving not only moderates permission to vote for them, but loyal liberals the right to proudly declare their love for the country.

Kauffman and Loge agreed that the change is both strategic and authentic.

“Democrats serve too,” Kauffman told Business Insider. “We love our country and there’s no reason to shy away from that.”

“It’s easy for professors like me and journalists like you and pundits to say that it’s all about strategy and tactics,” Loge said. “It’s easy to forget that politics at its core is about what people believe.”